I'm Just Here for the Food_ Version 2.0 - Alton Brown [2]
Do the instructions call for tools? If so, how specifically? A well-written recipe will be specific when it matters and general when it doesn’t. If you lack particular gear, ponder substitutes. Generally speaking, pots and pans are exchangeable as long as the size (either dimension or volume) is close to the same. However, if a recipe calls for a non-stick pan, there’s probably a good reason. Requests pertaining to glass or metal baking dishes should be heeded, as should those for the use of “non-reactive” vessels (see Reactivity). A whisk may be replaced by a hand mixer, though it usually doesn’t work the other way around. A stick blender can often replace a bar blender, and a good food processor can often replace a chef’s knife.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE RULES I COOK BY
• Never measure what you can weigh.
• Seasonings do not have to be carefully measured unless it’s important that a certain ratio be kept between ingredients (like in a dry cure).
• Unless acid or salt content are an issue, you can substitute just about any water-type liquid for another. The taste will vary, but the consistency won’t.
• Types of liquid can also be tinkered with. I’m not saying I would replace red wine with buttermilk, but I’m not saying that I wouldn’t either. I constantly substitute one kind of vinegar for another, and the same applies to wines, spirits, and juices.
• If the dish in question is a baked good, don’t mess around with the recipe unless it is to make proven substitutions (using baking soda and cream of tartar in place of baking powder, for example).
• If the food is an existing hunk or hunks of something to be cooked, you can generally mess with seasonings, herbs, spices, and so on to your heart’s content.
• Foods within the same family can be substituted for one another (green onions in place of leeks, for instance), although the results will not taste exactly the same.
• Ingredients with similar flavor profiles can also be substituted for one another. For instance, anchovies can stand in for capers.
• Never do in a covered pan what you can do in an oven.
The one place you shouldn’t substitute tools is in baking. Baking is all about Mother Nature, and as we all know, it’s not nice to fool (or fool with) Mother Nature. If a cake recipe says “8-inch round cake pan,” go to the store and buy three or four 8-inch round cake pans. You’ll be glad you did.
Once you’ve pondered the materials, look over any times that are mentioned. Even if the time that a particular step takes is a little nebulous, a good recipe should give you approximates. If not, guess for yourself. Add up all the times and make sure you don’t have any issues. Many novice cooks have decided at 5:15 P.M. to embark upon cassoulet and then went to bed hungry. Review the verbs sear, grill, roast, fry, boil, braise—are you sure you know what they all mean?
You’re almost ready to go to the kitchen. I usually run down to the office and make a copy of the recipe and stash the book or magazine. Not only are copies easier to work with—ever tried holding a book to your exhaust hood with a magnet?—you can make notes on them without having to ponder posterity. When the dust clears you can write your summary on the back and stash the thing in a three-ring binder. (Nerdy yes, but this kind of thinking landed me a television show.)
Now to the kitchen. Assemble the mise en place3. The concept is simple: wash, chop, and measure all ingredients (or software, as I like to think of it) and gather all hardware before you start cooking. It doesn’t matter what you’re cooking or whether you’ll be doing it in five minutes or five hours, mise en place can save your hide. This is especially true when you’re in a hurry (a quick dinner), bleary-eyed (breakfast), or busy being charming (a dinner party where everyone comes into the kitchen and demands that you be charming).