How to Finish Dinner on Time

It's a race against the clock. Your chicken roasts for 60 minutes and
the spinach saute's for 15, the salad gets chopped and dressed, and
the apple cobbler needs to be baked. How do you get dinner on the
table and have everything remain warm? Get organized, make a timeline
and use a kitchen timer to stay on top of your game.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Read (don't skim) the recipes ahead of time from start to finish.

2. Use the preparation time stated in the cookbook as a rough estimate only. Then make notes in the recipe's margin, estimating the time you'll need to prep the food (washing greens, chopping veggies, measuring liquids) and cook it on the stovetop or in the oven. For example, 1 minute to brown the garlic, 5 minutes to soften the onions and 10 minutes for the spinach to wilt is 16 minutes total cooking time.

3. Add the estimated number of minutes to finish the dish once it's been cooked--for example, letting the meat rest for 5 minutes before carving it.

4. Work backward from when you want dinner on the table to determine when you need to tie on the apron. If you need an hour of prep time for all your recipes and an hour of cooking time, you should start dinner at 5 p.m. in order to eat at 7 p.m.

5. Select appropriate pots, pans and cookware.

6. Write a cooking timeline of what to start when, using the notes in the margin of your recipes (don't include prep work, it should already be finished). As a sample timeline, boil water for couscous at 5:30 p.m.; saute' spinach at 5:45 p.m.; put fully dressed chicken in oven at 6 p.m. Cobbler goes in the oven at 7 p.m. and will be ready to eat warm for dessert at 8 p.m.

7. Gather what the French call mise en place, or "everything in place." Just like cooking shows, for which everything is perfectly diced in little bowls, you should have all your ingredients chopped and measured before you even think of turning on those burners. This is the most important step to make cooking organized and timely.

8. Complete your mise en place as far ahead as possible if you're planning for guests. Chop vegetables, measure liquids and assemble desserts a day or two ahead. See 303 Cook Ahead and 315 Plan Party Foods Ahead.

9. Start cooking. Notice how this comes way down at step 9? It's important to get everything chopped and measured, write your cooking timeline and gather appropriate cookware before you start frying.

10. Warm up dinner plates slightly in a 200-degree F (95 C) oven-- it's a restaurant trick that helps food stay warm on the plate. Use warming trays to keep items hot while they're on the table. Or, zap dishes in the microwave for a minute to warm them if necessary.

11. Practice: Use timelines for casual family meals as well as dinner parties, and soon getting plates done simultaneously will become second nature. See 316 Throw a Dinner Party.

Tips & Warnings

• Invest in a digital kitchen clock with multiple timers, available at cooking stores. You can set the timer for three to four different dishes simultaneously.
• Don't choose recipes with dozens of ingredients to chop, mince and dice if you don't have time to prep. Or, buy a food processor to shave off half the time.

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