Hi Pals! Today I want to talk about the touchdown dance of the food world: garnishes. When you pour your attention and focus into preparing a meal, that then becomes one of your cooking masterpieces, the appropriate action is to put a big beautiful signature on your dish. That is exactly what garnishing properly is, a personal stamp that infuses your dish with your identity and a specific message. A dried rosemary sprig says, “I appreciate your company this evening”. A drizzle of a balsamic reduction glaze with berries says, “Summer is finally here and I’m thrilled!”
Here are 3 of the simplest garnishes used in the restaurant world today that will make your dishes look like they were “crafted” not just cooked.
The simplest of all is microgreens. The hardest part about garnishing with microgreens is sourcing them. Your best bet is just to find your nearest health food supermarket and see if they have any in stock. If you are fortunate enough to find that they have a few different kinds, pick something like micro arugula to make even a hearty steak and potatoes dinner seem like it has a garden salad element. Or if you think splashes of color are what better accentuates your meal, select the “rainbow mix” (the spring mix of the microgreen world) variety.
Scallions are a tasty and versatile garnish. Slicing scallions into little circles is the blue jeans of garnishes, while julienne cut scallions is the tailored suit. Simply change the angle of the knife you use to slice your scallions to where you are slicing in a diagonal direction; each slice being extremely thin and about half an inch long. Sprinkle on top of a serving of rice or noodles to make it known that this meal is thoughtfully balanced and to show that it is not your first rodeo when it comes to handling a chef’s knife.
Last we will go over the perfect crowd pleasing summer garnish: the avocado fan (or avocado splay.) Avocados have a tendency to be very temperamental. The old school method of peeling the skin off of a wedge of sliced avocado can more often than not leave you with a handful of crushed avocado. Your plans for a beautiful avocado fan have turned into a settling for a surprise guacamole! Here is the simple solution that is upending the long history of struggling free avocado from it’s shell. Use a spoon! After you avocado wedge is thinly slice with the shell still on, find a spoon (a relatively shallow concave is more helpful, and slide it in between the avocado and the shell in a manner similar to scoping ice cream. Place the scooped avocado gently on the fingertips of your open hand facing upward, then maneuver with your thumb to form your desired shape. Proudly place your avocado fan in the center of your salad or nachos and enjoy!