Cooking

I love to cook, but others do not. I want to share some tips to help beginning chefs to get off to a palatable start.

Beginning Cooking:
All attempts should be made to simply and destress the experience.

Key ideas:

1. Mise en place – prepare and organize – before applying heat – every time
2. Less is more – don’t get all of the gadgets right away.
3. Simple recipes first – get complicated later
4. use temperature to determine doneness
5. Use a timer – every time

Sheet pan cooking strategy:

• Low cost.
• Easy to clean.
• Use the Oven – almost everywhere has an oven and many times 2 ovens

Key equipment:

• 2 “1/2 sheet” sheet pans
• temperature probe

Dinner Oven Timing:

If dinner is at 6:00 pm:
preheat time to 425 F should be about 15 minutes
Meat recipe calls for 15 minutes at 425
Vegetable recipe call for 25 minutes at 425
Preheat the oven between 5:00 pm and 5:20 pm; say 5:15 pm
Add the vegetables at 5:30 pm, and set a timer for 10 minutes
when the timer goes off add the meat also to the oven, and set the timer for 15 minutes.
at 5 before the hour, 5:55 pm, pull both items out to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Other timing factors:

Meat thickness and Oven position can factor into the proper cooking time. So use the temperature probe to measure the doneness and pull the meat out of the oven accordingly. Use the temperature location of the coldest part of the piece of meat.

Oven set points:
This strategy involves picking 2 baseline oven temperatures; 350 F and 425 F. This is to simply recipes. 350 F will take longer to cook, but will be more uniform in internal temperature and doneness. 425 F will cook faster, but increases chance of overheating/burning or slightly less uniform.

Food Item	Oven Temp	Time	Other Instructions
Asparagus	350 F	15-20 min
Beets	350 F	40 min	put in aluminum foil
Broccoli, florets	350 F	30-35 min
Brussels Sprouts	350 F	30-35 min
Carrots, whole	350 F	45-50 min
Cauliflower, florets	350 F	30-35 min
Corn on the cob	350 F	30 min
Eggplant, cubed	350 F	25-30 min
Garlic	350 F	25-30 min	put in aluminum foil
Green beans	350 F	25-30 min
Mushrooms, button	350 F	20 min
Onions, quartered	350 F	40-45 min
Parsnips, cubed	350 F	30-40 min
Peppers	350 F	60 min
Potatoes, whole	350 F	60-75 min	Pierce with fork before baking
Rutabaga, cubes	350 F	60 + min
Squash, summer	350 F	20 + min
Squash, winter	350 F	60 + min
Sweet potatoes, cubed	350 F	50-60 min
Tomatoes	350 F	10-15 min
fish filet	350 F	20-25 min
pork chop	350 F	30-35 min
steak or thin cut of beef	350 F	20 min	pan sear for color first (if you can)
chicken breast (white meat)	350 F	25-30 min
chicken thigh (dark meat)	350 F	30-35 min

Food Item	Oven Temp	Time	Other Instructions
Asparagus	425 F	12-15 min
Beets	425 F	20 min	put in aluminum foil
Broccoli, florets	425 F	18-22 min
Brussels Sprouts	425 F	20 min
Carrots, whole	425 F	25-35 min
Cauliflower, florets	425 F	15-20 min
Corn on the cob	425 F	20-25 min
Eggplant, cubed	425 F	35 min
Garlic	425 F	50 min	put in aluminum foil
Green beans	425 F	25 min
Mushrooms, button	425 F	15-20 min
Onions, quartered	425 F	25-30 min
Parsnips, cubed	425 F	25-30 min
Peppers	425 F	18-20 min
Potatoes, whole	425 F	20-25 min	Pierce with fork before baking
Rutabaga, cubes	425 F	40 min
Squash, summer	425 F	10-15 min
Squash, winter	425 F	30-60 min
Sweet potatoes, cubed	425 F	30-45 min
Tomatoes	425 F	20 min
fish filet	425 F	8-12 min
pork chop	425 F	10-20 min	varies with thickness
steak or thin cut of beef	425 F	6-8 min	pan sear for color first (if you can)
chicken breast (white meat)	425 F	15-20 min
chicken thigh (dark meat)	425 F	18-20 min

Meat Done Temps Chart: