The Chef Within

I often get the chance to help out at the culinary arts program at Boise State University.  It’s great fun to work with students and watch their learning curve grow over the course of their study.  Last time I was there a first semester student was working on a meatloaf.  She was standing at one of the stoves cooking up a small of amount of ground meat mixture.

I asked her what she was doing and she said she was cooking off some of her meatloaf mixture so she could tell if she had seasoned it properly.  I applauded her effort because so often we are all guilty of throwing together a meatloaf, taking it to the oven and then at the table, when we taste it for the first time, it may not have turned out the way we had hoped.  So the idea of cooking off a bit was really a great idea.  And you could cook your test amount in a sauté pan.  But what I shared with the student and I pass on to you is a very quick way to “taste test” the ground meat mixture.

Take a teaspoon of the mixture and set in on a plate or paper towel and take it to the microwave.  It will only need a few seconds before it starts to sizzle.  Let it cool a bit and then taste what you have so far.  Do you like the salt amount?  What about other seasonings that you might be wanting to emphasize?  Are you getting their flavor or do you need to add more?  Because you have taken this extra little step you can correct a full recipe of meatloaf, or meatballs before it is too late.