One thing I believe is that so many of us could not do the work we enjoy doing so much without the support of our loved ones. I know for certain that is true for me. Without my husband’s support of an irregular schedule with odd & sometimes long hours, doing what I absolutely love would not be possible.
So thank you, Jon!
Let me start by saying that in the nearly twenty years that we’ve been married, I’ve been the one who (quite willingly) cooks dinner. I honestly enjoy it! That said, we’ve always kind of jealously eyed those commercials on TV that show happy couples cooking side-by-side, but you’ve heard me go on before about how small our kitchen is. As fun as that looks, it just doesn’t work… sharp knives, crowded space, busy prep… you get the idea! So generally, I cook and Jon cleans up. He does make a mean tomato sauce for pasta, though – the real deal, low & slow in a cast iron Dutch oven so every once in awhile when our frozen stash starts to run out, he’ll make a big batch. That’s when the kitchen is all his.
Over the years, I can recall Jon making me dinner twice, both times on my birthday. I remember both lovely meals, but I’m not so sure how much he actually enjoyed preparing them! So imagine my surprise when a couple of weeks ago I came home from work (in time for dinner) and not only had he planned to cook, but he had all his ingredients set out in a beautiful mise en place.
“Mise en place” is simply French for “putting in place”, so that all your ingredients for a dish are prepared and ready to go as you need them. It is such a simple headache-saver, since you’re not caught mid-prep all of a sudden realizing that you haven’t chopped something you need RIGHT NOW or – worse yet! – are completely out of an ingredient essential to your dish. This from a man who I had never known to plan out a meal ahead of time!
Oh, and did I mention he also had pork chops brining? (okay, who are you and what have you done with my husband?) He told me that dinner would be in about 45 minutes and it was, right on time.
Grilled and balsamic-glazed pork chops with pan-fried potato rounds (so soft and fluffy inside) and an herb-Dijon-mayo sauce for dipping. Delicious, and just look at those grill marks!
Turns out Jon’s been kind of enjoying honing his cooking skills from his “bachelor days” (his words) on the nights I work – I love it! Knowing he’s on his own for dinner a few nights a week, he plans what he wants to eat – sometimes researching recipes – buys what he needs (he does do a lot of our grocery shopping anyway – remember what I said about support from loved ones?), and cooks his heart out!
One day Jon asked me for my potato salad recipe. Before I left for work, I set it all up for him: the recipe, along with everything “mised” out in the kitchen for him. Clearly the man was craving grilled hot dogs, but wanted a good, solid side to go along with them.
I tried the potato salad – it tasted just like mine. Wow – I think I’m going to have to up my game! I am wondering though, was it at this point where the seed was planted to set up his mise en place for the brined pork chops?
This summer we grew little Italian “pommodorini” tomatoes out on our balcony and he reaped some of his reward when he made his version of spaghetti “aglio e olio” – garlic and olive oil – and a few shrimp sautéed with those sweet, little cherry tomatoes.
Another night, before I headed out to work, he asked me how to sauté scallops and decided to serve them over sautéed spinach and garlic. I’m telling you, this guy is killing me!
He also seems to have perfected grilling chicken thighs “hobo style” in foil packets with slices of onion, butter and thyme.
A few weeks ago I took Jon to The Chopping Block’s Knife Skills class. It’s such a great, back-to-basics class and he just loved it! I think he was really showing off his newly-acquired skills when he decided to slice a salmon filet and stuff it with a gorgeous mixture of lemons, black olives and herbs.
It’s kind of hard to see the stuffing, but if you look along the top edge there, it’s just peeking out.
It’s amazing, isn’t it? When the ones you love support your dreams, sometimes things happen that you never expected! Here I was worried about the evenings of missed dinners together. And while I do miss that consistency, here we are talking more about recipes and cooking than we ever have, and I love that! Our mission is to get the country to cook, and it looks like in a roundabout way we've succeeded in getting one guy going. Jon can cook!
To give your everyday meal prep a kick-start, check out The Chopping Block’s Knife Skills classes the rest of this month and in November! In the meantime, be sure to download our free resource Knife Skills 101 to get started at home, just like Jon did.
