MISE EN PLACE

Mise en place (pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs) is a french cooking term that means "put in place."  Assemble and measure all of your ingredients before you start.

Let's say you are baking bread.  Measure out 4 cups of flower and put them into a bowl.  Measure out a teaspoon of salt and put it into a little cup (or, put it into the flour.)  Don't start mixing or cooking until you have everything in place in front of you.

This avoids these unpleasantnesses:

• If you are interrupted by a phone call, can you remember how many cups of flour have gone into the mixing bowl so far?
• Will the mixture burn if you have to go over to the pantry and search for an ingredient?
• If you are out of an ingredient or don't have the full amount that you need, the time to find out is BEFORE you start.

Happy Cooking!