Mar 26 2010
You do not have to have a gourmet kitchen with all of the latest appliances and granite counter top space to produce delectable, healthful foods. Kitchen are as varied as those that tend the fires and stir the pots from tiny ones with counters just large enough for a cutting board to professional home kitchens with commercial appliances and gleaming stainless steel. The first step that will have a great impact on your final meal starts with cleanliness and organization of your work space.
Spring is a great time of year to focus on really giving your kitchen a good cleaning-(if this is not something you keep up with on a regular basis). If your kitchen has become a dumping ground with counters littered with mail, kids toys and all of those odd objects without a home, its time to find their rightful places and clear off your work counters. A clean kitchen with sparkling counters and an empty sink is a plesant and welcoming gesture and act of respect for the process of transforming foods into energy that feeds us and our families. Make your time in the kitchen an enjoyable experience.
Once you have cleaned and organized your kitchen, getting rid of what does not belong -(like a stray soccer ball), its time to organize your work space on the counter. Some of the smallest kitchen I've worked in both professionally and personally have actually been the easiest and most efficient. Ready to cook? Lets get started:
- Wash & dry your hands, tie on an apron to protect your clothes and if you like tuck in a kitchen towel to wipe your hands with
- Pick the space you would like to place your cutting board on- (it may be near the kitchen sink for easy washing and prepping) and then place a slightly damp papertowel or lightweight kitchen towel on the counter & put your cutting board on top. this will keep your cutting board from sliding around.
- Get out your knifes/knives and give them a sharpening if they are dull- (more on this to come in another post)
- Place a container at the top of your cutting board to put scraps, compost items in. If you collect usable vegetable scraps for stock you can add another container.
- Place whole foods to be washed and cut to the left of your cutting board.
- Place small bowls or containers to the left of your cutting board to put your washed and prepped food items in. You can also use a small tray to place your prepped items on and then transfer the tray to the refrigerator or directly to the stove as needed.
- I also like to keep a small bottle of vinegar water solution and a cleaning rag at the left/top side of my cutting board for cleaning up spills, cutting board and knives during cooking.
- If this work flow seems unnatural to you try setting things up in the opposite direction, depending on if you are right handed or lefthanded.
- Hum a happy tune and start cooking!
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