Mise en place pronounced "mees in plass" is a French term for "put in place" and is used in the culinary world for gathering the ingredients, utensils, pots/pans, etc. for whatever recipe or service that you are about to prepare. In other words, it means to get everything out and ready to go, BEFORE you start to cook. This always means that you have to read the recipe (or instructions on the side of the box) before you begin cooking. I guess that's what I need to do before starting this blog. My good friend George (husband of one of my very best friends) helped me get started and said that I could spend a lot of time finding the right back drop, clipart, fonts and widgets to make this thing look just right. It can also be a huge diversion from what I actually set out to do which was write about cooking. But you don't wait til all the lights are green before starting your road trip.
I think in some ways the need for me to write has always been there. The need for me to eat, I was born with, but the need for me to cook arrived when I went to college. There I lived alone in a nice little house trailer own by an elderly lady who knew Moses personally. She wasn't really that old, but to a older teen she seemed so.
I was a picky eater to some extent: green beans, corn, broccoli, asparagus and artichokes were the only things that constituted as vegetables. The latter two were always smoothered in butter. But when I was alone, the need for me to eat won out and I started cooking. I found that I was willing to try new foods if I could prepare them myself.
I lived about 30 miles from my grandmother and would visit her every weekend. She was a great cook and loved having someone to cook for and with. We started eating Chinese food together and wanted to try making our own, so she bought me my first international cuisine cookbook. I started at the beginning and cooked my way through to the end! It was a great experience and we learned together how to shop in the "Ethnic" section of the grocery store. We even ventured out to an Asian Foodmarket for some hard to find ingredients. In between those trials, Sr. (my name for my grandmother) would fix old family favorites for me and share her recipes in her recipe box. She loved new recipes too and was a sucker for kitchen gadgets, something that has rubbed off on me 100%.
Thus started my culinary road. I have rarely strayed from cutting out new recipes and reading cookbooks from beginning to end like one reads a novel. God placed many great cooks in my path and sent me off on many an eating and cooking adventure that grew my skills in the kitchen.
But what have I to offer you? Me. Not all of me, just the part that knows how to cook. You see along these different roads I have travelled, I have heard the same thing over and over again. Mainly it is the disbelief that they(you) can cook well. Well to quote a famous TV chef "This isn't rocket science!" And I'm here to show you how or at least help you along the way.
My goal here is to help you gently put down that box of Hamburger Helper and try to make dinner from a recipe or from – now hold on to your seat – scratch using your own imagination. It’s not that hard and with a little guidance it can be very tasty.
Every few days I’ll post some recipes from either my cookbook or from my kitchen along with tips and techniques. I’ll also try and give you some shopping guidance too. You would be surprised how many people don't know how to pick a good pear from the produce section.
But for now your first assignment is to get your mise en place ready for learning. Until my next post….Bon Appetite!
