“Oh come on, no one really does that,” said a friend when I began a cooking lesson with a plan to lay out all our ingredients. While I may not do it perfectly every time I cook a meal, I generally use the technique of “mise en place” or “putting in place" the ingredients needed for a dish.
Wine for deglazing the pan seems to be my weak spot resulting in many an urgent call of, “Ed, please open a bottle of white right away!” I do, however, have a bottle of water standing by my stove to prevent scorching while I wait for the wine. In most cases, a bit of water added to a hot pan won’t hurt the finished dish.
Even with something as simple as making chicken soup, I'll gather everything I need on a half sheet pan and put it on the range next to the soup pot. (That half sheet also keeps half of the cooktop free of drips and spatters. See more of our smooth cooktop tips here. )
Review the Menu
If you are following published recipes, take a look at those and check your supplies. If it's a meal you make without a recipe, run through the steps in your mind. Make a shopping list if necessary. Remember that you will also need pans, space in the oven at a specific temperature, stovetop burners for different components, counter space for working with both raw and cooked ingredients, and a place for equipment that needs cleaning.
Knowing exactly where you will place a hot pan when you remove it from the oven is a great feeling. If your kitchen is as small as mine, this may mean having trivets set out on your dining table. I also line trays with dish towels in the dining area to clear away pots, pans, and dishes that I’ve cleaned as I cook.
Prepare to Cook
What professional chefs refer to as “mise en place” is an orderly arrangement of ingredients – cleaned, cut as required, measured, and ready to use – as you begin to make your dish. My counter space is very limited so unless more than two burners are needed, I put a half sheet pan on the unused section of my cooktop and use that to hold my mise en place. This has the added benefit of keeping that side of the cooktop perfectly clean!
Individual items can be placed in custard cups or small containers. Years ago I bought stainless steel containers in assorted sizes at an Asian market. I use those to hold everything from chopped garlic to plucked herbs. Larger items like carrots, onions and celery (especially if they will go into the pan together) can be combined on a tray or smaller sheet pan. Cheese can be grated directly onto waxed paper or parchment and set aside.
Order of Preparation
You can avoid cross contamination if you prepare ingredients that will remain raw first, produce that will be cooked second, and meat and fish, like the lamb burger above, last. This will also allow you to keep the most perishable foods in the refrigerator longer.
If your meat or fish need to marinate or some tricky preparation is needed, you can opt to do that first, return that item to the refrigerator, thoroughly clean your work area and tools, and then go on with the remainder of your mise en place.
Give this technique a try if you’ve been cooking on the fly without mise en place. I think of it as a stress buster and often wonder how many budding cooks have been frustrated and perhaps ruined a dish because they began to cook without a plan in place.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino – Adapted for BostonZest from one of Penny's Fresh & Local Newspaper columns.
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino
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