Habits That Work in the BostonZest Kitchen

If you watch an experienced cook in the kitchen, you could pick up some good habits. There are things they do without thinking that should be part of all our cooking routines.

Work Clean

Wash your hands when you enter the kitchen to prepare to cook. This habit should be part of your food safety plan. As a person who prepares food for yourself and your family, you should be as serious about the topic of food safety as the restaurant chef who holds a Food Safety Certification.

If you are making a number of items, prepare the ones that will be used raw (such as the compound butter above) before you work with items that will be cooked, like the carrots and celery in this photo.

Beware of cross contamination. Use separate cutting boards and knives for meat and fresh foods or wash these items completely in hot, soapy water before changing what you are cutting. And, work on these raw proteins last. Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to cut them.

Cross contamination is also a factor if you are cooking for someone with a serious food allergy. 

In our small space, we have to clean as we go or there wouldn’t be any counter space left. While involved in a major cooking session, you'll see a container with hot, soapy water for us to toss in soiled utensils as we work.

Hand wash and dry your knives as soon as you finish using them. Knives in a bucket of soapy water are dangerous. Knives sitting on a counter among other cooking detritus are just waiting to cut someone.

Mise en Place and "Meanwhile"

There are times, like when you’re making a stir-fry, risotto, or a complex new recipe, when you should set up a complete collection of ready-to-use ingredients. Chef Sara Moulton came up with the term “meanwhile” for times when you should gather all the ingredients and equipment you need to make a dish and then get started.

Moulton suggests you, “Decide in what order you should prep the ingredients. For a pasta dish, for example, you should start by getting a large pot of water on to boil; meanwhile you can heat the oil in a skillet slowly while you chop the onion. Add the onion to the oil and cook it while you mince the garlic. Add the garlic to the onion while you chop the tomatoes, etc.”

Do you have a favorite habit that works in your kitchen? Share with us and our readers in the comments below!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)