A Kitchen Survival Guide
Written by Clifton Beresford Monday January 30, 2012 12:00am
From an over-salted dish to a fallen soufflé to burnt meat … no matter what your skill level is in the kitchen, sometimes a disaster is unavoidable. Restaurants have processes in place that help them avoid major kitchen gaffes, however, and these can help you when you encounter them. Paul Schaefer, executive chef and purchasing manager for Rocky Top Hospitality, whose five Triangle restaurants consistently rate among the most popular local dining choices,says the secret to preventing blunders is all in the advance preparation and setup.
How Professional Chefs Prevent Disasters
Take the common mistake of overcooking food, for instance. Schaefer prevents overcooking through careful preparation of proteins—whether steak, chicken or fish—using marinades of oil, spices and acidic liquids such as wine, lemon or lime juice. “Acidic liquids break down the proteins, while the oil and spices infuse moisture and flavor,” he says. At the same time, the acid kills bacteria and “cooks” the protein a little ahead of time, so that when the customer’s order comes into the kitchen, all Schaefer has to do is pop the meat into the oven.
“When baking fish, I cover it with an aluminum foil tent to keep the moisture in and essentially steam the fish,” says Schaefer. “If you place sliced lemons on the fish, however, the acidity will cause discoloration of the foil or even eat through it, so be sure to avoid direct contact of the foil with the food.”
Lemons are a staple in Schaefer’s kitchen, and he always keeps them on hand. In baking recipes, Schaefer says that lemon juice mixed with milk can substitute for buttermilk if you run out—another common kitchen disaster.
Are you making Irish soda bread, pancakes or biscuits and discover you have no buttermilk? Schaefer advises, “Mix a cup of milk to a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar, let it stand for 15 minutes, and you will have a buttermilk substitute.”
Everything In Its Place
To a professional chef, the French phrase “Mis en place” means “everything in its place,” according to Chef Jeff Bane MLD, CEC, CCE and dean of culinary education North Carolina/curriculum program coordinator at The Chef’s Academy. Bane, featured weekly on My Carolina Today’s cooking segment airing at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday on WNCN/TV/NBC 17, recommends this as a basic kitchen strategy.
“Professional chefs have everything right where they want it,” Bane says, “so they don’t have to leave their station. They know what’s involved in a recipe before they start, so they are prepared with exactly what is needed and have all their ingredients and tools at hand.”
Read Your Recipe All the Way Through Before You Begin
Bane specializes in helping viewers to learn new cooking techniques that they can try at home. He says that often an inexperienced cook (including students at The Chef’s Academy) will fail to read a recipe all the way through and ensure preparedness before they start. Instead they will read step one of the recipe, then do step one, then go on to read step two, do step two, and so on.
“If you don’t know what’s coming, when something goes wrong, you’re not prepared for it,” Bane says. “You tend to panic, because you don’t know where your colander is for your pasta, and next thing you know, your pasta is overcooked.”
Bane advises cooks to read through a given recipe and apply it to their particular kitchen. “For a chef, it is a no-brainer how to make New England clam chowder,” he says. “But if I go to a new kitchen, my clam chowder won’t end up the same, because the work area is different. If you’re rendering bacon for the clam chowder, for instance, and you’re used to walking only a few feet away to grab things, and you go to a big hotel kitchen where you have to walk 30 feet away, it will affect how that recipe turns out.” Bane adds, “You have to get your mental ‘mis en place’ together, as well as your physical ‘mis en place’ for your pots and pans and equipment.”
Adjustments are easier for professional chefs. “When we make products over and over again,” Bane says, “we understand the nuances of recipes and how to adapt. For instance, recipes written by non-professionals use terms that mean something very literal to me. The word ‘sauté’ means to cook very quickly on high heat, but some recipes will say, ‘sauté the chicken for five minutes on each side’ when they actually mean to pan fry the chicken.”
The Physical Arrangement of Your Kitchen
The physical arrangement of your kitchen directly impacts your cooking success, says Shanna Middleton, owner and broker in charge of Real-eStage, a full-service
real estate firm and staging company in one offering a complete range of home improvement, staging and realty services. She recommends a triangle arrangement of refrigerator, oven and sink that places each in close working proximity. “When designing your kitchen, think carefully about how you work,” Middleton says. “For instance, the opening of any of your appliances should not impede your access to cabinets.”
Popular designs often include center islands, which are very functional and can also include a sink or a cooktop as well as storage, according to Middleton. “The center island should include plumbing and electrical,” she says. “A well-equipped and well-designed kitchen will facilitate functionality and help the resale value of your home.”
ABOUT ROCKY TOP HOSPITALITY
Six different restaurants and a thriving events facility and catering business operate under the Rocky Top Hospitality name: The Twisted Fork Grill, Market & Bar, The Red Room Tapas Lounge, Draft Carolina Burgers & Beers, The Mash House Brewery & Chophouse, Tribeca Tavern with two locations in Raleigh and Cary, N.C., and Rocky Top Catering & Events. For more information, visit http://www.rockytophospitality.com.
ABOUT THE CHEF’S ACADEMY:
The Chef’s Academy is the Culinary Division of Harrison College, a 108-year-old, nationally accredited institution that offers more than 30 degree programs in five schools of study. For more information about The Chef’s Academy, visit http://www.thechefsacademy.com.
ABOUT REAL-eSTAGE:
Locally owned and operated in Cary, Real-eStage oversees the entire home selling process including home staging, marketing, market trends and analysis, contract negotiations and closing details. For more information, please call (919) 481-3808 or visit http://Real-eStage.com/.
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