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1. HEAT When you don't want to waste any time in the kitchen, the first important ingredient is heat: Before you even wash your hands, turn on the oven or the grill and start heating it up, or put the kettle on and leave it to boil. Domestic ovens vary a great deal in how long they take to come to the required temperature. In general, 10-15 minutes have been allowed for preheating the oven. (Convection ovens, which are hotter than standard ones, may not need to be preheated: check your manufacturer's handbook.) If you know that your oven is slow to heat up, preset it to the recipe's required temperature as long in advance as you need to, before you start to assemble the ingredients. Grills must also be properly preheated before use. For fast, even cooking, it is best to have the grill on high in order to avoid any cool patches, and to keep an eye on the food. If any tender items such as fish steaks seem in danger of burning, drop the grill rack a slot farther away from the heat source, or take the food off the rack and sit it on the base of the grill pan. 2. ORGANIZATION After heat, the next secret of successful fast cooking is good organization. Make sure that you have all the ingredients you need close at hand -- a dish can easily be ruined if you have to spend time hunting for the sesame oil while the contents of your wok are just seconds away from burning. Before you begin to prepare a recipe, read it through to familiarize yourself with the method, so you won't have to waste time stopping to read each step. Then take a few minutes to assemble the ingredients, dishes, and tools so that everything you need is within easy reach. This is especially important when the recipe demands items that you don't use every day. The hand blender, lemon zester, and nutmeg grater are invaluable aids, but not if they are in the back of the cupboard. Clear an adequate working space with plenty of elbow room. Remove utensils from your working area after use -- clutter will slow you down. 3. SIZE The third weapon in the hands of the busy cook is size: the smaller the ingredients are, the quicker they will cook. Chopping, dicing, slicing, and grating food into fast-cooking morsels saves time. |
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