Regarding Green Salads

Green salads are made from a variety of uncooked, fresh greens usually referred to as salad greens and usually accompanied by a dressing. The combination of greens is a matter of personal taste and seasonal availability. Emphasis should be placed on fresh, crisp, tender, young, clean and well washed greens. Wilted and browned outside leaves should be discarded.

When washing the greens great care should be taken as many types bruise very easily. Fill up a sink with cold water and carefully place the greens into the sink. Agitate them carefully and then allow them to stand in the water for a few moments to allow the sand and dirt to sink to the bottom. Scoop up the greens and place them in a colander in another sink to drain. Drain the sink and rinse it out well. Repeat this procedure on or two more times until no more sand and dirt is evident.

Shake off excess moisture. It is best to dry the greens carefully either in a towel or with the use of a salad spinner before using them or storing them. Do not overload the spinner or the greens will be too heavy and bruise easily. Wrap the greens carefully in paper towel, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate if not using right away. If you just have to use the packaged supermarket salad, wash it even though the label says that it has always been washed. If you are like me, however, once you have tasted greens fresh from the garden you will become spoiled for nothing will ever taste quite as good.

Green salads can be served in numerous combinations either with cooked or uncooked ingredients. What ever the choice freshness and the use of clean dry greens is a key to enjoying a well made green salad. Keep balance in mind when selecting combinations.

The salad bowl is not a compost heap. Just because it exists does not mean that every salad ingredient need be used in one salad. Care should be taken not to allow any certain ingredient to become overly pious but all elements should successfully compliment one another that will please both the eyes and the palate.

I need to say a word or two about dressing even though this is not the focus of this article. One of the reasons that the greens need to be dry is so that the dressing adheres to it and does not become watered down from excess moisture clinging to the greens. A skillfully flavored salad dressing is essential to success in salad preparation. It should be appropriate in flavor, texture and color to a particular salad. Herbs, flavorings, oils and vinegars may be blended in intricate amounts, but should always heighten the flavor and crispness of the greens or other salad ingredients, not drown them. The dressing of the greens should be done just prior to serving.

Most salads are served cold and thus should be served on a chilled plate or salad bowl. For presentation sake try artfully arranging the salad with any garnishes being used rather than just dumping it into a bowl. A fresh green salad is a beautiful thing to behold.

Note: Regarding Greens to Be Cooked

Greens that are being cooked should follow the same freshness and washing regimen as greens being served raw.

BACK TO BASICS

Mise en Place Part 2, Planning and Organizing

Cooking at home is different in many respects to cooking professionally. However, professional principles can be adapted and employed by home cooks. Knowing the goals and how to reach them will help to reduce time and increase efficiency of food preparation. Mise en place means to put in place or to have everything in its place. It begins with the recipe. The goal is to do as much work in advance as possible without loosing the quality of the food.

Even on the simplest level preparation is necessary. Most seasoned cooks do it without giving much thought to what we are actually doing. Novices learn this over time, practice and some hard knocks. You have to assemble your tools, ready your work area, assemble your ingredients, wash, trim, cut, prepare, and measure your raw materials, and prepare your equipment (i.e. preheat the oven, line baking sheets, etc.).

Ok, so here is the challenge. Some of the work must be done ahead but most foods, not all mind you, are at their best quality immediately after they are prepared. Remember the goal: to do as much work in advance as possible without loss of quality. Keep in mind that time is relative. We could be speaking of minutes, hours or even days depending upon the preparation.

In professional food service we look at a variety of preparation styles but the one most home cooks use is what is termed as Set Meal Service. In other words, all our food is cooked as needed in small batches, and, hopefully, everyone eats at the same time. No one I know who cooks at home cooks to order as people are ready to eat. This preparation style, known professionally as Extended Meal Service or A La Carte, requires an even more extensive preparation style. When preparing stir fries or quick sautés at home we do, however, utilize a modified version of this preparation style.

Now we come to the solution. First plan preparation carefully breaking each menu item down into its stages of production. With time and experience this comes quite naturally. Figure out how long it takes to prepare each stage of each recipe, beginning with the preparations that take the longest. Determine what may be done in advance. First assemble and prepare the ingredients then move on to those stages of preparation that may be done in advance without loss of quality. Final cooking should be a close to service time as possible for maximum freshness. Some dishes may be completed well in advance and merely heated or finished whereas some need to be cooked just prior to service.

Once you begin to grasp this concept, as any experienced cook knows, you may multitask several preparations at a time increasing your efficiency and reducing the amount of time you have to spend on meal preparation. Just keep the goal in mind: to do as much work in advance as possible without loss of quality.

BACK TO BASICS

Mise en Place Part 1, The Recipe
Mise en place is the culinary term used for all of the preparation needed to do in advance of actual cooking. Literally it means to put in place or to have everything in its place. It begins with the recipe.

Technically speaking, a recipe is a set of instructions for producing a certain dish in order to duplicate a desired preparation. Its purpose then is to have a precise record of ingredients, their amounts and the way in which they are combined. Generally a recipe contains at minimal the information such as the name of the recipe, the yield, the ingredients and the amounts to be used, directions and cooking times.

In my years spent in teaching in culinary academia students the first thing to be blamed for the failure of a dish was the recipe. Granted there are recipes that do not work either from misprints, editing error or not being accurately tested. Recipes for baked goods are much more sensitive to this as baked goods depend on precise combination of ingredients. There are numerous other factors however that can attribute to a recipe not working.

No matter how detailed a written recipe is the recipe can’t tell you everything. Cooking with some modicum of judgment is required. The difference between and experienced cook and a novice is the ability to make judgments about certain variables.

Food products are not uniform. Age, size, variety, degree of ripeness, brand, thickness, etc. are examples of ingredient variation.
Kitchens do not have the same equipment. Ranges and ovens each have their own temperament and pot and pans can vary according to the material used for construction, size, conductivity and thickness.

It is impossible to give exact instructions for many processes. What is moderate heat? What is cook until tender? How thick is a thick sauce? It is also important to understand that cooking times given in a recipe are relative and depend on a numerous number of factors. It is up to the cook to learn when a food is done. Cooking times given in recipes with exception are meant as a guideline. This is why when students ask me how long to cook something I generally reply, tongue-in-cheek, “‘til it’s done.”

Before you embark on making a recipe for the first time read through it thoroughly once, twice and three times. As you study the recipe apply your knowledge and think about the recipe in relation to the skills that you have. Access the basic cooking methods involved. Are you familiar with the technique of the method or do you need to find out more? What are the characteristics and the functions of the ingredients being used? What are the relative cooking times?

The more knowledge and experience you possess the easier it will become and you will know when you can make substitutions, alterations