Meseidy Rivera - Weeknight Gourmet Dinners

meseidy rivera

FOUNDER OF THE NOSHERY

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To Obed, my best friend and greatest love.

Thank you for all your support and for always bragging about me no matter how much it makes me squirm.

A Little About Me

Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never work a day in your life. Mark Twain knew what he was talking about.

My food blog, The Noshery, was just a simple hobby when I launched it back in 2008. After studying pre-law and learning a little too late that being an attorney wasnt meant for me, I was working unhappily as a legal assistant when my husband encouraged me to take some time and figure out my passion. I discovered that I loved everything about food, and by 2011, I was enrolled at Platt College Culinary Institute. In culinary school, I honed my cooking skills, gained confidence in the kitchen and learned how to run a kitchen efficiently. I integrated all of these skills into my blog and focused on sharing with my readers how they can be a chef in their own kitchen.

After culinary school, I was presented with many fantastic opportunities. I worked as a culinary assistant to award-winning blogger, cookbook author and Food Network star Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, for three years. I also provided television production catering for Food Networks cooking show The Pioneer Woman and hot food craft services on the set of August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Today, The Noshery is my full-time job. As a food blogger, recipe developer and photographer, Ive worked with Albertsons, Pompeian, National Pork Board, Tabasco and DaVinci Wines. The Noshery now has hundreds of recipes that reflect my journey from home cook to chefpairing unique ingredients together with simple cooking techniques, all in search of the perfect bite.

I am so grateful that, because of the encouragement of my husband, my blog The Noshery and the time I invested in culinary school, my passion for food and teaching about food is now my job.

A Lot About This Book

If you picked up this book, you love food and you love to get creative in the kitchen. You enjoy experimenting with new and unique flavors, and you dont want to limit a fabulous meal to weekends or holidays. Its Wednesday, and you want dinner to be fabulous.

I know all too well that life is busy, and there have been many evenings where I have turned store-bought rotisserie chicken into spaghetti chicken marinara. And youd better believe the marinara came from a jar. But like you, there are weeknights when I want more. I want to sit down at our table with a delicious plate of food, a glass of wine and eat civilized, as my culinary school instructor, Chef Curt Herrmann, would say. That is the goal of this cookbook: to help you add a little fancy to the weeknight dinner table.

In Weeknight Gourmet Dinners, a great meal and precious time are not mutually exclusive. Youll learn how to make risotto in your Instant Pot or other multifunction cooker, how a slow cooker can make the most tender short ribs, that miso will change your chicken game forever and that anchovies are basically the butter of the sea. And, if you really want to level up your gourmet game, Im going to show .

The term gourmet typically refers to high-quality or specialty food, usually requiring elaborate and expert preparation, which can sound scary and time consuming. I hope to remove that intimidation by sharing a few tips, tricks, techniques and ingredients so anyone can be a weeknight gourmet. I am going to share with you all the secrets I have learned throughout my culinary career, to help make you a boss in the kitchen.

I put a lot of love into each of the recipes in Weeknight Gourmet Dinners, and I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do. Now, throw on your apron and pour yourself a glass of wine; it is cooking time.

How to Have a Weeknight Gourmet Kitchen: Get It Together with Mise en Place

There are three keys to an efficient kitchen where you can whip up a glorious meal any day of the week: a well-stocked pantry, essential tools and mise en place.

Mise en place is a French culinary term meaning putting in place or everything in its place or, in more current terms, getting it together. Before you start cooking any recipe, regardless of whether it is simple or complex, everything will go smoother if you get it together first. Here are a few simple tips on how to mise en place:

Read the entire recipe more than once. This includes the introduction and any notes in the recipe. This way, you are not surprised by any details halfway through the recipe.

Gather the ingredients you need, note what tools are required and prep your cookware. For example, if a sheet pan needs to be lined or the oven needs to be preheated, this is the time to do it.

Prep your ingredients. This means cleaning, peeling, dicing, chopping, boiling water and whatever else a recipe calls for. Also, when possible, plan ahead and prep ingredients the night before. Such things as marinating, dicing vegetables, picking herbs and making dressings can all be done in advance and stored for use the next day.

Because ingredients lists are written in the order in which the ingredients are used in a recipe, it is best to prep ingredients in the order listed and then arrange them in that order. This will help keep you on track, assure nothing is missed and make cooking faster.

When possible, line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil and arrange your ingredients in piles on it instead of using bowls. This means fewer dishesall you need to do is toss the liner once finished.

Use one large liquid measuring cup for measuring all your liquids. Better to clean one large cup instead of five little cups.

Give your kitchen a quick cleanup after prep. This way, your kitchen is neat before you start cooking.

Read the recipe instructions one more time before you start cooking.

Ready? Cook!

Its Not Hoarding If Its Kitchen Tools

A carpenter cant build a bookcase without the proper tools and the same rule applies to a chef. Not having the right tools will make your time in the kitchen challenging, frustrating and less efficient. If you picked up this book, you likely have a well-stocked kitchen. But it is possible some essential items could be missing. Here is a short list of some specialty tools and small appliances that are used in this book.

Slow cooker

Instant Pot or other multifunction cooker

Food processor

Hand or stand mixer

Waffle maker

Cast-iron skillet