Food Tips and Techniques

Today we'll explore some of the very basic elements of putting together a good meal. We all know from a nutritional standpoint that to plan a well balanced meal, we need to incorporate fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. The USDA claims that the "average American diet overemphasizes foods high in saturated fats, particularly animal products such as meat and cheese, and processed and refined foods full of sweeteners, hydrogenated shortenings, sodium and empty calories. "

In my mind, the safest way to insure that the ones you love eat well balanced meals free of man-made additives, is to cook them yourself using fresh, wholesome ingredients. I am not a proponent of "organic" products as I believe they increase the cost of your meals while deriving a minimal benefit. If you choose to use them, that is a personal choice and one that must be weighed against the added cost of the ingredients. In my opinion, getting fresh produce, fresh meats/poultry/fish and dairy products are critical to the taste and "likeability" of the end result, your meal....

Some of you have asked me to explain more about the fundamentals of managing a kitchen, insuring you have the right tools for the job, and finally what I call, task management (i.e. insuring all the steps come together at the right time). I will break this down over the next few blogs to address the components in sufficient detail. We will start in this blog by talking about the equipment that make it possible for you to do your job well.

Securing a set of good knives is one of the first steps toward readying your kitchen for work in the safest, most efficient way. Just like a tennis player, or golfer, or an artist would prepare for their sport or profession by securing the best racket, club or tool, so should even a home cook give that same level of attention to securing a good personal collection of knives. These knives will become as important as your own fingers, an extension of your hands if you will.

There are several schools of thought about knives but I have learned that German or Japanese made knives are some of the best. You'll want knives that can be sharpened, you'll need to store them properly and always use an appropriate cutting surface. Cutting on metal or glass will dull your knives so to prevent this use wooden or composition cutting boards.

At a minimum, you'll want a Chef's knife, which you will use for chopping, slicing or mincing chores. A Boning knife with a 6 inch blade which you will use to separate raw meat or fish from the bone or skin. A Slicing knife used to slice cooked meat and a Paring knife with a 2 - 4 inch blade. My favorite knife is a 7" Santuko knife which I use for all my slicing and chopping chores.

We next look to what I would call your "hand tools." Those small tools that supplement your knives which no kitchen should be without.

1. Swivel-bladed peeler - use this to peel skin from vegetables and fruits
2. Melon Baller - use to scoop balls or ovals from vegetables and fruits.
3. Kitchen fork - use to remove meats to carving board and steady them for cutting.
4. Spatula - use for turning pancakes or grilled foods.
5. Whisks - use to beat, blend and whip foods.
6. Rolling pin - use to roll out dough
7. Measuring spoons - use for most recipes
8. Thermometer - use an "instant read" to measure foods internal temperature
9. Liquid Measuring Cups - use for measuring liquids.
10. Dry Measuring Cups - use for measuring dry ingredients, flour, sugar, etc.
11. Colander - use for straining or draining foods.

And last but not least you'll want to have some mixing bowls. These usually come in sets of 3-4 bowls however, I have purchased additional bowls which I also use for food prep bowls.

To complete your kitchen tool set, you'll need a good set of pots and pans for stovetop cooking. I prefer to use a heavy base, stainless steel variety as this provides for easiest clean up after you're done. I only have 2 sauce pans and 1 stock pot and 1 dutch oven, however I have several saute pans which I can take from the stove top to the oven to finish the cooking process.

These are quite simply the "basic" tools I believe you'll need to run an efficient kitchen. Later this week, we'll talk about managing the process of bringing your meal together. There is a term used by the French which best describes getting ready to cook, Mise en Place. We'll explore this in our next blog.

Bon Appetit!!