tip of the day (aka... i dont feel like writing a recipe right now)

The tip of the day is actually more of a phrase of the day. Mise en place, french for "putting in place" or by my teacher "everything in its place." This is one of the main principles I picked up from my food prep class. Before you even turn on a pan or oven everything should be out and ready. Once food starts to cook there is no stopping it. The amount of prep depends on the speed of the cooking time. A stir fry needs all ingredients out and ready to go straight in the pan. While with a stew you just need a few things prepared and ready to go since it cooks for hours.

This starts with having all your equipment laid out. If you get half way through a recipe and realize your roommate left that one pan/ingredient you need at someones house you're screwed.

Then obviously lay out your ingredients. I personally don't turn anything on until all ingredients are ready to go, chopped, measured, or whatever needs to be done. Then once you start your recipe you can focus on the cooking process much more, or just have more time to relax. This is just me, if its a slow cooking recipe with time in between steps do it however you want just make sure its all laid out so you know you have everything.

This may seem like a really obvious tip but not being prepared can ruin a whole dish if you don't have the right thing ready at the right time. That's how food ends up burnt, soggy, or over cooked. Or even worse you are missing one key ingredient because you thought you were sure you had it but you don't. It's happened to me a few times and I have seen others make the same mistake. Take the time to lay everything out first and its almost impossible to mess up any recipe.

Notes:
While going over my own writing and realizing how I sound like a lame bob ross talking about food, I remembered breaking my own rule on christmas. I had everything I needed in random spots at the nerd island house. I would just shout "scavenger hunt for (insert ingredient)" and someone would hand it to me. Team work at its finest.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5