
When you work in a professional kitchen you spend countless hours preparing for service. Snipping and blanching your vegetables, chopping garlic, cutting proteins, blanching french fries, etc. All of these things need to be done in order to set yourself up for a smooth service because once that first ticket comes in, you better be ready for the onslaught.
This prep work that is done and at the ready for service is referred to as “mise en place” which basically translates to everything in its place. Mise en place is one of the first things I learned about when I started culinary school but I didn’t truly grasp the depth of it until many years later. When you work on a line in a professional kitchen, you need to have all your ingredients (mise en place) at the ready so that you can create the same dishes over and over the exact same way every time. When service is complete, everyone checks their mise en place to see what they will need to re-prep to be ready for the next service. This is something that is done every single day to ensure an efficient smooth service.
Having worked in professional kitchens for more than half my life, the concept of “always being at the ready” has been ingrained into my being. I don’t start cooking until all of my slicing, dicing, chopping, etc. is done and at the ready. This makes cooking less stressful and a lot more enjoyable because I’m not trying to multitask. I get to be present and focus all of my attention on what I am cooking, resulting in an overall better experience and a much tastier meal.
Summer is in full swing and all the farms are overflowing with fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. There are plenty of options to create delicious meals from earth’s bounty but I know that summer also means kids camps, sports practices, vacations, and more, all of which can cut down the time you have available to cook for your family. Why not give yourself a break and try meal prepping 1 or 2 days a week. Getting your “mise en place” ready for a bunch of meals ahead of time can definitely lower your stress when it comes time to cook a meal. There are so many ways you can prep food ahead of time and not worry about ruining the quality of the ingredients. In fact, preparing things ahead of time can actually result in better flavors in some instances because it gives time for all the flavors to come together and create a more harmonious dish.
One way to prep ahead and save yourself some time later on, is to prepare your veggies and sides ahead of time. This doesn’t mean to make your green salad for Thursday on Monday. I can assure you; those greens will not be as tasty on Thursday as they were on Monday. You can however cut your cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, etc. for that green salad on Tuesday or Wednesday and store each ingredient separately in a glass or plastic container with a lid in your refrigerator until you make your salad on Thursday. Also having vegetables already pre-cut makes easy work of throwing together other quick options like making a bean salad with canned cannellini beans or chickpeas. Once the beans are rinsed and drained, add some vegetables, a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice or champagne vinegar and your favorite Pinch of Fancy seasoning. You can make this bean salad ahead of time as well and prepare the whole thing on Tuesday for Thursday and any leftovers will last for 5-7 days in your refrigerator.
Another way to save time in the kitchen is to buy larger packages of proteins like chicken breasts, steak tips, pork roasts, etc. Portion them out into resealable bags. Once you have them all sorted, season each bag of protein with a different spice blend, a little oil and perhaps a squeeze of lemon juice. Make sure the contents of each bag are thoroughly mixed and then seal up the bags. From there you can either store the bags in the refrigerator until it’s time to cook or even throw the bags in the freezer and save them for another time. Fresh marinated proteins should last 5-7 days in your refrigerator and 6 months in the freezer. When it’s time to use them, just pull the contents out of the bag and cook. By adding the seasoning ahead of time, you are allowing all the flavors to permeate the protein resulting in a more flavorful meal.
These are just a few suggestions I have to make cooking for your family a little less stressful. I would love for you to share some of the tips and tricks you do to make cooking more fun and enjoyable. Hit reply and tell me all about it or better yet, join our group For the Love of Food on Facebook and start a conversation. We can all learn from and help each other grow.
Here to Inspire,
Kristin
Here’s a quick recipe that you can use with all of those fresh local veggies that are available right now. I recommend crushing the citrus herb blend between your hands before adding it to the bowl to release the flavors. This vinaigrette can be made days in advance and will keep in the refrigerator for well over a week. Try adding fresh mint, tarragon, and parsley to your salad with this vinaigrette. The freshness of the herbs brightens up the vegetables.
Citrus Herb Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Pinch of Fancy’s Citrus Herb Blend
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1-2 tsp honey
- 2 T champagne vinegar
- 6 T olive oil
- 1 T minced shallots
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Directions
- In a small stainless-steel bowl add shallots, lemon juice, champagne vinegar, honey, Citrus Herb blend, and salt and pepper.
- Drizzle the EVOO into the bowl while whisking to combine ingredients. Adjust flavor with salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve with a simple salad of fresh greens and vegetables.
- Enjoy!