490-Thinking Like a Chef While Cooking At Home
03/15/23 • 31 min
Today’s show is done at the behest of one of my Telegram subs and is my attempt to let you see how chefs think at work, and at home too. This topic could go in many directions so I hope I did justice to this subject and provided some helpful insight into how I try to process home cooking using my chef background.
Some of the things I did not mention on the show were mise en place (everything in its place) or what we chefs refer to as “being ready” for the “pick up”. I see many people cooking with poor or non-existent mise en place. So if you’re making a pb& j you need the following for your mise en place:
- peanut butter
- bread
- jam, jelly, preserves? what do you like?
- toaster?
- knife
- cutting board
- plate
- napkin
- a glass of milk....haha....just kidding on these last few items.
You get the point though-don’t start cooking until you have gathered everything you need, including equipment and a place to put the prepared food. And, if you don’t want me barking at you clean as you go, do not leave a bunch of containers, etc on the counters and work around them, that pisses me off to no end!
“Mise” can be complicated, let’s examine an easy example; making a poached egg on toast. You’ll need water boiling in a pot, a slice of toast in the toaster, a slotted spoon, a paper towel or kitchen towel, an egg, salt pepper, and in my case, Worcestershire sauce, serving vessel, all ready to go so you can execute this simple dish.
This probably makes sense to you now. These are just a few of the things that go into cooking at home, in my mind.
LINKS TO CHECK OUT:Perma Pastures Website-buy comfrey!
Today’s show is done at the behest of one of my Telegram subs and is my attempt to let you see how chefs think at work, and at home too. This topic could go in many directions so I hope I did justice to this subject and provided some helpful insight into how I try to process home cooking using my chef background.
Some of the things I did not mention on the show were mise en place (everything in its place) or what we chefs refer to as “being ready” for the “pick up”. I see many people cooking with poor or non-existent mise en place. So if you’re making a pb& j you need the following for your mise en place:
- peanut butter
- bread
- jam, jelly, preserves? what do you like?
- toaster?
- knife
- cutting board
- plate
- napkin
- a glass of milk....haha....just kidding on these last few items.
You get the point though-don’t start cooking until you have gathered everything you need, including equipment and a place to put the prepared food. And, if you don’t want me barking at you clean as you go, do not leave a bunch of containers, etc on the counters and work around them, that pisses me off to no end!
“Mise” can be complicated, let’s examine an easy example; making a poached egg on toast. You’ll need water boiling in a pot, a slice of toast in the toaster, a slotted spoon, a paper towel or kitchen towel, an egg, salt pepper, and in my case, Worcestershire sauce, serving vessel, all ready to go so you can execute this simple dish.
This probably makes sense to you now. These are just a few of the things that go into cooking at home, in my mind.
LINKS TO CHECK OUT:Perma Pastures Website-buy comfrey!
Previous Episode
489-What Is Gastrique and How Can You use it?
Today I’m going to discuss gastrique, an old-school sauce that you hardly see anymore but one that has a ton of potential uses, from sauces to vinaigrettes even for some desserts!
Back in Dijon France I once cooked for a group of 17 people some of who were restaurant critics and food photographers. I made a tarragon gastrique to serve over a melon salad as a second course...this blew away the guests who were not expecting this at all, especially at this point during this 7-course meal.
The only potential problem with this sauce is that it uses quite a bit of sugar or similar sweet ingredients in its composition. However, you need so little to make such a huge impact I feel it’s a valid thing to consider making.
I think it’s the perfect accompaniment to duck, pork, chicken even some beef dishes. To make it you need to consider the components:
- Sugar or similar; honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, palm sugar, etc.
- The vinegar; sherry, apple cider, red wine, champagne, balsamic, etc.
- The aromatics; fruit, herbs, onions, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, etc.
The methods could not be easier; start with a light caramel- basically, dump the sugar and water in a sauce pot, wait for it to start caramelizing a touch, then add vinegar (carefully) and aromatics or add everything at once, cook until starting to thicken, strain, serve.
Either method will yield a similar sauce however the caramel version is better for a sweeter more intense version. Some suggested uses:
- Duck breast seared and served with a blackberry or raspberry gastrique.
- Pork tenderloin w a maple sage gastrique
- Chicken thighs with a coconut curry gastrique
As you can see or hear in this case, the gastrique is a forgotten sauce with major potential to add the ZING to your cooking, what not give it a try?
LINKS TO CHECK OUT: LISTEN TO THE PODCAST:Next Episode
491-Mise En Place-Why does it matter?
I have mentioned the term “mise en place” before and emphasized how important it is if you plan on becoming a better cook. It means “everything in its place” and is the foundation of the French culinary discipline. Anyone who has worked in a professional kitchen knows this term and uses this discipline daily.
The degree to which it’s followed says something about the chef or cook, it allows anyone watching to understand whether or not this person is ready to make a dish in an efficient manner. Mise en place allows the chef to confidently perform and reduces the possibility of a timing issue that can affect performance and the dish itself.
“Mise en place is a French culinary phrase that means "putting in place" or "gathering". It refers to the setup required before cooking and is often used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that are expected to be prepared during a shift.”
-wikipedia
Over the years I have hired or promoted many, many chefs in restaurants that serve all types of food. From concessions to Forbes 4-star. During the hiring process, I and other culinarians determine a potential chef or cook’s abilities to do the job they are seeking first by looking at his mise or station. In a higher-level position, we always ask the applicant to cook for us.
For example, we’d ask for a breakfast dish, a lunch dish, and dinner entree, or appetizer, or a combo of all these things. We even would put themes on these dish requests, maybe rustic, maybe refined, maybe ethnic, maybe dietary preference. But overall, we look at the applicant’s mise en place, the “kitchen dance” and then the maintenance of his or her station. If any of these two items are not top-notch, chances are this person will be passed over. By the way “kitchen dance” is how the person moves about in the kitchen. Could be slow and casual, like a sloth, or more purposeful like a military walk, quick, athletic, etc.
Of course in this example of mise en place, I describe a professional kitchen environment, but likely you are not in this type of business and by and large just cooking at home, so why would you care about mise en place? In my professional opinion, mise en place has its place (pun intended) in the home kitchen as well.
I can’t tell you how many times I have witnessed people cooking amid a mess or disorganization and missing tools, ingredients, etc. Starting a dish then looking for missing ingredients to drop into a bowl or pan or what have you. In a prior life, this would really annoy me, since I have aged like a fine wine I am more tolerant of messy cooks, but it still does bother me a bit if I am honest.
LINKS TO CHECK OUT:If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/the-harvest-eating-podcast-46059/490-thinking-like-a-chef-while-cooking-at-home-28763052"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to 490-thinking like a chef while cooking at home on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy