Which type of a cook are you?

[SuzySushi]

I'm more a "prep as you go" cook & baker. I read over the recipe beforehand to make sure I have everything in the house, but rarely bother with a formal mise. Ingredients to be peeled, chopped, etc. get peeled and chopped first, then left in different sections of the cutting board(s) or placed in different sections on one or two large plates. Ingredients to be added together get measured and dumped into one bowl to add at the same time, or, if vegetables need to be added at different cooking times, the ones to be added last will go at the bottom of the bowl, and those that need the longest cooking time will be the top layer. It works for me.

[mrsadm]

When he brings the groceries home, I prep all my greens per Rachel Ray.

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So how does Rachel Ray prep greens? Sounds like I might want to do the same.

[Anna N]

When he brings the groceries home, I prep all my greens per Rachel Ray.

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So how does Rachel Ray prep greens? Sounds like I might want to do the same.

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She orders her millions of minions to wash, chop, wrap and store her groceries.

Seriously though. She claims to wash and sort and chop and store all her fresh produce as soon as she brings it home so it's ready for her 30 min meals.

[bavila]

When he brings the groceries home, I prep all my greens per Rachel Ray.

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So how does Rachel Ray prep greens? Sounds like I might want to do the same.

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She orders her millions of minions to wash, chop, wrap and store her groceries.

Seriously though. She claims to wash and sort and chop and store all her fresh produce as soon as she brings it home so it's ready for her 30 min meals.

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I still would like to see RR prepare a meal in 30 minutes with a toddler (or two) at her knee. Anyone notice that rock of an engagement ring she's been wearing lately? Maybe in a couple of years she'll have a new show -- 30 Interruption Meals: How to Get Dinner on the Table Between Diaper Changes and Cub Scout Meetings.

[RobinCR]

FONT=Arial]I tend to be much more on the side of a mis-en-place cook. I plan my dinner menu's for the week based on the family calendar - will we eat at home or out? how much time will I have to cook? I do all the shopping at one time. Rarely ever don't have something that I need.

As to the actual prep and cooking, it is very easy for me to look at the menu and recipes for the night and see how much prep I need to do before I start cooking. I can tell when I will have some pockets of time to do more chopping and measuring once something has started cooking. I do always pull out everything I will need for the meal onto the counter before I begin cooking. Of course, if I will need chopped onions for two dishes, I chop all that I need at one time. Then those little bowls come in handy.

I have learned that the ability to prepare a meal in a logical order is a skill that must be learned and practiced, if not a gift that some have and others don't. I am the only cook in the house, although my partner is a fabulous baker. Last night she was pulling dinner together while I was busy with other things. This rarely happens for good reason, as you will see. The menu was simple - reheating taco meat for the kids, reheating tamales for us, chopping some lettuce, heating tortillas and putting out the salsa, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream. First she heated the taco meat & tortillas, chopped the lettuce and put all the other ingredients in bowls. This took about 15 minutes. Then she asked how long the tamales needed to heat. So we waited for the oven to heat and another 20 minutes for the tamales to warm up. I do appreciate the help from time to time, but really what gives????

Robin

[hjshorter]

I still would like to see RR prepare a meal in 30 minutes with a toddler (or two) at her knee.  Anyone notice that rock of an engagement ring she's been wearing lately?  Maybe in a couple of years she'll have a new show -- 30 Interruption Meals: How to Get Dinner on the Table Between Diaper Changes and Cub Scout Meetings. 

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Oh excellent. I would pay to see that.

Seriously, the week that I prep all of the produce the day it's purchased is the week that no food gets forgotten and wasted - and we eat more fruit and veg because it's already washed and prepped and easy to grab. Now if I could just make that happen every week I'd be all set.

[MarketStEl]

On the cooking part, I'm sort of half-and-half, evolving from the on-the-fly to the mise-en-place style. The level of advance prep for me depends on the recipe--if I'm very familiar with the dish, I don't do a lot of advance work; if I'm trying something for the first time, I get just about all of the prep work out of the way before diving in. I haven't gone out and gotten a stack of little glass bowls (or plastic dose cups) yet, though; my coffee cups and small bowls serve that function well enough for me right now.

On the cleaning part, I tend to clean as I go at the start, but when I'm cooking an entire meal and I'm in the final stretch, the dirty dishes pile up in the sink, there to await transfer to the dishwasher.

[MaggieB]

When he brings the groceries home, I prep all my greens per Rachel Ray.

←

So how does Rachel Ray prep greens? Sounds like I might want to do the same.

←

She orders her millions of minions to wash, chop, wrap and store her groceries.

Seriously though. She claims to wash and sort and chop and store all her fresh produce as soon as she brings it home so it's ready for her 30 min meals.

←

I still would like to see RR prepare a meal in 30 minutes with a toddler (or two) at her knee. Anyone notice that rock of an engagement ring she's been wearing lately? Maybe in a couple of years she'll have a new show -- 30 Interruption Meals: How to Get Dinner on the Table Between Diaper Changes and Cub Scout Meetings.

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I recently took a bunch of fresh parsley and "re-hydrated " it in a sinkfull of water for five minutes. I put it through my salad spinner, wrapped it in a paper towel, and sealed it in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the fridge. That parsley lasted at least 3 weeks prepped that way. I do not chop anything ahead of time - I feel that shortens shelf life.

PS - I am my own minion, and although I clean as I go a little, my husband does all the dishes. Also, I like many of Rachel's recipes, but I never attempt to do them in 30 minutes. I do enjoy watching her fly around on TV though.

[Susan G]

If I'm cooking Indian or Chinese, it's mise'd out waaay before the gas burners go on.........German, Mexican, or soup, it's prep as you go!

[Gifted Gourmet]

If I'm cooking Indian or Chinese, it's mise'd out waaay before the gas burners go on.........German, Mexican, or soup, it's prep as you go!

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Aha! So the type of ethnic cuisine one is preparing dictates the need for using a mise en place?

How say you?

For example: Does an Indian meal need special efforts? Chinese cuisine necessitates extra care of ingredients? You get my drift ...

[Blondie]

I became a mise convert when I lived in rural Ireland where the entire commercial center of the village was four pubs and 2 small shops (one of which was open until 9pm). Improvising worked occasionally and the shop saved my butt a couple of times, but the fact that a proper grocery store was a half hour away forced me to be more organized. Now that I’m back in Manhattan and have a tiny kitchen, it has served me well. I can get a vast array of ingredients on a 24-hour basis just a few blocks away, but being organized is the only way I can prep and cook in such a small space.

I recently found a shop in Chinatown that has a great selection of small porcelain bowls and dishes, perfect for mise, at 35 or forty cents each.

[Kevin72]

Mentally I start prepping way ahead, looking in the pantry, freezer, fridge, etc. When I do follow recipes I do read them beforehand to make sure there's not an item that needs to marinate for 24 hours or something like that.

On weekends hen I have the whole day in front of me, I'll do the full mise and have everything set aside and precisely measured. On weeknights though it's alot more sloppy unfortunately.

And no matter HOW aggressive I am with cleaning as I go there's still that mountain of dishes in the sink and stains all over the counter and stovetop when I'm done. Damn I wanna get good at that.

[SobaAddict70]

The problem with porcelain bowls is that those are MORE things to wash.

I am a mise-type of cook but I prefer plates. If it can fit on a plate, then there it goes. The larger the plate, the better. Obviously no raw and cooked items (e.g., meat) on the same plate -- other than that, anything goes.

Soba

[Ovenfrenzy]

I find it essential to be organized when preparing Indian cuisine. When the recipe says "heat oil to near-smoking, then add 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground fenugreek, 1/2 teaspoon tumeric and a cup of minced onions and stir like mad..." I tried to do this sort of thing in my usual random poking around the kitchen method and was faced with scorched spices, smoking oil, crazy burning stench...

[emmapeel]

I'm sort of both. If the recipe is complicated, then mise, if simple, then somewhat organized, yet preparing as I go along. For me understanding a recipe seems to be a problem, and I read and re-read it carefully. That is the most mise part of it for me. I am always aware of the ingredients, if there is time required for marination, room-temping, nut toasting, etc.

Under the heading of the "most stupid kitchen mistakes" I should post was when I made an iceberg lettuce salad and Thousand Island dressing from scratch (Gourmet Magazine), an ingredient was chili sauce (like the Heinz brand). I didn't know what it was so I purchased hot chili sauce from some artisinal brand. It called for 1/4 cup and I thought it read 1 1/4 cups. So not only did I make a mistake in the ingredient, but it was SO hot, it was inedible. Did I mention Thousand Island can be complicated with 10 ingredients (or more if you make your own mayo)? We ate it anyway, but the next time I made it, it was fabulous (I stuck the the hot chili sauce.)

I find I have the most fun if a recipe can be stopped and started, like a mire poix, stews, soups and such.

edited to add: I have dozens of little dishes for mise en place.

Edited April 14, 2005 by emmapeel (log)

[mizducky]

As others have already said, for anything that involves anything resembling stir-frying, I find a good mise-en-place to be essential--if I don't have all my ingredients properly prepped and within arm's reach of the rangetop as I fire up the wok, the dish is pretty much doomed.

By extension, when I'm making a risotto or a dark roux, I don't want to be walking away to complete any prep, because I just *know* the 90 seconds I'm over at the counter chopping stuff is the precise moment that my cooktop will decide to have a temperature spike and scorch what I've been so carefully cooking. So--all things prepped and at hand in these cases too.

