Mixed Up
What is to mix?
Heat until bubbles rise continuously and break on the surface of liquid.
What is to boil?
Involves a significant amount of direct, radiant, dry heat that is applied to the surface of the food, usually from below. Used for cooking meat and vegetables quickly.
What is to grill?
Passing a dry ingredient through a mesh bottom sieve. This process combines air with the ingredient, making it lighter and more uniform in texture.
What is to sift?
Combine ingredients with a circular or figure-eight motion until there is uniform consistency.
What is to stir?
To cut into bite size pieces - Fine: smaller than bite size - Rough: Slightly larger than bite size.
What is to chop?
To work dough into a uniform mixture by pressing, folding, and stretching.
What is to knead?
Cook in liquid just below the boiling point (bubbles form slowly and collapse below the surface)
What is to simmer?
Cook rapidly in a small amount of fat, stirring occaisionally.
What is to saute?
Let food stand in a savory, usually acidic liquid for several hours to tenderize and add flavor.
What is to marinate?
The process of combining two or more ingredients together so that they lose their individual characteristics and become smooth and uniform.
What is to blend?
To remove the colored outer portion of citrus peel, often used as a seasoning, by peeling or grating.
What is to zest?
To beat a food rapidly to incorporate air into the food and increase its volume.
What is to whip or whisk?
To cook a food in the vapor given off by boiling water.
What is to steam?
Spoon or brush liquid over food during cooking to keep it moist and to add flavor.
What is to baste?
Means "to the tooth" - pasta should be tender but firm to the bite.
What is Al Dente?
Cut vertically through mixture with a rubber scraper; next slide scraper across the bottom of the bowl turning the mixture over. Continue down-across-up-over motion while rotating the bowl 1/4 turn with each series of strokes.
What is to fold?
To cut food into even, small squares about 1/4" in diameter.
What is to dice?
Make a mixture smooth with a rapid vigorous over-and-over motion using a spoon, hand beater, wire whisk or electric mixer.
What is to beat?
Cook in hot liquid just below the boiling point.
What is to poach?
To cook by exposing food to direct radiant heat from above.
What is to broil?
A french term that refers to a mixture of flour and a fat cooked to a golden or rich brown color and used for thickening sauces, soups, and gumbos.
What is a roux?
Distribute solid fat in dry ingredients by cutting with a pastry blender with a rolling motion or cutting with two knives until particles are desired size.
What is to cut in?
To remove the skin of a fruit or vegetable using a swivel-bladed peeler or a sharp paring knife.
What is to pare?
Mix the ingredients by using a light lift and drop method.
What is to toss?
Plunged into boiling water for a brief time to preserve color, texture, and nutritional value or to remove skin from fruits and vegatables.
What is to blanch?
Sauteing in fat and then simmering slowly in a small amount of liquid.
What is to braise?
To combine two liquid or semi-liquid ingredients, such as oil and vinegar, that don't naturally dissolve into each other. One way to do this is to gradually add one ingredient to the other while whisking rapidly with a fork or wire whisk.
What is to emulsify?
Technique of softening solid fat, into a mass and then blending it with other ingredients, usually sugar.
What is to cream?
A culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut inot long, thin strips, similar to matchsticks.
What is to julienne?