If there is one thing I can do in this world, it’s get dinner on the table in a short amount of time.
I’m not talking 5 star fancy dinners, but basic Monday-Friday dinners for the hubs and I. I realize I don’t have a small army of children to feed and mothers out there are probably going to read this and scoff and say it’s not that easy. And to them I say – I will happily re-evaluate when I am cooking for a family. But in the mean time, cooking for two is quite easy and the more you stop and think about what you’re doing the easier and faster it will become.
So, I wanted to share with you my hot tips to cook quickly in the kitchen, and have your clean up done at the same time. I did my research and checked to see what other websites say about cooking quickly.
There’s lots of the following:
- Read the recipe before you start
- Have all the ingredients on hand and measured out before you start
- Use shortcuts like bagged salads/store prepared veggies/chopped salad bar ingredients
- Use frozen and packet stuff, like 2min rice and mashed potato
Sorry, but that last one just doesn’t fly with me. Rice in the microwave takes me about 12 mins. That 12 mins is pretty much the amount of time it takes to make any steak/chicken breast/chop/kebab etc. Same as veggies – practically 2 mins in the microwave, and 2 min mashed potato in a packet? Gross, just gross.
I’m going to run through my movements in the kitchen from start to finish last night and how I got dinner on the table in roughly 30mins with the dishwasher unpacked and repacked before we sat down to eat.
I got home and unpacked the dishwasher and for the first time, timed myself doing so.
3 mins 12 seconds. Now all of a sudden, a chore which previously seemed like such a hassle isn’t that big of a deal because you know it only took 3 mins. Win. I’m going to do this in a few other areas like vacuuming which I always put off. If I know it’s only going to take 5mins, I’ll be more inclined to do it.
Anyway, off topic – note the time – 6:51pm. I now have an empty dishwasher and a clean kitchen to start in. This is key to cooking quickly.
Tip number 1. Start in a clean kitchen. It’s very easy to lose time when things aren’t organised. You can’t see items you’ve taken out to cook with because they’re behind something, under a tea towel, whatever. You don’t have room to put hot things down and move around frantically looking for somewhere to put it. Accidents happen and time is lost.
Now that you’ve got an empty dishwasher and a clean bench, you can easily put things that are dirty away immediately. There’s less clutter around and you can work more efficiently, plus you’re clean up is already underway. Two birds. One Stone.
Tip number 2. Do two things at once. “derr”. Well, no I don’t mean that in the sarcastic sense. You’ll be doing lots of things at once in the kitchen. However, I mean, if you’re walking from the stove to get something from the fridge and there’s an item on the bench you’re finished with, grab it and put it in the fridge while you get whatever you need out. I appreciate that tip above saying to get all your things together at the beginning, however I personally, cook on the fly. I wing it and think on my feet so that doesn’t always work for me. But putting things away as you get them out is a simple task, so simple most of you probably teach your children to do that with their toys. Two birds. One stone.
Tip number 3. Find pockets of time. For instance last night I had a number of things on the go – cauliflower in the microwave, steak on the stove, and a quick salad dressing on the stove. The cauli is cooking, the steak doesn’t need turning for 2 mins and the sugar in the dressing has already dissolved and is now cooling. Boom – free time, so let’s pack the dishwasher with utencils I no longer need. Quickly flip the steak, the cauli is finished, but it’ll stay warm in there so leave it there, and chop up a quick salad. I only had cabbage and walnuts on hand last night so it was pretty dire, but still you could toss some parmesan and cherry tomatoes through rocket in no time at all. It doesn’t have to have 50,000 ingredients!
Note: If you don’t have a dishwasher having the sink full of soapy water is a great alternative option that will save time later and help you to work clean.
Tip number 4. Keep food warm so there’s no rush to finish everything altogether. Although I am usually well timed there will be occasions where something is prepared sooner than everything else. My steaks are now finished, so I leave them in their pan and shove that under the grill (broiler) and close the door. The residual heat from the pan and the heat from the stove above will keep them warm and they’re resting at the same time. Leave the steaks there until you serve. Likewise my cauliflower is still in the microwave under the cling wrap and keeping warm. Two birds. One stone.
Tip number 5. Use the utencils on hand. That is – you don’t need a new bowl/spoon/plate etc for everything! For instance, my salad dressing had cooled completely, so I simply added the cabbage and chopped walnuts into the dressing saucepan, tossed and put on our plates. Two birds. One bowl.
Tip number 6. While everything is keeping warm, now is your chance to quickly finish stacking the dishwasher before you serve up.
Bon apetit. Your dinner is ready, your dishwasher is packed, there’s a glass of red with your name on it and Masterchef starts in 5mins. Voila.
NB: I know this is no Masterchef quality dish, but when you’re looking at what is important – for me it’s not wasting the food I have and cooking quickly so I can sit and watch Masterchef at 7:30pm and having the dishes already done, then you won’t mind chowing down on not the most cohesive of meals.
If I were actually ON Masterchef, there’s no way I’d serve a steak, cabbage salad, cauliflower puree and brocolini together. But this is the real world, and just us at home. :)
Eat, Drink and DIY 