My clean-as-you-go does tend to bog down a little bit as I reach the end of a cooking session, but I do get most items cleaned up (or at least into the dishwasher) as I'm done with them.

And as I said before, any of my mise-en-place containers that contained dry, non-goopy, and/or non-meat ingredients only get a rinse in hot tap water, because IMO that's all they really need (mind you, the hottest water out of my tap is set to Pretty Darned Hot).

Edited April 14, 2005 by mizducky (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

The more I read of the posts on this thread, the more I think of a character on Saturday Night Live some years ago ... played exceptionally fastidiously by the late Phil Hartman, The Anal Retentive Chef:

the transcript from one episode

And how do we throw things out? Okay. We take our paper towel, two pieces, unbroken, lat it out neatly, dump the refuse inside, arranged neatly.. [ assembles the garbage ] ..let's take these little nasties we separated earlier, put that back.. fold over carefully, making sure the corners are square.. and.. we take a piece of aluminum foil, and we place our refuse onto the foil, and fold over very carefully - this way, it won't leak onto the other garbage.

Anyone else a neatness freak?

[PurpleDingo99]

I fly on the seat of my pants for the same reason i cook about 4 dishes a night: I need all the practice I can get. so, i might as well get all the practice I need.

[artisan02]

I got my dozen little glass bowls from Sur La Table (I think) and they are perfect for a tablespoon or two of whatever.  They were cheap, and a little smaller than the Pyrex ramekins.  I bring out the 4 and 6 oz. ramekins for larger amounts.

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I get mine from the Dollar Tree. Oftentimes they have them for about 4/$1 for the small ones, and 3/$1 for slightly bigger ones. I must have about 20 of them now, of all sizes. Maybe more than that.

[auntdot]

Have always had very small kitchens so I learned a system of coping.

First, I always make sure the dishwasher is empty.

As I am finished with a knife, cutting board, pot, measuring cup, you name it, it gets quickly washed and placed in the dishwasher. If I need it again, I take it from the dishwasher and rinse or wash as needed.

I hate having a sink full of dirty items at the end of a meal.

But that is not mise en place.

Sometimes I cook with a recipe, most often do not.

If I am cooking from a recipe, will read it several times to know where I am going.

Will mise as much as I can while things are cooking, no point just watching a heated pot. And try to have en place those items as I need them.

So I guess call me a 'mis en' cook, usually without the place .

Sorry.

[saskanuck]

I'm pretty much a "mess en place" cook, but I do make sure I have all the ingredients I need before starting out.

If it's a recipe I've not made before or very often, and it has many ingredients, then I'll do a mise.

During the week, it's home from work, full steam ahead, because I have two hungry boys that will be underfoot until there's a meal on the table. Weekends are more relaxed, and this is when I cook nicer, more involved meals. I tend to be better organized then as well.

But the food turns out great, even if there is a hell of a mess in the kitchen afterwards.

[BCinBC]

The more I read of the posts on this thread, the more I think of a character on Saturday Night Live some years ago ... played exceptionally fastidiously by the late Phil Hartman, The Anal Retentive Chef:

the transcript from one episode

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Thanks for the link, GG, it provided a good chuckle and reminded me of a character I'd actually forgotten about from Mr Hartman's vast repetoire. I think it's safe to say that this guy and the Swedish Chef of Muppets fame define the two outlying points that everyone else falls between.

[Gul_Dekar]

I actually prefer washing the little bowls more than big plates or vessels. One, because my sink is pretty small and two, if you buy the same make of bowls you can clean em' out first and stack 'em b4 washing thus saving yet more space. And I personally think the high volume to surface area of little bowls make them easier to wash too...but that's an unproven theory.

Try to mis most of the time, but sometimes when you get back late and hungry, it's not as practical. Especially since I only cook for myself.

[Misa]

Since starting school, I've started setting up mise en place more often.

I like knowing that I've got everything and no "now... did I already add that?" and no "Crud! I've got tons of stuff to chop, but the food is already cooking and the stuff I need to chop is supposed to be added RIGHT NOW!"

[Gifted Gourmet]

Thanks for the link, GG, it provided a good chuckle and reminded me of a character I'd actually forgotten about from Mr Hartman's vast repetoire. I think it's safe to say that this guy and the Swedish Chef of Muppets fame define the two outlying points that everyone else falls between.

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Well said BC! I am old enough to remember both of these comedic chefs who both symbolized two extremes in culinary art ... the anal retentive chef made me laugh until tears came to my eyes .. which I blotted with a 100% Egyptian cotton handkerchief and then laundered carefully and ironed neatly, pleating it with care, placing it in my drawer at a right angle to my others of its ilk .. anal retentive GG ..