Recipe Terms
This tells you how much food a recipe will make.
What is yield?
This method cooks food in a liquid at 212°F, with large bubbles constantly breaking the surface.
What is boiling?
This cut turns food into small, even cubes.
What is dicing?
This term describes passing flour through a fine mesh strainer to remove lumps and add air.
What is sifting?
These two terms describe the different ways in which ingredients are measured.
What is volume and weight?
This French phrase means "everything in its place," and refers to prepping and organizing ingredients before you start cooking.
What is mise en place?
This method cooks food quickly in a small amount of fat over medium-high heat, with the food stirred or tossed.
What is sautéing?
Garlic is often cut this way, into very tiny, fine pieces.
What is minced?
This step describes mixing butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
What is creaming?
On a digital scale, pressing this button zeroes out the weight of the empty vessel or prior measurements so you only weigh what you intend to.
What is tare?
A recipe calls for a scant cup of sugar, which means you measure this.
What is slightly less than a full cup?
This term describes when, after searing meat, you add wine or stock to the hot pan to loosen the browned bits stuck to the bottom.
What is deglazing?
This cut makes thin matchstick strips, about 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch x 2 inches.
What is julienne?
This method of mixing involves gently combining a light mixture, like whipped egg whites, into a heavier one using a spatula to keep the batter airy.
What is folding?
In a 3:1 ratio of oil to acid, if you use 6 tbsp of oil, you need this much lemone juice.
What is 2 tbsp?
To scale a recipe, you find this number by dividing the desired yield by the original yield.
What is the conversion factor?
This method first browns the food, the cooks it slowly, covered, in a small amount of liquid. It is often used for tough cuts of meat.
What is braising?
Cut a julienne crosswise and you get these very small 1/8 inch cubes.
What is brunoise?
This is the process of resting a yeast dough in a warm place after shaping to allow it to rise before baking.
What is proofing?
To scale a 4-serving recipe to 10 servings, you multiply every ingredient by this conversion factor.
What is 2.5?