By Amanda Laird of Mise En Place

Sometimes the thought of walking into your kitchen to prepare a meal, or even a light snack, can be scarier than a gossip magazine’s stars without their makeup issue.  Okay, maybe not that scary, but definitely overwhelming. 

By making an effort to build a few good habits you can make your kitchen a little less frightening and your culinary adventures a little more fun.

 1. Read the recipe the whole way through.  And then read it again.

Reading your recipe the whole way through before you begin can save yourself from any number of kitchen disasters.  The last thing you need is to discover in your recipe that your tomato sauce needs to simmer for another two hours just as your dinner guests arrive at the door.  Always read the recipe the whole way through.  And then read it again, and, if you have time, you might want to read it just once more.

 2. Prepare a mise en place.

“Mise en place” translates to “everything in place.”  Once you’ve read your recipe, take the time to prepare and measure all your ingredients before you begin cooking or baking.  This will help your preparation go much smoother, and will help to reduce mistakes or accidents.

 3. Make YouTube your sous chef.

The first time I made bread I had no idea what the recipe meant by “mix until you have a shaggy dough”.  Not wanting to take my chances I jumped online and found a video instruction of the exact recipe I was making.  Online video sites like YouTube offer up instruction, both amateur and professional, on everything from knife skills, to bread kneading, to how to poach an egg. 

 4. Invest in a good knife.

Notice the singular: knife not knives.  With one quality knife kept sharp and in good condition in your drawer you’ll be able to conquer almost anything in your kitchen.   Chose the best that you can afford, either a chef’s knife or a Japanese Santoku, and be sure to keep it sharp.  There are a few things worse than a dull blade.