Getting ready to cook

      ORGANIZATION

      Learning to cook like a master chef is sure to be a fun and rewarding experience, but it is a talent you will likely need to perfect over time and with some effort. The first lesson every young chef needs to learn is the practice of mise en place,literally “everything in its place.” Before you begin to cook, read through the recipe from start to finish and get out the ingredients and equipment you’ll need.Prepare the ingredients in advanceas much as possible and assemble them neatly around your work area for easy access. The recipes in this book will note the best tools for particular tasks, but there are a few basic tools you should try to have on hand for essential food preparation and cooking techniques.

      KNIVES

      Start with a basic set of knives, then add more specialty knives as you determine your cutlery needs. A paring knife has a small, tapered blade that is best for small-scale work such as peeling, coring, trimming, and slicing small fruits and vegetables. A chefs’ knife has a large, tapered blade well suited to a variety of kitchen tasks, such as chopping, dicing, and slicing medium to large fruits and vegetables. A long serrated knife, commonly known as a bread knife, is designed to slice through thick, soft breads or cakes. A small serrated knife is a good tool for slicing through smaller soft fruits and vegetables, such as citrus and tomatoes. A carving knife has a long, narrow blade designed to easily slice through meat and maneuver around bones.Pair it with acarving fork to steady the item you are cutting.

      POTS & PANS

      Twosaucepans, one 2 quart and one 4 quart, are best for stovetop cooking. Use a large pot, 6 quarts or more, for boiling water,making soup, and cooking large ingredients. A sauté panhas high, straightsides to help prevent food from bouncing out of the pan when it is being stirred, turned, or flipped; it usually also has a thicker bottom designed to conduct and hold heat well, and a lid for containingevaporation while cooking. A frying pan, also known as a skillet, is a broad pan with sides that flare outward, making it useful for cooking foods that must be stirred often or slid from the pan; it’s best to have at least two frying pans, one small and one large, touse depending on the amount and size of the ingredients you are cooking.

      COOKING TOOLS

      Within a shortreach of your cooking and preparationarea should beall the simple tools you will commonly need: a wooden spoonor other large spoon for stirring, a silicone spatulafor folding ingredients together, a metal spatulafor flipping ingredients while cooking (or a wooden one for nonstick pans), a slotted spoonfor scooping up solid ingredients while leaving liquid behind, tongs for turning ingredients while cooking, a wire whiskfor quickly blending liquid ingredients, and a strainerfor draining liquid from solid ingredients.

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