enable us to avoid having our little bailiwicks declared a disaster area.
When you are getting ready to prepare a certain dish, first read the recipe all the way through. If the first reading doesn’t give you a clear picture of what is to be done, read it through again with extra care. Make a note of all the ingredients that are necessary, and of all the equipment—and make sure that all are on hand before you start your preparation. If this is your first try at following the recipe, keep your cookbook open for reference. You might even want to do this for at least the first several times you prepare a dish.
I’d like to know just who it was that said that a cook should cook without a book. Musicians, doctors, lawyers, and even writers make constant reference to their libraries, and I think that a cook should have the same prerogative. Of course, there will be items that you will learn well enough through practice that you won’t have to make reference to a book, and that’s all well and good. But there are others where particular attention to detail is of the utmost importance, and in those cases, I say use the book.
In measuring, we will stick basically to the standard cups and spoons in our collection as specified above. Wherever another happens to be specified, we shall discuss it at that point. In general, when preparing a recipe it is best to measure the dry ingredients first; filling the measure and then leveling off with the straight (pardon the expression) edge of the knife. Flour should be sifted before measuring (but if you don’t have a sifter, there are certain varieties on the market known as pre-sifted), and in contrast, brown sugar should be packed down tightly. Other types of dry ingredients fall between these two categories, and should only be slightly shaken to be sure that there are no air bubbles that might throw off the measure.
Liquid ingredients are much simpler. Simply fill the measure to the brim.
Butter, shortening, and other solid fats are most easily measured by what is known as the displacement method. Say your recipe calls for a quarter-cup shortening. In your one-cup measure, put three-fourths cup water, then add butter (or shortening or whatever) until the water reaches the brim. Pour off the water and you’re left the right amount of butter.
The following table of equivalents may prove of value to you at times:
3 teaspoons equals 1 tablespoon
2 tablespoons equals 1 ounce
8 ounces equals 1 cup
2 cups equals 1 pint
2 pints equals 1 quart
4 quarts equal 1 gallon
Two other important items in following a recipe are: (1) doneness (it’s important to know when a thing is done), which we’ll discuss separately for each recipe, and (2) a little item called “to taste.” In innumerable cases it is impossible to tell just how much of a particular ingredient to add, and this is especially true in regard to such items as salt, pepper, and some herbs, spices, and condiments. Therefore, you will have to rely on your own taste, adding what you think it necessary, and then tasting to see if the amount if sufficient—be careful, though not to add too much. It’s easier to add ingredients than it is to subtract them.
I’m reminded of the time when Paulette and I had just set up housekeeping and were serving a brunch for eight people. She had just beaten the eggs and added the salt. When she took the top off the coarse pepper bottle she forgot that it didn’t have a shaker top and as a consequence poured the whole bottle into the gooey mess. Brunch was delayed for about an hour while we strained the icky stuff through a sieve. Brunch was saved, but you can see what a timesaver a little care can be.
I think it’s rather safe to assume that the majority of meals that you’ll be serving will be dinners, so we’ll consider a very basic type menu from which you can build all kinds of tasty fare:
Cocktail (may be omitted)—consists of juice, fruit, shrimp, or other light opener.
Soup and/or Salad—in general, when soup is served the salad is served with the main course.
Main Course or Entrée—meat, fish, or fowl.
Starchy Course—potatoes, rice, or pasta.
Green or Yellow Vegetable—this and the starchy course are generally served with the entrée.
Bread and Butter—also served with the main course, and sometimes appearing as early as the soup or salad course.
Dessert—often omitted when soup and/or salad is served.
Wine (if desired)—more about this in another chapter.
Coffee and Liqueurs—after dinner, although many people prefer to have coffee with dinner.
Plan your menu according to the appetites and tastes of your guests. They are of prime consideration. It is also somewhat embarrassing to put together a lamb curry and find that one guest can’t stand lamb and another is allergic to curry—and watch the calendar, too. Some of your friends might abstain from eating meat on Friday.
Plan around your main course, taking into consideration the color and texture of the foods that you plan to serve. A variety of colors makes, generally, for an attractive meal, and is rather simple to plan. The addition of a sauce or garnish such as parsley or watercress tends to spark up the appearance of food. But beware of over-saucing. Beef Stroganoff served with creamed potatoes and asparagus with Hollandaise presents a platter smothered with too much of the same texture. What do I mean by texture? Creamy or chewy, soft or crisp, thick or thin, clear or cloudy—these are textures. Take them into consideration and make sure that your menus do not include too much sameness.
The same principle applies to individual foods. Just imagine a dinner where the soup course was cream of mushroom, the salad included chopped mushrooms, the entrée was steak and mushrooms served with stuffed mushrooms, and dessert was (and there is such a thing) mushroom chocolate cookies. Tired of mushrooms?
Let your conscience and your imagination be your guide, and you’ll seldom go wrong. In leaving this subject, let us touch upon just one more point—don’t serve too little, don’t serve too much. Both are embarrassing, the first to the host and the second to the guest.
Timing is the next item of consideration. It’s very important that all items are ready to serve at the proper times. It does little to enhance your reputation as a cook if the potatoes are done and the roast still has an hour to cook. Many trials and tribulations can be avoided by doing as much preparation as possible in advance. For instance, you can prepare the greens and dressing for your salad and keep them in the fridge, as long as they are separate, hours before you serve them. And many vegetables can be prepared for cooking long in advance—in spite of any ranting and raving and carrying on that I might do later in discussing their proper treatment.
The basic idea behind all this ahead-of-time preparation, is that when you are beginning, you are not thoroughly familiar with the time involved in preparation (recipes only list cooking time). As you start finding your way around the kitchen as well as you do around the bedroom, you’ll start sandwiching these preliminary steps between other operations. But at first, not only plan ahead, but do ahead as well.
Start things cooking in reverse order. In other words, start with those that take the longest time, then work up to the quick cookers last. It might be well at first, especially if you’re going to be mingling with your guests over drinks, to make a written notation of the time everything should be started—at least at first. Later on it’ll become second nature.
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A small vocabulary is now in order—and I’m going to eliminate a lot of items that other cookbooks have. At the present time you’re not going to be interested in the fact that asperges is French for asparagus and not a form of slander, or that a Bain Marie is the bottom pan of a chafing dish and not an expression meaning keep Mary out of the bar. I trust you will find it helpful and basic. Basic things are important.
Bake—To cook by dry contained heat, usually in an oven. Applied to meats, it is called roasting.
Baste—To moisten foods during cooking with pan drippings, water, wine, or sauces to