Welcome to Lifestyle Cooking
Cooking Instructions Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Cooking Instructions. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
Basic Cooking Terms
from: Karlie BestlerIf you like to cook and try out new recipes, there are many cooking terms you should be familiar with that are often used in cooking instructions:
Al dente: Pasta (and, in some cases, vegetables) cooked only to the point where they have a slightly tender consistency. In other words, they are intentionally left slightly undercooked.
Acidify: To add acid (lemon, juice or vinegar) to a culinary preparation to make your dish a bit sour or piquant.
Appetizer: A small portion of food served prior to the main meal.
Appetizers may be hot or cold or served as finger food. These can also be called hors d'oeuvres or starters.
Au gratin: Foods that have cheese baked into them.
Baste: To spoon, brush or pour drippings or liquid over a food prior to or while cooking in order to keep the food moist or to add flavor.
Blanch: Briefly cooking food in boiling water, and moving it into cold water to stop the cooking process.
Brine: A saltwater solution that can be used to preserve foods.
Butterfly: A method of cutting food right down the center, almost completely in half. The item is then pulled open and cooked or fried. The "fan" resembles a butterfly.
Consomme: A type of broth that is similar to a clarified bouillon. Used in sauces and soups.
Cut-in: Mixing a solid fat, such as lard or butter, with a dry ingredient such as flour. This can be done with a pastry blender or by simply using a fork.
Dice: Cutting a food item into tiny pieces or cubes, usually only a quarter of an inch in size.
Dredge: To coat food with flour, cornmeal or bread crumbs. This is normally done immediately before you intend to fry the food.
Escalope: A thinly-sliced food, such as meat, fish, or a vegetable.
Filet mignon: A small, boneless cut of beef from the small end of the tenderloin.
Flake: To shred, tear or otherwise transform food into small pieces, often done using a fork.
Flambe: To add alcohol to a dish and then ignite it. This is done to sear the outside of the food.
Garnish: An edible accompaniment to a dish, used purely to make the dish look more attractive. A garnish may be eaten, but generally that is not its purpose.
Julienne: To cut a food in very thin strips, one or two inches in length.
Jus: A lightly reduced stock that is used as a sauce for roasted meats, such as beef.
Kosher: Any food that is prepared in accordance with Orthodox Jewish law.
Marinate: To leave food in a mixture called a marinade or a dry rub for an extended time before being cooked to either add flavor to the food or to tenderize it.
Mince: To cut food into very small pieces of indiscriminate shape.
Poach: To gently cook food in water or a broth. Food should be removed from heat just below the boiling point.
Puree: The process of pressing food through a sieve or blending it until it has a smooth consistency.
Reduce: Boiling a liquid until some of it has evaporated and it has a lesser volume. This serves to thicken the liquid and intensify its flavor.
Score: Making shallow cuts in a meat before cooking, which helps to make the meat more tender.
Sear: Frying a meat for a very short period at a hot temperature with the goal of sealing in its juices.
Simmer: Cooking a liquid at slightly below the boiling point.
Skim: To remove fat and possibly other substances from the surface of a cooked liquid, or one that is cooking.
Steam: To cook a food in a perforated container that is suspended over boiling water.
Stock: A broth made from cooking meat, fish or vegetables. Stock is the basis for soup making.
Zest: The skin of a citrus fruit. Only the colored layer should be included, not the white.
Related Articles for Cooking Instructions
Cooking Online News
NATO Summit: 3 Protesters Arrested, Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism - ABC News
 ABC News | NATO Summit: 3 Protesters Arrested, Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism ABC News Three men accused of building Molotov cocktails were also planning attacks at President Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters and at the home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel during the NATO Summit, prosecutors said. Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale ... NATO Saturday: Trains, protesters, charges Three Nato protesters planned Obama campaign HQ attack, prosecutors say Trio charged in planned attacks ahead of NATO summit |
Chinese activist who fled house arrest heads to US - Fox News
 NEWS.com.au | Chinese activist who fled house arrest heads to US Fox News BEIJING – A blind Chinese legal activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital and put on a plane for the United States on Saturday, closing a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested US-China relations. Chen Guangcheng, sitting in a wheelchair ... As Chen Guancheng flies to US, concern persists over family members left behind Chen leaves China on flight bound for US Blind Chinese activist leaves for US |
G-8 leaders agree on need to promote economic growth - USA TODAY
 USA TODAY | G-8 leaders agree on need to promote economic growth USA TODAY By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY CAMP DAVID, Md. -- Leaders of the world's major economic powers agreed Saturday to boost their emphasis on economic growth and job creation, and they vowed to seek the release of oil reserves if needed to compensate for ... G-8 Leaders Hope Greece Remains in Eurozone G-8 Leaders Stare Into Economic Unease Germany isolated over euro crisis plan at G8 meeting in Camp David |
Student dies, 7 hurt in blast near Italian school - The Associated Press
 Globe and Mail | Student dies, 7 hurt in blast near Italian school The Associated Press By FRANCES D'EMILIO, AP – 2 hours ago ROME (AP) — A bomb exploded Saturday outside an Italian high school named after a slain anti-Mafia prosecutor, killing a student and wounding several others, officials said, and rattling a country already tense ... Teenage schoolgirl killed in suspected Mafia bomb is named as Melissa Bassi Bomb at Italian school kills teenage girl, wounds 10 Bomb outside Italian school named for wife of slain anti-Mafia hero kills 1 ... |