Chopping Nuts...a new method!

Martha Stewart was never one of my favorites.....that is, until she started her latest 'Cooking with Martha' series on PBS. She seems much less arrogant and actually mentions substitutions for people who don't have her extensive European-purchased equipment or costly ingredients (let alone her farm-raised colored eggs....).

She demonstrated a new way to chop nuts that I have tried and found to be very easy and quite effective.

You need two like-sized chef's knives, held together at the handles and also the tips, leaving a small gap between the blades (because of the width of the handles). Then you chop away on your cutting board. The two blades accomplish the task faster and the nuts don't seem to roll around as much so the resulting chopping ends up with more uniform sized chopped nuts.

Next time you need to chop a few nuts for a recipe, give this method a try!

I, too, think ol' Martha has mellowed out over the last couple of years. Maybe it was her stint in the Big House....

Hahahaha! Could be......could be.

bethk wrote:Martha Stewart was never one of my favorites.....that is, until she started her latest 'Cooking with Martha' series on PBS.  She seems much less arrogant and actually mentions substitutions for people who don't have her extensive European-purchased equipment or costly ingredients (let alone her farm-raised colored eggs....).

She demonstrated a new way to chop nuts that I have tried and found to be very easy and quite effective.

You need two like-sized chef's knives, held together at the handles and also the tips, leaving a small gap between the blades (because of the width of the handles).  Then you chop away on your cutting board.  The two blades accomplish the task faster and the nuts don't seem to roll around as much so the resulting chopping ends up with more uniform sized chopped nuts.

Next time you need to chop a few nuts for a recipe, give this method a try!

She got that from Sarah Moulton.

Hmmm. That gives me an idea. I have a mezzaluna I never use. Never thought about chopping nuts with it. It has two blades.

That sounds like the perfect tool to use, Bugs. Does yours have the round, bowl-like chopping container?

Yes, I have the rounded wood cutting block. I gave it a try last night. It worked well. What I liked best is that the nuts didn't go flying around the kitchen like they usually do. I did have a little trouble with some pecans getting stuck between the two blades but I just took a knife and pushed them out. I then realized what I don't like about the tool: it is hard to clean between the blades. I don't like it for herbs or other chopping jobs but it is good for nuts. The best I have tried. Thanks for the tip.