Thursday, April 21, 2011

i love mise en place

recent mise-en-place


I have found over the last few years that I am really a "mise en place" type of girl. I've tried to resist it. Doesn't it make so much more sense to start your dish cooking (sauteing the onions, perhaps) while you finish the rest of the chopping? It does make more sense in general, and it certainly should for me, since I always seem to be short on time in the evenings whilst making dinner. But darn it if the food on the stovetope doesn't invariably cook too fast while I'm not nearly done with the chopping! I find that that is what happens frequently, and I'd just rather not deal with the stress of having to rush through my chopping.

Enter the mise en place, a French term meaning "everything in its place." How comforting is it to see all the colorful bowls lined up and ready to be added to the recipe at just the right time? That's about right.

dinner in spring

One thing I love about spring is eating dinner in the light of day. The table looks so much prettier in the light.

black bean soup and hearty cornbread

Here is what I made on Wednesday soup night--a new black bean soup (recipe found here). Although I did like this soup, and I'm looking forward to eating a bowl tomorrow for lunch, this probably won't be a keeper for us. It was pretty time consuming and Faith complained that it was too sweet (I didn't mind it). Oh well. There are always more recipes to try.

9 comments:

Kory said...

Ah yes, that's me as well. If it's not all prepped ahead of time dinner can turn out to be a total disaster! I envy those who can chop and cook at the same time!

Anonymous said...

Me too! When I bake I also like to have all of the ingredients out on the counter before I begin. By the way, the table runner you made inspired me to make my own. Thank you!

Its_Lily said...

Hey, I didn't know there was a name for that style of cooking. It's me too! I love having all the different foods piled up and waiting their turn to go into the pot. It just makes the cooking so much more fun...for me.

Nancy said...

I love doing this too, even if I have to wash a few more (pretty) bowls. I can't always manage it, but it makes the actual cooking feel less rushed and it makes the process more enjoyable!

love the pop of color in the first photo~

Karen said...

i am always calling out, "mise en place!" when i cook. yes, it is much more calming and easier to cook that way. i still think it's funny that we always find the exact same dishes at goodwill!

Kimberly said...

I do the same thing! If not, then something always ends up over cooked. Such lovely photos!

krista said...

i live by mise en place....i try to prep everything while the kids are napping so that I can just throw it together at dinner time....it makes everything so much less stressful!

Rifffkir said...

I would love to prep everything before I start cooking but I am always short on time and often inspiration - often I chop and cook onions and garlic whilst I decide what it is I am going to cook.

My 3 year old son loves to cook and my husband lets him chop veggies...this kinda freaks me out and also slows me down but I have just found a child safe knife so if you fancy large and odd shaped veggies in your food maybe your boys could do some of your prep!!!

Charisse said...

I am all about little dishes with my chopped ingredients. I bought special little glass blue bowls just for that purpose. And I use them alll the time. I like to know I have everything in place. It makes it especially easy when working with a new recipe that I am not sure about the timing on.

I haven't stopped by in quite some time because I kind of quit blogging for a bit. But now...I have moved my blog and am back to semi-regularly blogging. :)