Planning For Chefs

I’m a planner by nature. I don’t have to have everything perfect, but I’ve found that if I spend a little time planning, things will go much smoother, even if I choose to deviate at some point from the plan. In my professional life I run quite a few projects, and like engineers and builders, plans are critical.

This is true in cooking as well. When I take the time to read through the recipe before I start, to prep all the ingredients at the start (including having measured out amounts of ingredients in prep cups standing at the ready), I find I make fewer mistakes and – surprise, surprise – my recipes look and taste better.

My project management side comes out strongest when I have three or more dishes that need to come out at specific times. As so many recipes have multiple steps over short periods of time, I find that if I create one master sheet with all the steps (in the time order they need to be done), I can make them all come ready at the perfect times. My prep sheet for something like Thanksgiving dinner is a beauty to behold.

As for engineers, there is a great site that I found the Ossobucco recipe I use, Cooking for Engineers. They take the ingredient list and the instructions and put them in a format that is both logical and slightly disturbing. Once I used it, I found it pretty effective.

Builders rely on blueprints as a key part of their planning. Stacked dishes, like lasagna, could benefit from a blueprint. You rarely see one in cooking and when you do it is often a decoration in some sandwich shop. You can find an example here.

Fiesta Tortilla Stack

I could have used a blueprint in constructing this delicious dish.

All of your typical Mexican ingredients.

I decided to use chicken thighs as they bring more flavor than breast meat.

Seasoned chicken.

Tortillas with a bit of refried beans. Refried beans are like the cement to this building.

Load it up with peppers, tomatoes, chicken and cheese.

Stack and repeat.

Do yourself a favor and cut these in quarters. So much easier to eat that way.

Great dish and built without aid of a blueprint!

Fiesta Tortilla Stack

source Katiemjohn.tripod.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can refried beans

• 1 TB plus 1/4 cup sour cream (divided)

• 1 TB plus 1/2 tsp taco seasoning mix (divided)

• 2 cups cooked chicken

• 1 med red bell pepper

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

• 3/4 cup sliced pitted ripe olives (divided)

• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (divided)

• 5 flour tortillas (10 inch)

• 8oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)

• vegetable oil spray

• 2 medium plum tomatoes seeded and chopped

• salsa to garnish- optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine beans, 2 Tb sour cream and 1 TB of the taco seasoning and mix well. Chop chicken and bell pepper and place in another bowl. Add green onions, 1/2 cup olives and 2 Tb chopped cilantro and mix gently.

Place one tortilla on baking sheet and top with 1/4 of the bean mixture, 1/2 of the chicken/veggie mixture, and 1/4 of the cheese. Stack with another tortilla and repeat layers 3 more times. Top with the remaining tortilla, and spray with vegetable oil. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Mix remaining 1/4 cup sour cream with the 1/2 tsp remaining taco seasoning. Spread evenly over top of warm tortilla stack. Sprinkle with tomato, remaining 1/4 cup olives, and cilantro. Cut into wedges and serve with salsa if desired. Serves 6