Tips to Start Cooking

[not2late]

For beginner cooks and more experienced ones, it’s intimidating to read a recipe with 10 ingredients and multiple steps. Don’t panic. Follow these tips to help you tackle that recipe.

BEFORE YOU COOK ANYTHING:

-Read the recipe through completely (a couple of times if necessary).

-Copy the recipe onto a piece of paper. This will help you understand what the author wants you to do and you can bring this copy into the kitchen, without fear of ruining a cookbook or magazine. If need be, re-write the directions in a way understandable to you.

-Check your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for ingredients listed in the recipe. Many of us have things like salt, pepper, some herbs and spices, already in our homes. This will save you from buying extra.

-Make a list of the ingredients you need to buy.

ON COOKING DAY

-Assemble all the ingredients you will need. TV and restaurant chefs have ingredients, already prepared, in front of them in bowls or tubs. This isn’t just done for the "WOW!" factor. It’s for organization. Organizing your ingredients will ensure you don’t leave anything out and will ensure you won’t be washing, chopping and stirring at the same time. Chefs call this a mis en place. If you don’t want to spend your time washing a bunch of little dishes, you can use paper plates/cup or a piece of wax paper. Prepare all your ingredients: peel and chop everything that needs to be peeled and chopped; measure everything that needs to be measured; etc. Below is a mis en place for a vegetable saute with parmesan cheese. All the vegetables have been prepared, sliced and placed in little piles. The entire tray can be set near the cook area.



-Arrange the ingredients in the order they are needed. In the pictured mis en place, the order starts at lower right hand corner with the sliced garlic clove, to its left are sliced mushrooms, to the left are sliced snow peas, to its right are sliced green onions, and finally a tub of shredded parmesan cheese. The bottom line is to arrange them in an order that makes sense to you.

-Keep a copy of the recipe nearby for quick references. It’s no fun running up a flight of stairs, digging under your bed, and thumbing through a magazine to find a recipe, while the contents of the pan is boiling over in the kitchen.

-Refer to the recipe as frequently as you need. This goes for cooking newbies and cooking oldies trying out a new recipe.

A note about following recipes: Unless you are a very experienced cook, it's a good idea to follow a new recipe as written the first time you try it, especially in regards to the ingredients and in regards to some cooking techniques. Nothing is more frustrating than to read a recipe review that says "The recipe wasn't bad. But I don't think it tastes anything like the Mama Lucia's brand marinara sauce like other reviewers have written. I followed it exactly, except I didn't add the basil, oregano, parmesan cheese or the garlic." Therefore, follow the recipe exactly the first time. Then experiment with it the next time. One exception to this is cooking temperatures and cooking times. If your food is burning while it's cooking on medium high heat, then by all means lower the heat to prevent burning.

CLEANING UP

-Clean as you go along. After you chopped your ingredients and arranged them on your mis en place, take a few minutes to wash the knife and cutting board. Likewise, wash any dish that you’ve used and put them on the drying rack. That will save you from washing a mountain of dishes, pots and pans afterward.

-Keep your work area clean and dry. Keep a clean, dry kitchen towel nearby. You might also want to keep a rag or sponge a bowl of clean water with some bleach (about 1 part bleach to 3 parts water) nearby. Use that to quickly disinfect a work surface.

-Wash your hands before you touch any food and after you touch any raw ingredient.

-Do not ‘cross contaminate’ your foods. If you touched raw meat, wash your hands thoroughly before tearing the lettuce for your salad. Don’t put cooked foods onto surfaces where raw foods have been. For example, do not put a grilled chicken breast on the same plate the raw chicken sat. Put it in a clean container, preferably some distance away from any raw ingredients.