- Al Dente
- Literally translated, means "to the tooth" in Italian. Practically speaking, the popular phrase refers to the proper degree of doneness for pasta - tender, but firm. It also suggests that instead of relying on package directions for cooking times, or throwing spaghetti strands at the walls to see if they stick, the best way to tell if pasta is ready is simply to bite into it. Because pasta continues to cook slightly after it has been drained, consider it ready to eat when it's somewhat chewy - tender but still firm "to the tooth".
- Almond Paste
- is made of ground blanched almonds, sugar, and liquid.
- Antipasto
- is an Italian word that means "before the meal." It is a selection of hors d'oeuvres such as salami, marinated mushrooms, tuna, or anchovies.
- Appetizer
- Small finger foods usually served before the first course of a meal.
- Aspic
- is a jelly made from the cooking liquids of beef or poultry. It will jell by itself, but it is often strengthened with additional gelatin and used for garnishing and coating cold foods. It can also be made from tomatoes and gelatin.
- Au Gratin
- Item is covered with crumbs or cheese or both before baking.
- Au Jus
- With natural juice or gravy from the item cooked.
- Bain Marie
- Also Known As: double boiler, Mary's bath. A bain marie is a utensil and a cooking technique. One container with food to be cooked is placed in another, larger pan containing water that is at the simmering point. This method of cooking surrounds the food with very gentle heat and is used for cooking delicate dishes like custards or white sauces, or melting chocolates.
- Bake
- Cooking with the use of dry heat, usually in an oven.
- Bake Until Tender
- Usually until a fork or other sharp instrument can be inserted into item with minimal resistance.
- Baking Powder
- is a leavening agent used in cookies, quick breads and other baked goods to produce expansion of a batter. It is made of baking soda and cream of tartar or another acid powder. It is almost always double action. This means it releases carbon dioxide when mixed with liquid, and releases it again when exposed to heat. Make sure, when following a recipe, that you don't confuse it with baking SODA, because your recipe will be ruined. You can make your own baking powder, which will be single action, by combining baking soda with cream of tartar.
- Baking Soda
- or bicarbonate of soda, is a leavening agent used in baked goods like cookies or quick breads. It is used when the dough or batter contains an acidic ingredient, like buttermilk, lemon, brown sugar, sour cream, or yogurt. The soda, or base, combines with the buttermilk, or other acid, to produce carbon dioxide and the baked goods expand, or rise. It is an ingredient in baking powder. Make sure not to confuse the two when baking, or your product will be ruined.
- Baking Stones
- sometimes referred to as pizza stones, are heavy round, square or rectangular slabs of ceramic tile. They are made from natural clay that's been pressed into a dense, flat shape and kiln-fired at extremely high temperatures. Like the bricks that line chimneys, baking stones retain and radiate heat while remaining fireproof and resistant to warping or cracking. Cooks put the stone on the lowest rack of the oven (or directly on the floor of a gas oven) to replicate the brick floor of a traditional baker's oven. It can be left there indefinitely.
- Barbecue
- To cook by roasting or broiling, usually over charcoal or other open flame.
- Baste
- To baste means to spoon or pour a liquid over foods, usually meat, during cooking or grilling. The liquid may be a marinade, the drippings from the bottom of the pan, or a fat like butter or oils.
- Batter
- Flour or liquid mixture that coats item being cooked, item is usually fried.
- Bearnaise Sauce
- is similar to hollandaise. A reduction of white wine and seasonings is blended with egg yolks until emulsified. Traditionally, the sauce is seasoned with shallots and tarragon.
- Beat
- To beat means to rapidly stir a batter with a spoon, whisk, hand, etc... to incorporate the ingredients along with air.
- Bechamel Sauce
- is a creamy basic French white sauce is made by stirring milk into a butter-flour mixture called a roux. The thickness of the sauce depends on the proportion of flour and butter to milk.
- Bisque
- A creamy white soup usually made from shell fish.
- Blanch
- This term means to plunge foods into boiling water for a few seconds or a few minutes, then remove and place in ice water. This process sets the color of vegetables, lets you easily peel fruits, and slip the skins off nuts. The food does not cook all the way through, so crisp texture is preserved. Blanching is usually done to prepare the food for canning, drying, freezing or to remove skins. It is also sometimes the first step in multi-step cooking procedures, as in blanching vegetables before stir frying.
