Cookaholics Bulletin Board

What Dave said, for one. Other reasons why I usually (but don't always) do mise en place:

• For foods which cook quickly -- stir-fry, omlettes, fresh pasta sauces -- mise en place is essential because you won't have time to prep stuff after cooking starts.
• I often underestimate the amount of time it will take me to prep certain ingredients.
• I'm really good at forgetting about an ingredient until I need it. ("Honey? Will you go to the store?")
• If you're going to cook 2 or 3 dishes at the same time, mise en place is essential.
• "Assembly" dishes, like lasagna, are easier if you have all of your layers laid out ahead of time.

However, ways I don't do the line cook thing include:

• I generally make little piles on the cutting board or counter instead of using little bowls. Our dishwasher fills up too quickly as it is.
• If ingredients are going into the pot/pan/dish at the same time, they get put in a pile/bowl together. Heck, I have some recipes which are written like this.
• If some ingredients need longer cooking times, those go on first while I prep the other ingredients. Caramelizing onions or cooking lentils, for example.

My wife USED to agree with Sara. After she left ingredients out a couple of times and substituted the wrong ones (ie baking soda for baking powder) her view started to change. Now I notice that things are laid out ahead of time is at least a modified mise en place approach.

My view is that if you want to reproduce the same result with a particular recipe, it is essential. It forces you to concentrate on weights or measurements without the distractions that occur when you do it on the fly. However, in a home setting or informal situation, if you are not trying to make the same dish taste exactly the same as the time before, it is not so essential and does make for more dishes to wash. So yes and no, I will straddle the fence on this one.

God, I can relate, although given that our nearest store is a 45 minute round trip, I've gotten much better about this.

Amy

Amy,

Yeah, I don't know how I'd get used to that. I'm *so* accustomed to being able to pick up almost anything I need in 10-15min. For one thing, I'd need a much bigger fridge, and probably a full-sized freezer as well.

Actually, I go through this when visiting in-laws; like you, the nearest small grocery is 20min drive each way, and that one doesn't have a lot of selection. I have to draw up a list at the beginning of the week and try to figure out what I need, which means that I often have to substitute for stuff I've forgotten, and pretty much always overbuy, getting ingredients for meals I run out of time to make. This last visit, I got the ingredients for Tuna in Adobo with tortillas and beans, and never made it. Thank goodness most of that is dry goods, and the tuna was already frozen. I don't know how you suburbanites and country folk cope.

Anyway, mise en place doesn't help you much to avoid forgetting ingredients when you can't go buy them, although I suppose it does let you know early on that you'll need to substitute or make something else entirely ("Going to be difficult to make Aglio e Olio with no garlic ...").

Josh,

I live and die by my iPhone app Grocery Gadget. Anything and everything I think of goes onto it. I'd be eating Mac n' Cheese every night (except I'd probably forget the cheese without the app) if I didn't plan my shopping.

Amy

I agree with Sarah as well. It's a time factor for me. I am much quicker chopping as I go.

Laurie

Essential for Marilyns toffee, I made 9 lbs Sunday morning.

For recipes I make often, I typically have an 'optimized' route. Often I convert them to weights, and do combinations into bowls by tare. For some very complex recipes, I'll re-write the recipe. I shaved an hour off my prep/cook time for cassoulet this way.

For a typical recipe, I do mise en place. If there is obvious long downtime ("simmer for 20 minutes"), I'll delay some of the prep to the gap. Well written recipes are in order (hence double-entry ingredients) and grouped, and make this easier. For shorter downtime, I clean things and keep the kitchen in order; this time is well spent and comes off the post-cooking time. In many cases I'll have multiple dishes, and the shorter ones will be prepared in the downtimes of the longer ones.

I almost never find myself doing nothing or wasting time in cook periods, so don't find mise en place increases the *total* amount of time in the kitchen. It does increase the dirty dishes.

When making granola I gather all ingredients on my working counter and place them after use to my left counter (spices and extracts are above there) or to the counter next to the fridge if they are from there. If it's left on the counter I forgot to put it in the bowl. That's the way I work a lot these days, although like many here I prep ahead of time for parties. For everyday cooking though I use the "counter" method.

I do the same, Jean. Only when I'm cooking Chinese or similar do I do a mise en place. If I do, I put everything on a paper plate in little piles. Works for me.
fitzie