Cooking ought to be enjoyable, and the number one detractor for the grand majority of people is time management. Sure, this is related to cooking skills and the order flow of operations, but, before you turn on the burner, fire up the grill, or get your R2D2 looking pot going you need to have the big picture in mind. How many people am I cooking for? When do I want to serve it? Given the recipes, how much time do I need to complete the dishes? Do I have the ingredients to make the dishes? This is not a Zeno issue but inexperience with culinary multitasking can be paralyzing. Fortunately, we are here to help.

If you are an enthusiast, you ought to have the fundamental tools handy. These include but are not limited to a sharp kitchen knife, cutting board, a saute pan, tasting spoon, a fish spatula, and the usual suspects. From here, you are equipped to make dishes that fall into the category of “one-pan-pickups,” which is lingo for the dish is fired and finished in one pan. An example would be sauteed salmon, piperade, and sauce du jour.

Method:

1. Heat the pan, add the fat (neutral oil or clarified butter), heat the fat, and add the product. I wish I made that up.
2. Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel and season with salt.
3. Add the salmon to the pan and give it an honest 10 seconds.
4. Reduce the pan to medium leave it alone.
5. Follow the doneness (color change) from the pan side, and when it is 1/3 up the way of the fish, use your fish spatula to gently and with finesse, flip it over, then give it an honest 20 seconds. Remove the fish and place on a sizzle platter or holding plate.
6. Defat the pan, AKA dump the excess fat out, and put the pan back on to medium low heat.
7. Add your julienned onions and red peppers to the pan and sweat. Season with salt.
8. Some time will go by. Stir the veg with your spoon and taste. Season again. Taste again.
9. Once the veg has reached the desired doneness, in this case soft, turn up the pan to medium.
10. Add a knob of butter and let it foam.
11. Add garlic and parsley, stir. Smell the transformation.
12. Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce until almost dry.
13. Season, taste, Season again, taste again.
14. Remove the veg and put onto your sizzle platter or holding plate.
15. Add a knob of butter to the pan, add shallots, sweat.
16. Add garlic and parsley, sizzle, smell, add white wine and reduce until almost dry.
17. Add some flavorings (Dijon mustard, chopped olives, capers, etc).
18. Add parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
19. Taste, season, taste again, season again.
20. Put the pan on low and add the salmon back to reheat gently.
21. Taste the veg again and adjust seasoning as necessary.
22. Plate the veg, then the salmon, taste the sauce one last time and plate it up.
23. Add the finest parsley you can cut, a few drops of lemon juice, and some cracked black pepper.

I know what your thinking, that’s a lot of steps! Sure is, but it is the longhand version of how the order flow works while using the usual suspects. Once you have your prep done, from the time the salmon hits the pan to putting it on the plate is less than 15 minutes. It only works this way because you thought your way through it, cut your vegetables to the correct size, and tasted your way through the dish. IT can be done, and you can do it too.

What I would like you to do is answer the following three questions and write down your answers so that you can objectively think about them.

1. What style of cuisine do I enjoy cooking the most? Why?
2. What regional cuisine is my absolute favorite? What are the three flavors you enjoy from this cuisine?
3. Do I have the requisite equipment to cook these dishes?

Don’t look now, but you’re preparing to prepare to begin cooking those dishes.