- Blend
- To mix well, Usually until all ingredients are a smooth consistency.
- Blind Bake
- Blind bake means to bake a pie crust without a filling. There are several techniques used to ensure that the pie crust holds its shape when baked empty. Pie weights can be placed in the shell to keep it from puffing. The shell can be lined with foil and dried beans or peas. Pricking the crust with a fork before baking also helps the crust keep its shape.
- Boiling
- When boiling, a mixture should have bubbles rising constantly to the top and breaking on the surface.
- Bouillabaise
- Thick soup or chowder made with several types of fish and a wine base.
- Bouillon
- is a clear stock made of poultry, beef or veal, vegetables, and seasonings, stronger than broth but not as strong as consomme.
- Braise
- A method of slow cooking that works well for meat, especially not-so-tender cuts, poultry and hardy vegetables. The food is usually browned then cooked in a heavy covered pot, often over a bed of diced vegetables, with little or no liquid. Braised meat dishes are best made a day ahead. The flavor improves, and refrigerating overnight congeals any fat, making it easy to remove.
- Brew
- To use hot liquid to extract flavor out of item being cooked by letting item set in the liquid.
- Broil
- To cook food by a direct, close heat source, usually heat source comes from above food item.
- Brown
- Browning foods, usually meats, involves heating them in a skillet with a small amount of oil. This process is repeated on each side of the cut of meat. The meat should only be cooked for 5 minutes or so on each side. This of course depends on the size of the food being browned. One common beginner's mistake is to overcook the meat at this stage, which results in less tender results. Other types of browning include enzymatic browning, which appears on cut surfaces of fruit. Browning involves the Maillard Reaction which brings sugars and protiens together, with the application of high heat, to form new flavor compounds in the food. The flavors of foods such as meat, bread, pie crusts, vegetables, butter, etc... can be enhanced by browning.
- Bruschetta
- From the Italian word 'bruscare' meaning ‘to roast over coals‘. For Bruschetta, also known as 'crostini', thin slices of bread are toasted, rubbed with garlic, then drizzled with olive oil and served warm. (See Crostini)
- Butter, Drawn
- is melted, clarified butter, often served with shellfish.
- Butterfly
- In cooking, when a recipe asks you to butterfly a food you should split it through the middle without completely separating the sides, then spread the halves to resemble a butterfly.
- Cafe Au Lait
- A hot drink with equal parts of coffee and milk.
- Canape
- Small appetizer, usually open and served as a first course.
- Candy
- Boiling with sugar to preserve, or, to coat or incrust with sugar.
- Caramel
- Syrup made with burnt sugar for color and flavor, also a chewy soft candy.
- Charlotte
- Bread or cake pudding topped with fruit or gelatin.
- Chill
- To place food in refrigerator until cold but not frozen.
- Cholesterol Free
- To be labeled as "cholesterol free," a food must have less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving.
- Chop
- 1) When a recipe calls for something to be chopped, it is asking for it to be cut roughly into more or less uniform pieces of about 1/2".
2) A piece that has been chopped off, especially a cut of meat, usually taken from the rib, shoulder, or loin and containing a bone.
- Cider
- Juice processed from apples for a beverage or to make vinegar.
- Clarify
- Clearing a liquid by adding beaten egg white to draw cloudiness to it then straining liquid.
- Coat Spoon
- A thin even coating of mixture on a spoon when the spoon is dipped into the mixture.
- Cobbler
- A deep dish dessert or pie made from fruit with a rich and thick dough crust.
- Cocktail
- Same as appetizer or, and alcoholic beverage before a meal.
- Coddle
- Slowly cooking in liquid keeping it just under the boiling point.
- Conchiglie
- are smooth or ridged shell shaped pasta best served in soups or salads.
- Cracklings
- Cooking food until fat is fried out and the remaining food is crispy.
- Cream
- 1) To rub or work soft shortening, sometimes with sugar, against the sides of a bowl until creamy or fluffy. This process, when making baked goods, forms tiny air pockets in the shortening so the finished product is light and airy.
2) The yellowish fatty component of unhomogenized milk that tends to accumulate at the surface.
- Croquettes
- Mince of meat or fish held together by eggs or sauce, dipped in crumbs and fried.
