Tips for Pretty Plating
The Holiday season is fast approaching. That means lots of family gatherings, playing host, and entertaining people. You’ve gone the catering route already. Now you wan’t to make something homemade for your dinner guests and show them what you’ve got!
Hi Friends,
The Holiday season is fast approaching. That means lots of family gatherings, playing host, and entertaining people. You’ve gone the catering route already. Now you wan’t to make something homemade for your dinner guests and show them what you’ve got! Wether you’re a good cook or not, the final presentation of the plated food is very important in how the taste of the dish is perceived, believe it or not. Here are some tips and tricks to “wow” your guests with beautifully designed plates…….and hopefully the food is good too. heh
Build on your Starches
A typical balanced dinner meal will include a starch of some sort. “Build on your starches” means add it to the plate first. I usually will put it right in the center of the plate. For example, a big spoonful of rice or potatoes neatly mounded in the center of the plate.
Add a variety of Color
Be mindful of the different colors that will be in your dish. For this example plate, We’re building off a base of roasted diced potatoes and our main entree is roasted airline chicken. Those are two ingredients with very minimal color. If we presented these items on the plate by themselves, no one would be excited to eat it. So, We’re going to add a bright vegetable to the mix. It could be something green like broccoli. Red like beets. White like cauliflower. It really could be anything. For the example dish we’re building, we’re going to add broccoli and keep a fresh lemon, as well as some fresh chopped parsley handy for later.
Build “Up” on the Plate
Alright, so we’ve got our mound of diced potatoes in the middle of the plate and our steamed broccoli on the top right side of the potatoes in a nice neatly presented mound. Now we’re going to take our nicely caramelized airline chicken and lay it over the potatoes on an angle. Making sure we build the plate up high and not letting the potatoes flatten under the chicken. Building “up” on a plate with the focal point at the center is more of a southern style of plating. It creates for an interesting contrast of depth that catches the eye.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Garnishes
Alright, lets review this again. So now we have our neat mound of potatoes in the center of the plate stacked nice and high. Our bright green steamed broccoli in a neat mound to the top right of that. And we just added the chicken atop the potatoes in a visually interesting way. This plate is already quite pretty by itself but it is missing a little something. Take the fresh parsley you chopped earlier and sprinkle it on the plate - dusting the chicken, potatoes, broccoli, and exposed part of the plate. Now take your lemon and zest some of the lemon rind over the chicken and the broccoli. Once satisfied, slice the lemon in half and drizzle some of the juice over the food on the plate.
Finishing Touches
Alright, now my mouth is watering. The only thing left to do is get a damp paper towel and gently wipe around the edges of the plate where juices may have dripped or unwanted parsley or zest may have fallen. Finish with a little salt and pepper, take a step back, and be proud of the edible piece of art that lays before you.
pro tip: You could even take the presentation up a notch further by adding a quartered wedge of salted tomato or a very light sprinkling of some smoked paprika to give it an extra pop.
Keep spreading love, good people!
Best,
D.B.
Food for Thought: Deploying Kindness Pt. 2 Positivity
Positivity is such an undervalued mental tool. Shifting from a glass half empty to a glass half full mindset is the difference between giving yourself a chance to win and not. As an entrepreneur, most days aren’t quite a walk in the park.
Positivity
is such an undervalued mental tool. Shifting from a glass half empty to a glass half full mindset is the difference between giving yourself a chance to win and not. As an entrepreneur, most days aren’t quite a walk in the park. Think about it, C-Suite level employees are often the last level of decision making for many businesses. That means all the success, all the failures, all the good times, and all the bad times land on those folks. That’s a lot of stress, and since company culture trickles from the top out to the spokes of the umbrella, the way you handle that stress affects the way you talk to employees, and ultimately, how your employees will engage with the customer.
It all starts with Awareness.
Observe yourself. Are you able to adjust quickly when things don’t turn out as expected or do your negative emotions overpower you? Dwelling about the “what if’s” and “if only’s” instead of just solving the problem. Someone who commits to making positivity a practice in their life, in general, are able to adapt and handle those road blocks much better. Navigate the twist and turns and unpredictability of life and be grateful for the things that are going well. Here are a few things that help me adapt positivity as a lifestyle:
Routine:
Establishing a steady routine is important for me. Things that I can count on will happen almost every day gives me a sense of control in my life. Also, the discipline in establishing a routine helps me practice discipline in other areas of my life as well. If I commit to eating healthy during the weeks and indulge a little more on the weekends, i’m also more likely to get all the things finished that I need to for the week and still have time for the things I want to do when my free time finally does come.
Exercise:
Exercise slowly releases Serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is one of the “feel good” chemicals the brain naturally produces to help fight off things like depression and anxiety. Getting in a daily exercise routine that I can count on gives me a sense of control, again, over my life. It gives me more energy and makes it easier to adjust to the inevitable ebbs and flows of life that remind us we are not always in control and that’s ok!
Meditation:
Meditation has a stigma surrounding it that only women, hippies, or folks following certain religions practice it. We need to get over that now. Meditation is a very useful tool to help relax the mind and the body and bring a more full sense of awareness to our lives. It allows time for the mind to reflect and for you to connect yourself with your body. We tend to abuse our bodies just by living our daily lives and doing day to day tasks. The stress adds up quickly and can really do a number on us. Meditation is an incredibly helpful tool to ground yourself and allows you flow with the tides of life instead of against them.
Know Yourself.
Like I said, It’s important to observe yourself. Ask yourself why you’re experiencing certain things as they happen and find ways that help you cope with those emotions and stresses. Everyone is different and has different techniques for managing these things but being mindful, giving yourself grace as you learn, and instilling good habits in your life will go a long way towards adopting a positive mindset for life.
“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.””