Let's Get Started!

by Erin King (née Sernasie)

As a personal chef and busy individual myself, I know the value of time. In my business, time literally is money. I also realize that cooking, for many people, is a very daunting task; it can be stressful to face the kitchen after a day of work, especially if you have a family to cook for. For these reasons - to save time and stress - I have developed some strategies in the kitchen to make cooking a little easier, less time-consuming, and less intimidating.

In these next few articles I will walk you through the world of kitchen multi-tasking and efficient cooking. For example, cooking in bulk can be a wonderful way to provide you and your family with nutritious meals for the whole week. Being able to provide yourself with pre-portioned healthy meals is, in my opinion, comforting and empowering in this fast-food world of pre-made, fat-laden, additive-rich convenience foods. By the end of this series of articles you will have the knowledge you need in order to spend one afternoon cooking to provide dinners for a week. When you do it this way it can be a fun, fulfilling creative release - and you get to eat your art!

The first thing we will look at is equipment. By equipment I mean everything from a grill to containers. If your kitchen is stocked with a few key tools, you will be able to do anything!

You do not need the best of everything if you cannot afford it - I spent the first year of my personal chef career, for example, without proper knives. (Yes, the chefs of the world are aghast right now; I can just see the scorn in their eyes. But I was just a regular person with a knack for food and a desire to work). I would go to client's homes and use what ever they had: the good, the bad and the ugly. In all the years I cooked professionally in restaurants, I used their knives. I do like Henkel knives, I have to say, but there are many other good ones on the market. Go to a kitchen store, and talk to the sales people, STAY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET, and find something with a comfortable grip and a good warranty. I have also found that restaurant supply stores will sell you their well-loved knives for a discount if you want something of professional grade and you are unable to spend the money on expensive ones. Community colleges that offer chef's courses also often sell knives in their bookstore. These knives can be a good idea if you want an economical and durable quality knife.

Do not get caught up in this process - use what you have if you must, just get started. I do recommend having one good serrated knife, one good chef's knife and one good paring knife. These will give you enough variety to do the different jobs necessary when preparing meals.

Another great piece of gear to have is an indoor, countertop grill. During the cooking process, when you are using all of your burners and your oven, this is yet another cooking surface to use in within the same time frame. The more things you can get cooking at the same time, the more time you will save. I recommend one with grills that come off and that are dishwasher safe. (The ones that you must clean as one piece are a nightmare, by the way - they are hard to clean, and convenience is what we are going for here). Anything you can throw in the dishwasher has my vote. However, never wash your good knives in the dishwasher; they are worthy of the hand wash!

Baking sheets and large cake pans are a necessity, as are aluminum foil and parchment paper. These all work together, as I will explain in another article. A good quality digital meat thermometer is a must; do not scrimp on this item. You will also need containers to store and heat the food. They should be made of glass that can go from fridge/freezer to oven (or microwave, although I do not like that heating method), and have sealable lids. Be very careful when you buy them as some containers cannot go into the oven but are not clearly marked. I have bought the most expensive of these containers and the cheapest, and personally, I like the ones I found at a local department store better than the higher end ones. Don't be fooled by price when it comes to these items - you do not need to spend a fortune. You do, however, need to have the right size - enough to hold the whole meal - and the right number. Square or rectangle-shaped ones are best as they stack neatly in the fridge. Buy enough to hold everything you are making so you are not scrambling at the last minute for containers.

Make sure you have at least two cutting boards, one for vegetables and one for meat. Keep them far away from each other and make sure to wash and sanitize the meat board thoroughly between uses. Separate the jobs - for example, cut all of your chicken at once - and complete one task at a time, cleaning as you go. It is a very good idea to have a sink or small pail with bleach and soap handy to clean the meat board. When multitasking, cleanliness is a must.

It is also good to have a sink or bucket of cold water with whatever you use to clean your veggies with. You can just dunk and rinse as you go, or do them all at the beginning and set them aside. There are some nice natural veggie washes out there but I find a little bit of soap and water works just as well. Remember, you are rinsing off the soap, not eating it. If you rinse well there should be no problem.

Some other necessities include at least two spatulas, a good quality pair of tongs, a whisk and lots of bowls for mixing, marinating and to use as holding vessels. A good steel colander can serve double duty for a steamer and can go where no plastic colander dares to tread. A large spoon with holes is an absolute must, since we are going to use our boiling water for many different tasks and dumping and then boiling a whole new pot is, in my books, a sin. It wastes time and energy.

As far as pots and pans go, I recommend having one large pan with a lid that can go in the oven as well as on the stove. Two pots to go on top of the stove and one good frying pan made of nonstick material are essential. If you can afford to have another pan without nonstick coating, that would be great. A large pot for boiling pasta and making lots of sauce and soup is also a nice addition, but not a must. If you can afford good pots, it is a worthwhile investment but, as I mentioned before, you can probably make due with what you've got - so don't go spending money you don't have!

Well, there is some food for thought. If you are well-prepared, this type of cooking is a breeze. It is fun, satisfying, and also creative. "Cooking is at once one of the simplest and most gratifying of the arts, but to cook well one must love and respect food." Craig Claiborne

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