Know Your Knife Skills: Worst Cooks Recruits Butcher Proper Cutting Techniques

Chef Bobby Flay checks in with Chet Pourciau while he works to recreate Chef Bobby Flay's Crispy skin black sea bass with avacado, tomatillo and  fennel relish , as seen on Food Network's Worst Cooks in America, Season 4

Chef Bobby Flay checks in with Chet Pourciau while he works to recreate Chef Bobby Flay's Crispy skin black sea bass with avacado, tomatillo and fennel relish , as seen on Food Network's Worst Cooks in America, Season 4

Photo by: David Lang ©2012, Television Food Network, G.P.

David Lang, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P.

Introduction to Knife Skills
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When it comes to meal prep, not much can be done in the kitchen without a knife, so it's no surprise that Chefs Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell devoted an entire week to demonstrating basic knife skills on Sunday's episode of Worst Cooks in America. Both mentors showed off the whats and hows of various cuts like a fillet, slice, dice, julienne and chiffonade to their team members, some of whom were even unfamiliar with how to hold a knife and admitted to a strong fear of the sharp objects.

In the Skill Drill, the recruits were tasked with filleting whole black sea basses plus chopping oddly shaped produce to practice what they'd learned, and while some proved to be successful, a few contestants managed to cut their fingers and hands on the stainless-steel blades. Perhaps the most difficult test came during the Main Dish Challenge, however, when each recruit lifted a cloche to find an entire chicken with its head and feet still attached. Chefs Bobby and Anne both detailed the proper method for butchering the bird, but Chef Anne treated her team to a spine-ectomy how-to so that they could recreate her dish of chicken chasseur.

Want to see what went down in the kitchen? Click the play button on the video above to watch the recruits practice their cuts with help from their mentors, then flip through this photo roundup to relive the highlights of the episode.

Tune in to an all-new episode of Worst Cooks in America on Sunday, March 3 at 9pm/8c.

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