The Painted Apron

“Mise en place” is a French phrase which translates to “put in place”

It is referenced often in the culinary world, to describe the way chefs prepare their ingredients before cooking

Wouldn’t you love to be a chef on TV, and have little bowls of chopped ingredients, spices, and herbs neatly arranged for you,  so everything is handy and ready for assembling the final dish?

I try to do that before I make a recipe, 😂  right

a girl can dream…

But!!!

I actually do it on a larger scale every few weeks or so, cleaning out the fridge, a little of this, a little of that…

to make preparing meals later in the week so much quicker

It’s a win win win  🏆 🏆 🏆

You use up what you have, which saves  💰 💰 💰

You have healthy, freshly prepared ingredients ready, which saves   ⏳   ⏰   ⌛️

Dinner time for the week just got a lot easier, which leaves more time for other things  💅  🎨  📚  🏊  ⛵️

Spend 1 hour in the kitchen and look what you can come up with!

First put garlic head, {top cut off, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, wrapped in foil} in the oven to roast while you prep everything else

You can also roast corn in the husk along with the garlic   🌽  🌽

They can happily hang out at 350-400 for an hour

Put bacon in the oven to slowly cook while you continue to prep,

or cook it in the skillet after the nuts, and use some of the rendered fat for sautéing your vegetables

If you plan the order of the foods you’ll be cooking in the skillet, you’ll never even have to clean it 👏

I love to have Praline Pecans on hand for salads, vegetables and desserts-  you make them quickly in a skillet by sautéing them in butter and brown sugar.  Substitute walnuts if you like

Begin your mise en place cooking  by making some nuts and keep them in a jar in your pantry

Spread them on parchment or wax paper to cool.  Any leftover butter or sugar in skillet will just be a happy addition to the onions coming along next

Cook the onions, using a 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil, or use bacon fat, on medium low heat

They can cook look low and slow to caramelize while you finish chopping and prepping other things

When the onions finish, remove to a bowl and sauté the shallots, they impart a lovely subtle flavor to things

If you do everything separately, you’ll have more flexibility later

Now’s the time to sauté celery or a holy trinity of celery, green pepper and onion, turn the heat up to medium now

Next do yellow squash and zucchini if you have 1 or 2 of those hanging around, they are great on a Summer Squash Pizza with roasted garlic spread on the crust

Whoops, I digress… now it’s time for the ‘shrooms

Turn the heat up to medium high and cook them quickly, stirring and turning,

they will turn golden and won’t be rubbery

Okay, last but not least add spinach, season it with salt and pepper, and you might need another drizzle of olive oil after the mushrooms

It will wilt right down, and soak up the remaining oil and yummy bits in your pan from cooking the previous ingredients.   As you stir it around, it will basically clean your skillet for you!   All you’ll have to do is give the skillet a quick rinse or wipe out

Bowls of possibilities!

I also cooked asparagus in the microwave at some point {2 minutes on high wrapped in a towel}

And remember you can cook corn in the husk in the microwave too {3-4 minutes on high per ear}

Now look at all the goodies you have to play with!

One night we had this yummy mushroom and asparagus tart, assembled in minutes with these prepared in advance ingredients

Onions, shallots, mushrooms and asparagus were layered on puff pastry with a smear of alfredo sauce on the bottom and a sprinkle of Parmesan on top

Another night, we had Boozy Corn Bake along with some simple grilled chicken

I used some of the Praline Pecans for  Strawberry ColeslawSalad

The squash got mixed into cooked rice for the perfect side dish with easy peasy slowcooker  Sweet Chili Pork Chops 1-2-3

You’d never guess these dishes were actually made with leftovers, and required minimal time in the kitchen!

1 hour spent doing a little advance prep,  means a week of feeling organized, eating well, and a clean refrigerator!

🌽  🍅  🍏  🍕  🍲 🍝

I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs

Celebrate and Decorate,  Rustic and Refined,

Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, Cooking and Crafting with J&J,  The Scoop,   A Stroll Thru Life    Inspire Me Monday

Tickle My Tastebuds,  Wow Us Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday,  Work it Wednesday

Poofing the Pillows,  Creatively Crafty

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