Basic Cooking Techniques

• BARBECUE:  To roast slowly, usually basting with highly seasoned sauce. It can be done on a stationary or rotating skewer.
• BASTE: To moisten meat or other foods while cooking by covering surface with melted fat and fruit juice or sauce.
• BATTER: A mixture of flour and water thick enough to stir and thin enough to drop from a spoon.
• BEAT: To make a mixture smooth by introducing air with a brisk regular motion.
• BRAISE: To cook slowly in a covered pan, with a small amount of liquid. can be used for meat or vegetables.
• BLEND: To mix thoroughly two or more ingredients.
• BLANCH: To partially cook vegetables in a boiling water. This may serve to soften the skins of vegetables of easier removal, or to prepare vegetables for canning or preserving.
• BOQUET GARNING: A French cooking method of trying whole herbs into a piece of cheese cloth, securing it with cotton string and using it flavor soups, sauces and other dishes.
• CANDIED: A process of cooking in a syrup or in sugar .Sometimes the syrup is kept moist and sometimes is dried and crystallized.
• CHOP: To cut to small even pieces with a knife.
• CASSEROLE:  A vessel usually with a cover in which food can be baked and served.
• CHUTNEY: A curry accompaniment which may be raw or cooked made of fruit, vegetable or nuts.
• CARAMELIZE: To cook until the sugar in the food has browned, but it is not burnt. This process brings out sweetness and color in the food.
• CREAM: A method used in baking, in which sugar and butter are combined in small amounts, mixing thoroughly between additions. This method incorporates air into sugar/butter mixture and makes for a tender baked product.
• COAGULATION: To change from a fluid to a thickened jelly, clot or curd.
• CUT IN: To distribute solid fat or cheese into dry ingredients by use of pastry blender.
• DOUGH: A mixture of flour and liquid thick enough to knead or roll but too stiff to stir or pour.
• DASH: Less than 1/8 teaspoon of an ingredient.
• DOUBLE BOILER: A set of two saucepans so made that one pan can be inserted in the other to allow space between pans.
• DREDGE: To coat meat or vegetables in a dry mixture such as flour or breadcrumbs, prior to cooking.
• DEGLAZE: To pour water or wine into a hot pan where meat has been cooked. The process loosens the browned crumbs in the pan, and may provide a base for gravy or sauce.
• FLAMBE: To ignite warmed spirits in a pan of food, often a dessert, for effect, and to caramelize the dish.
• FOLD: To gently incorporate the ingredients together, usually with a scraper or spoon. Often used to blend whipped cream with other ingredients.
• GRIND: To reduce to particles by cutting or crushing.
• GRILL: To cook by direct heat.
• GLACE: To coat with a thin sugar syrup cooked to the crack stage.
• HOMOGENIZE: To break into regular sized small particles.
• HYDROGENATION: A process in which hydrogen is combined with an unsaturated compound to form a solid.
• ICING: Coating of finely ground sugar and water or white of egg for cakes.
• JULIENNE: Food cut in long thin strips.
• LUKEWARM: To heat to 95 F or when sprinkled on palm side of the wrist , will not feel warm.
• MALT: Sprouts of moist grains which have been heated, dried and ground into a flour.
• MARINATE: To make food stand in a liquid like vinegar or curd before further processing.
• MINCE: To cut or chop into very small pieces.
• MIX: To combine ingredients in any way that effects a distribution.
• MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE: A chemical added to food enhance flavor.
• PARCH: To brown by means of dry heat.
• PARE: Cut off outside covering.
• PARBOIL: To boil until partially cooked.
• POACH: To cook in hot liquid in a way that the shape of food is retained.
• PICKLE: Fruit or vegetable which is preserved in vinegar, lime or oil with salt and spices.
• PRESSURE COOKER: An airtight container for cooking food under steam pressure at a high temperature.
• SAUCE PAN: A covered cooking utensil with one handle.
• SAUTE: To brown or cook in a small amount of fat.
• SCALD: To dip food in boiling water.
• SCALLOP: To bake food with a sauce pan.
• SEAR: To brown meat all over to create a crust, to be finished with another cooking method.
• SOLUTION: Uniform liquid blend containing a solid and a liquid.
• STIR: To mix food materials with a circular motion.
• STEEP: To allow a substance to stand in liquid.
• SKEWER: To string on wooden or metal rods for cooking.
• SEASONING: To add spices or herbs to food to provide flavor and make it more palatable.
• SHERBET: A frozen dessert composed of fruit juice or pulp, sugar and water or milk .Egg white or gelatin may be added to improve the consistency.
• STERILIZE: To destroy the microorganisms by use of high temperature with steam or boiling liquid.
• SPECIFIC GRAVITY: The weight of a volume of substance in relation gravity to the weight of an equal volume of water.
• SWEAT: To slow cook vegetable in a covered pan until they are soft, but still hold their shape. This is often done with Garlic or onions.
• TOAST: To brown by means of dry heat.
• TEMPER: To gently heat a food, often before adding it to a hotter substance. One example is adding a teaspoon or so of hot sauce to beaten eggs. The mixture is blended and then added to the sauce. This keeps the eggs from curdling. The method is also used in candy making chocolate.
• ROLLING BOIL: When a liquid is boiling and cannot be stirred down to below boiling point.
• ROUX: A mix of flour and oil together until the flour is browned. Used a s abase for cajun dishses such as gumbo.
• WARM: To raise temperature to 105- 115 F
• WHEY: The liquid residue of milk after removal of the casein and most of the fats.
• WHIP: To beat rapidly to incorporate air and produce expansion.