- Crostini
- This Italian word means ‘little toasts‘. The thin slices of bread are toasted, drizzled with olive oil, and served warm. They may be topped with a savory, finely diced mixture such as cheese, vegetables, meat or seafood. (See Bruschetta)
- Cubed
- When a recipe calls for something to be cubed, it is asking for it to be cut into squares of uniform size, usually bigger than diced.
- Cut
- Dividing food into pieces by using a knife or other instrument.
- Cut & Fold
- Slicing down through a mixture with spoon, bringing to top and folding over.
- Cut In
- means working solid shortening into dry ingredients with two knives or a pastry blender until well mixed. When making pastry, solid shortening, lard, or butter is cut in to a flour mixture until the particles are the size of small peas. This creates a tender texture by coating the flour proteins with shortening, interrupting gluten formation. The pea sized pieces of shortening also separate the crust into layers when they are pressed into flakes during rolling. During baking these layers bake into leaves of pastry creating a flaky crust.
- Deglaze
- When a recipe asks you to deglaze a pan after cooking foods, first pour off any excess oil or fat. Return the pan to the heat and add the vegetables called for in the recipe cooking them until the remaining liquid is gone. Turn up the heat and add a liquid, such as a wine or a flavorful stock, to the pan. The liquid will come to a quick boil and loosen all the flavorful particles from the bottom of the pan, allowing you to scrape them free with a wooden spoon.
- Demi-Glace
- A rich espagnole sauce, which is slowly cooked with beef stock and Madeira or sherry until it's reduced by half. The result is a thick glaze that coats a spoon. This intense mixture is used as a base for many other sauces.
- Dice
- When a recipe calls for something to be diced, it is asking for it to be cut into squares of uniform size, 1/8 to 1/4 inches.
- Dissolve
- Mixing solids in a liquid solution until they become part of the solution.
- Dough
- Flour and liquid mixture that is substantial enough to be worked or kneaded.
- Drippings
- Drippings are the juices, marinade, melted fat, and browned particles that are in the bottom of a pan or skillet after cooking meats. They form the base of many sauces.
- Dry Rub
- A dry rub is a combination of spices and herbs that is rubbed into meat to help flavor and/or tenderize the flesh before cooking.
- Emulsion
- is a food made by combining two liquids together which normally don't mix easily. The ingredients are usually oil or a fat like olive oil or egg yolks, and another liquid like water or broth. Acidic liquids like lemon juice help the process by changing the pH of the mixture. The liquids are combined very slowly, usually drop by drop, while beating vigorously, which suspends drops of liquid throughout each other. Bearnaise, hollandaise, and mayonnaise are examples of emulsified foods.
- Entree
- Light dish usually served between the courses at dinner.
- Espagnole Sauce
- A rich, reduced brown stock containing herbs, tomato puree or fresh tomatoes and a mirepoix of browned vegetables, all thickened by brown roux.
- Farfalle
- are bow shaped pasta that are best served in soups, stuffings, or with sauce on top.
- Fettuccini
- are ribbon noodles about 1/2 inch wide that are best served buttered or in a sauce.
- Flake
- Means to break or pull apart a food, like chicken or fish, that divides naturally. All you do is follow these divisions, pulling at them gently with one or two forks, or flake with your fingers.
- Fold
- Usually egg whites or whipped cream are folded into a heavier mixture, for a souffle, cake, or pie filling. The lighter mixture is placed on top of the heavier mixture, then the two are combined by passing a spatula down through the mixture, across the bottom, and up over the top. This process continues until the mixtures are combined. This traps air into bubbles in the product, allowing baked goods to rise.
- Fondue
- A light dish usually prepared with cheese and eggs.
- Frappe
- Food item that is partly frozen.
- Fresh
- To be labeled as "fresh," a food must be raw, not processed, frozen, or otherwise preserved.
- Fricassee
- Any boiled meat dish served in a heavy milk sauce.
- Fritters
- Fish, fruit or vegetables, buttered or battered and deep fried.
- Frosting
- Cooked sugar combined with other ingredients to make creamy cover for cakes etc.
- Fussili
- are spiral shaped pasta that are best served in casseroles or with a sauce on top.
- Ganache
- is a combination of chocolate and cream, melted together slowly. When used warm, ganache is poured over cakes or cookies to form a smooth glossy coating. If chilled, it can be formed into chocolate truffles.
