Mise en place

In the restaurant world, a French term, mise en place, is widely used to refer to what is necessary for cooking a dish. It roughly translates to “put in place.” The idea is that before you begin assembling any dish, you must first have all the ingredients “put in place,” along with any additional tools you may need for the cooking process. This saves you the pain and stress of scrambling for that one thing you forgot after everything else is in a sautee pan on high heat.

If you are working in a restaurant, when dinner service starts, you may find that the chef gets angry with you if your mise is not en place. When cooking at home, you will very well likely find yourself getting angry if your mise is not en place. Proper cooking often requires high temperatures and quick cooking times to produce the best end result. For instance, whenever I’m doing Chinese or Thai cooking in a wok, I cook only on high heat, and once the oil is hot, it is a quick sequence of adding ingredients until the cooking is finished – ten minutes at most. There is really no time to chop that extra vegetable or measure out that little bit of sauce. Cooking requires focus and attention, things that are both shattered by a last minute scramble.

Vegetable Barley Soup

It’s winter time, which means that many of us have already been or will be sick. And clearly, the meal of choice when sick is soup. So, instead of spending money at the store for cans of soup of dubious quality, you can easily make soup at home. Homemade soup can be packed into the freezer in reusable containers – perfect for weeks when you are busy or sick.

One of my favorite soups to make is this vegetable barley soup. It’s cheap, delicious and nutritious. It has a lot of vegetables, some hearty grains, and a rich broth that’s slightly spicy. All that good stuff you really want when you’re sick. I hope this one keeps you warm and happy this winter!

How to Deglaze

One of my all-time, hands down favorite cooking techniques is deglazing. When executed properly, it allows you to add layers and layers of flavor, and is an exciting transition between dry and wet cooking methods. If it sounds like an exaggeration to say it’s exciting, remember this when your are pouring wine into a hot pan, as it bubbles and reduces almost immediately, giving off a cloud of steam. It’s fantastic spectacle, and absolutely delicious.

If you cook with a steel or iron pan – to phrase it awkwardly, a non non-stick pan – you’ll probably notice how bits of meat and vegetables stick to the bottom of the pan and turn brown. Now, anytime food is turning brown, it’s getting richer and deeper in flavor. So, what you have down at the bottom of that pan is flavor. Well, it’s actually called fond.

How to Sweat Vegetables

So, this has got to be one of the greatest internet search phrases ever. Brings all kinds of fun things to mind, doesn’t it? But, sweating vegetables actually refers to cooking vegetables so they release their aroma without altering their flavor.

At a medium temperature for a longer period of time, vegetables like onions, carrots and celery become fragrant and glossy. This is sweating. At a high temperature for a shorter period of time, the vegetables start to caramelize, turning brown, and becoming sweeter and richer. This is sauteeing.

How to Make a Sachet

As you will no doubt here me say over and over again, fresh herbs make everything better. If there’s a way to use them, use them. Use a lot of them! After all, they’re free flavor! In the spring and summer, when our herb garden is out of control, I can’t use them fast enough. Additionally, hearty herbs such as rosemary and thyme can last well in to the winter. As we all know, winter is soup making time, and these herbs make a great addition to almost any soup.

As great as herbs in soup are, fishing loose stems of thyme out of your soup or picking those tiny, tiny leaves off those delicate little stems both suck. So, what do you do? You make a sachet. Here’s my simple step-by-step guide to making a sachet:

3 Pepper Blend

Do you ever find yourself using a particular mixture of spices regularly? Maybe you’re the kind of person that adds garlic powder and cumin to everything. In situations like these, I like to make my own spice blends. I’ve made several from recipes in books, but occasionally, I’ll just throw together some things I like.

One of the blends that I came up with is this 3 pepper blend. It’s a mixture of paprika, white pepper and black pepper. By layering these flavors, you get the spice and sweetness of paprika, the garlicky quality of white pepper, and the depth of black pepper. And with only 6 calories per teaspoon, this definitely qualifies as free flavor!*

So Long, 2011! Welcome, 2012!

So, it’s the beginning of 2012, and I’m really excited about the new year. Just thought I’d take a moment to share some of the things I’m excited about.

First, I’ve been talking with my friend Cassie about starting up some adult cooking classes through the school she works for in the Portland area. These will be designed, like this blog, to start from the very basics and work with people on knife skills, basic cooking techniques, how to plan a meal from scratch, and how to look for healthy and cheap products at the grocery store. No word yet on a schedule or start up date, but these classes should be very affordable, personal and a lot of fun. I’ll post more info as details solidify.