RSSNew Recipe Release: Malaysian Chicken Satays, Sunomono Salad, Mise en Place
June 6th, 2007 by Dawn, Co-founder of Rouxbe
Summer Lovin’. That’s right folks, summer and barbecues go together like sand and the inside of your bathing suit. So this week’s recipes are for those of you lookin’ to fire up the grill. The first recipe is for Malaysian Chicken Satays. Even though I make these year round, there is something just a bit better about them in the summer. I guess it’s that smoky flavor that the barbecue adds. Or is it that eating food on a stick, while enjoying the great outdoors just seems right. By the way, the marinade is also good on prawns or tofu. Which is nice because at our house we never really know who’s going to show up. We also never really know how many are going to show up, which is why this recipe makes enough for about 10 to 12 people, but don’t worry they freeze really well and you will thank me later.
When I make these satays, I like to serve them with a big batch of our Coconut Infused Basmati Rice, and then just before I serve dinner, I throw in a bunch of cilantro and green onions to the rice. Yum! Trust me!
Also to go with the satays, I have made a simple salad called Cucumber Sunomono. This salad is traditionally served with Japanese food, but I find it goes really well with most Asian inspired dishes due to its refreshing and crunchy bite. This salad is so simple to make and it is even better if it’s made the day before, which is always a bonus.
Along with this week’s recipes there are 7 drill-downs. You know the “tips and techniques” that go along with each video, for example “What is Young Ginger?” or “What is Sambal?” So if you don’t happen to know “What are Serrano Peppers?” don’t sweat it ( no pun intended, get it…sweat it?) anyhoo…at anytime during the video you can click on one of the drill-downs to find out this additional contextual information.
There is one drill-down in particular that I wanted to highlight. It’s called “Mise en Place” [pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs]. This is something that I mention often, “Mise en Place” it’s a French term meaning “setting in place”. It refers to the ingredients needed during cooking. It also refers to all the other stuff that will make your life easier when prepping the actual cooking of a dish. I know my former French Culinary Instructors will say “pish, pish” to what I am about to say, but that has never stopped me before. Basically for me “Mis en Place” generally means being organized and ready for the task at hand. Do I have all of my ingredients needed for the dish? Better yet, do I know what I am even cooking? Do I need to marinate something for 12 hours, when dinner is in 2 hours? Do I need to let the dough rise before baking? You see what I mean, it’s about mentally and physically setting yourself up. “Mise en Place” is like having an assistant chef or an extra hand in the kitchen.
Well I hope that you enjoy this week’s recipes. Have some fun in the sun and for Pete’s sake, don’t forget to wear some sun-block!
Ciao for now
Nonna! a.k.a dawn
Mise!!! Best thing I ever learned to do in the kitchen, along with reading a recipe fully (twice, even) before touching food. Actually cooking is so much calmer if everything is already chopped up and ready to go in the pan beforehand. You don’t build a house without having a blueprint, you don’t write software without having some design in mind (well…), so why shouldn’t the same apply to cooking? Even if I’m improvising in the kitchen – happens a lot, these days – I’ll take a moment to think it through first and have everything I need at hand.
However, it can have one side effect. Back when my wife and I first started dating, I went over to her apartment and cooked dinner for the two of us. I don’t remember now what I cooked, but I did all of my chopping and prep before I started cooking – and used every bowl she owned in the process. From that day forward, if I was going to do all that prep, I would have to do the dishes as well. A small price to pay for stepping up my culinary game, I think.