- Giblets
- Liver, gizzard or heart of poultry, used most of the time in gravy.
- Glaze
- Iced or glossed over, meat using stocks or jellies, fruit with sugar syrup.
- Gluten
- Gluten is a protein found in flour, which forms during bread making. Glutanin and gliadin, two protein molecules in flour, combine to form gluten when water is added to flour and the resulting dough is worked over and over, or kneaded. The gluten forms a network that traps CO2 created by yeast, giving bread its characteristic texture and air bubbles.
- Grate
- Means to tear off coarse-to-fine particles of food with a hand grater or mechanical device.
- Grind
- Means to put food through chopper. Choppers have two or three blades. Use a blade with smaller holes to grind foods fine; one with the larger holes for coarse chopping or grinding.
- Hors d'oeuvres
- are bite-size appetizers served with cocktails, generally at a party or dinner party.
- Infusion
- To steep tea, coffee and herbs to extract the essence.
- Julienne
- To julienne food cut it into slices about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Stack the slices, then cut lengthwise again to make thin, matchlike sticks.
- Knead
- Bread dough is kneaded to distribute the yeast and develop gluten for an even texture. To knead, pick up the far edge of the dough and fold over the bottom edge. Press down with the heels of your hands, pushing the dough away from you. Turn the dough one quarter turn and repeat the process. When properly kneaded, bread dough will be smooth and satiny, stretchy and no longer sticky.
- Light or Lite
- To be labeled as "light" or "lite," a food must have one-third fewer calories than a comparable regular product.
- Low Calorie
- To be labeled as "low calorie," a food must have less than 40 calories per serving.
- Low Fat
- To be labeled as "Low Fat," a food must have 3 grams or less of fat per serving.
- Macerate
- This term means letting food, usually fruit, soak in a liquid to absorb flavor. Fruits are usually soaked in liqueurs. In other words, fruit that is marinated in liqueurs is being macerated.
- Marinade
- refers to the liquid foods marinate in. Marinades always contain some acidic liquid like lemon juice or vinegar to tenderize the foods, and may contain spices or herbs to add flavor. Meats are placed in marinade to tenderize and add flavor. Vegetables and fruits are placed in marinade to add flavor.
- Marinate
- Marinate means to coat or immerse foods in an acidic-based liquid or dry rub, to tenderize and add flavor before cooking. Food is marinated in a marinade.
- Milk, Evaporated
- is milk that has had 60 percent of its water removed. It is sold in cans and can be stored at room temperature until opened. It can be substituted for other milk products, except sweetened condensed milk, if you reconstitute it using 2 parts evaporated milk to 3 parts water.
- Milk, Condensed
- is milk that has had about 50 percent of its water removed and, like evaporated milk, is sold in cans and can be stored at room temperature until opened. Because sweetened condensed milk has about 40 percent added sugar, it is not a suitable substitute for other milks.
- Mince
- To cut into very small pieces. This term means the smallest possible pieces; smaller than dice or chop, but not pureed.
- Mirepoix
- A mixture of diced carrots, onions, celery, and herbs sauteed in butter. Sometimes ham or bacon is added. Mirepoix is used to season sauces, soups and stews, as well as for a bed on which to braise foods, usually meats or fish.
- Orzo
- are tiny rice shaped pasta that are best served cooked like rice in soups.
- Pare
- To remove the skin of a fruit or vegetable using a swivel-bladed peeler or sharp paring knife.
- Peel
- 1) When a recipe asks you to peel an item, it wants you to cut off the outer covering, using a knife or vegetable peeler. (See Pare)
2) The skin or rind of certain fruits and vegetables.
- Piquant
- A very sharp tasting sauce.
- Poach
- To poach food, place them in seasoned liquid. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover tightly. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer so small bubbles form and break below the surface of the liquid. The food can also be placed in already boiling water, then simmered.
- Proof
- 1) Yeast is proofed by combining with a little sugar and warm water to ensure it is still alive before use. If it produces bubbles with 5 minutes or so it is good.
2) Dough proofs when it is allowed to sit in a warm spot, usually for several hours. The dough expands and rises because of yeast fermentation and production of carbon dioxide. The gas is trapped within gluten strands which form out of protein in the flour as the bread is kneaded.
- Puree
- Food boiled down to a liquid form and put through a sieve.
