There seem to many tips out there for how to cut an onion without tears or crying; however I don't know too many professional cooks that really use any of the tips or tricks. I think this is mostly because they don't seem to work very well or they require too much thought and/or set up. Besides I couldn't imagine a chef chopping onions while wearing a pair of those "onion goggles" :-)

The one thing that is important is a sharp knife as this helps to prevent crushing the cells of the onion as you chop, which is what produces the gases that make us cry (in my case, "like a baby").

If you want to give some of tricks or tips a try here are a few I have heard over the years. Chill the onions, cut the onions near a draft or vent, cut the onions under water (WHAT?...seems weird and dangerous to me), breathe only through your mouth, put vinegar on your cutting board (ah, what if you don't want the taste of vinegar in your food?), soak the onion, light a candle and keep it next to your cutting board (how romantic), chew gum or bread as you chop, stand on one foot while chopping (okay I made that one up ;-)

Anyways you can see there are many many "ideas"...I say don't worry too much about it, just use a sharp knife. At least you are a man and you don't have to worry about your mascara running. Cheers!

Preserving foods is a big subject that we will likely tackle down the road. Maybe in the meantime someone could share some of their advice or ideas with you about pickling. There are also many resources on the internet and plenty of books available on this subject. Cheers!

We almost exclusively use unsalted butter as this allows you to control the amount of butter that goes into any given recipe.

Depending on what you are doing there are times when you may need to use clarified butter, as it has a higher smoke point. If you do a search for clarified butter (in the search field at the top right of every page) you will find a Drill-down on how to make clarified butter on Rouxbe. Cheers!

Thanks Anne for taking the time to jump in and help out with this question...much appreciated. Cheers!

Indeed you can experiment with different types of beer. Just don't go too crazy and use something super dark, but then again, you can do that to, if you like. That's the great thing about cooking you are free to experiment and tweak almost any recipe until it suits your tastes etc. Cheers!

I don't know your pan but I do know that I have stainless steel pans and I have never (nor do I need to) season them. I just heat them properly...add the oil and they are virtually non-stick. Cheers!

I have the pasta machine that you are referring to in the link. I also have an attachment for my stand mixer and I prefer the stand alone machine for sure. I like that is just built for the job, it's not an add-on, if you know what I mean. If you are going to make a fair amount of pasta I would personally recommend the pasta machine. I have the one with an attachable motor and it has been put to some good use and it is still going strong.

Hope this helps but maybe someone else has something to add. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing your findings. Cheers!

You can freeze a pie before it is baked but the end result will not be the same as freshly made pie. Also, the home freezer freezes slower than a commercial freezer so it will take longer to freeze which will again affect the crust etc.

That being said, many people freeze their pies and then bake them from frozen. To bake a pie from frozen, preheat your oven to 425°F and then place the frozen pie inside and bake for 15 minutes. After that lower the temperature to 400°F and then continue to bake the pie. You will need to bake the pie longer than if it were fresh. About another 25 to 35 minutes on top of the time that the original (fresh) pie would have taken.

Another thought: If you are going to be selling these pies, I would even suggest that you bake one of them from frozen and maybe even bake a fresh pie to see if you can notice a difference once they are baked. If so, how noticeable is the difference etc. Just so you know for your customers and for yourself.

Hope this helps - cheers!

Andy you may want to watch the lessons on Pan Frying Fish and Cooking Fish Fundamentals, as we go into quite a bit of detail about this subject. Cheers!

No a tomatillo is not an unripe tomatoe but it does come from the tomato family. Here is a drill-down about tomatillos that goes into a bit more detail. Cheers!

There are a few ways to make sour cream. As for a "shortcut for sour cream?" I would say buying it already made is the best shortcut I can recommend.

However, if you want to make it yourself there are a few ways to go about it. For example, you can strain yogurt and add lemon juice...you can also make it like much like we made the creme fraiche (cream, buttermilk and lemon juice). For specifics you may want to google "How to Make Sour Cream" as I am not sure which method you would like. Cheers!

Ah, the good old days of just using our hands to cook. Unfortunately I, like many Nonna's I imagine, am not familiar with this way of "making pasta". Cheers!

Ultimately, everyone will end up with their own unique gripping style. The more you practice chopping the more confident you will become and the more you will solidify your gripping style.

I remember when I first learned to use a knife and how awkward I felt chopping. I just kept practicing and then one day I remember chopping something and in the middle of chopping I said to myself "ah that's it...that's the sweet spot".

Slow and steady wins the race. Keep cutting, chopping and practicing and you will be surprised how much better you become. Cheers!

You can use any type of salmon. You could even use other meaty fish such as halibut for this dish. Cheers!

Glad that you liked the lesson. As for the recipes, you can find most of them under the "practice" tab (it's on the top right of the video player). Cheers!

Chicken parmigiana is best made fresh, so the bread crumbs hold their crunch. I would also not recommend using rice crispies as the Italian police may come to your house and take you away :-)

If I was cooking for a crowd I would make a big stew or a delicious spaghetti and meat sauce. Also, these would be easy to serve and who doesn't like spaghetti and meat sauce right!

The term is a gastride, you can find out more on this in the Beurre Blanc lesson.

You could do this for your chowder. You could also just add a touch of wine at the end if you like to brighten the flavor...up to you. I say experiment and see what you like. Cheers!

The sweet flavor is likely coming from the type of butter that you used. The "starchiness" we talk about won't taste sweet it will just taste and feel chalky. You will sort of still be able to taste the flour/starch.

The use of cake flour will only likely have less thickening power. Cheers!

Indeed you can substitute many vinegars for other vinegars. You might even want to check out the lesson on How to Make Vinaigrettes, here we use many types of vinegars. Cheers!