- Reduce
- means to simmer or boil a liquid until much of it evaporates, thickening the mixture to a sauce and concentrating its flavor. The most sophisticated sauces are pan reductions.
- Roux
- A mixture of flour and fat, usually in equal quantities, that, after being slowly cooked over low heat, is used to thicken mixtures such as soups and sauces. It can be made with butter, drippings, or pork or beef fat. There are three classic roux -- white, blond, and brown. The color is determined by the length of time the mixture is cooked. A white roux is the basis of bechamel, veloute and white sauce. Brown roux is fuller flavored but has less thickening power. It's cooked to a deep golden brown and used for rich, dark soups, such as gumbos and etouffes, and sauces.
- Saute
- When a recipe asks you to saute an item, it wants you to cook it over medium-high heat in hot fat with frequent tossing or turning.
To saute food, heat a small amount of fat in a skillet until a drop of water sizzles in it. Add food and cook over medium-high heat, turning part way through, until cooked.
- Scald
- Scald means to heat a liquid, usually a dairy product, in a saucepan until it almost boils. It will have small bubbles around the outside and should be about 196°F. It used to be an essential step in breadmaking, since heating would disable or denature some proteins in milk that interfered with yeast fermentation. That is no longer true of milk products. Now scalded milk is usually made and added to custards, puddings, and sauces.
- Score
- To score a food is to cut narrow grooves or slits partway through the outer surface of the food to tenderize it or to form a decorative pattern.
To score food for cooking, cut its surface about 1/4" deep to facilitate cooking, flavoring, or appearance.
- Seize
- Chocolate seizes when water is added, usually accidentally, during melting. Because melted chocolate is made up of dry particles (cocoa solids) suspended in fat (cocoa butter) a little liquid will cause the dry particles to stick together. It stiffens, loses its gloss, and becomes lumpy and unworkable. Sometimes this can be fixed by stirring in some solid shortening or oil. You can also add more liquid to smooth it out. This will make a more soupy mixture.
- Shortbread
- Scottish in origin, shortbread derives its name from the fact that the dough is very "short," or rich in butter. A purist's cookie, it is traditionally made without eggs (handy to remember when you're out of eggs). Basically, it is sugar, flour, butter and flavorings.
- Shread
- Means to cut or tear in long, narrow pieces. The fineness varies -- recipes often say that foods should be 'finely" or "coarsely " shredded. Use a hand or mechanical shredder; or cut crisp vegetables, like cabbage, to shreds with a sharp knife.
- Simmer
- means to bring a liquid almost to a boil over low heat. Simmering liquid is characterized by small bubbles which rise slowly to the surface, usually breaking before they reach the surface.
- Sliver
- means to cut or splinter into long, thin strips, with a sharp knife on a cutting board.
- Steaming
- A method of cooking where food is placed on a rack or in a steamer basket set above liquid. The liquid is brought to a boil in a covered pot or pan, and the steam generated by the boiling liquid cooks the meat. Steaming works wonderfully for just about everything except red meat and unstuffed pasta.
- Stir
- To use a spoon, whisk, or beater to move ingredients around in a circular motion. Stirring is a more gentle form of beating.
- Temper
- 1) A process of heating and cooling chocolate to form stable crystals. These crystals then assure that the chocolate will be firm and crisp at room temperature.
2) To gently heat egg yolks before adding to a hot sauce by adding a small bit of the sauce and beating well. This technique prevents curdling.
- Truffle
- 1) Chocolate truffles are made of chilled ganache, rolled into balls and then coated in candy coating, powdered sugar, nuts or cocoa.
2) The other truffle is a fungus, or mushroom, which grows at the base of oak trees and is extremely expensive. These truffles are also extremely pungent, and can flavor raw eggs when simply stored in the same container! Real truffles can cost up to $2,000 a pound.
- Veloute Sauce
- A veloute sauce is a variation of bechamel, or white sauce, except instead of milk, the liquid added to the roux is chicken stock or another light stock like veal or fish.
- Vinaigrette
- A Vinaigrette is a sauce, French in origin, made from oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbs; usually served on cold meat, fish, or vegetables.
- Well Drained
- When recipes call for thawed spinach to be "well drained," this means the excess liquid must be pressed or squeezed out. Use clean hands to squeeze out portions of the spinach or place the spinach in a sieve and press on it with the back of a large spoon.
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Cooking Hints and Tips
