HandyFact - Cooking Terms
-Bake: Cook by dry heat in an oven (preheat oven for 10-15 minutes)
-Barbecue (BBQ): Cook on a grill over high heat. Most commonly over charcoal briquettes or on a propane fueled grill (also known as grilling or charbroiling)
-Baste: Keep foods moist during cooking by pouring a liquid over them using meat drippings, melted fat, broth etc.
-Beat: Make a mixture creamy, smooth by whipping quickly with a whisk or spoon, or an electric or hand mixer
-Blanch: Precook a food briefly in boiling liquid. (Commonly used to remove skins of tomatoes or to prepare vegetables for freezing)
-Blend: Stir two or more ingredients together until smooth
-Boil: Cook liquid at a temperature high enough that bubbles form rapidly, rise continually and break when they reach the surface. (A "rolling boil" is recognized by bubbles that form so quickly after the previous bubble breaks that the surface of the liquid appears to be rolling over constantly)
-Braise: Brown meat quickly in oil and then cook slowly in a little liquid or fat in covered pan on top of stove or in oven
-Bread: Coat raw food in bread crumbs or flour (some recipes will call for egg or other liquid and various spices)
-Broil: Cook by placing food on rack placed directly under source of heat or directly over an open fire
-Brown: Sear to seal in juices, can be done under a broiler or in fat (like butter or oil) in a skillet. 
-Caramelize: Heat sugar in order to turn it brown, or to cook vegetables, like onions, in a little oil very slowly over a low heat stirring often, until the natural sugars come out and become sticky and brownish
-Chill: Put food in refrigerator until it is cold throughout (different than "cool")
-Chop: Cut food in ½ - 1 inch pieces
-Clarify: Separate and remove solids from a liquid thereby making the liquid clear
-Cool: Remove food from heat source, let stand at room temperature (different than "chill")
-Cream: Mix foods together until creamy and soft
-Crimp: Pinching together at intervals to seal; i.e. edges of pie crust
-Cut In: Using a knife or pastry blender to add shortening, butter, or margarine to dry ingredients
-Dice: Cut food into tiny (¼ inch or less) pieces
-Dust: Sprinkle food with dry ingredients (think powdered sugar donuts)
-Fillet: Remove the bones from meat or fish
-Fold: Method for mixing light substances, like beaten egg whites, into heavier substance using a spatula and a "folding" motion for stirring in the light substance: cut through and "fold" over
-Fry: Cooking in a skillet immersing food in fat (butter, oil, etc.)
-Garnish: Decorate a dish. Most commonly done with lemon slices or parsley but can be done with herbs, edible flowers etc.
Glaze: Apply a thick liquid over the surface to give a sheen (think glazed donuts or honey glazed ham)
-Grate: Break up a solid (like cheese or ginger root) into smaller particles. Most commonly done with a metal grater.
-Grind: Process solids by hand or with an hand crank or electric grinder to reduce them into tiny particles (picture baby food)
-Julienne: Cut into thin strips 1/8 inch wide
-Knead: Manipulate dough with one's hands to develop the gluten in the flour (what helps bread dough rise)
-Lukewarm: Neither hot nor cold, more like body temperature
-Marinate: Cover foods in seasoned liquid that includes some citric acid like vinegar or lemon juice which tenderizes the food and infuses flavor
-Mince: Chop very fine: chop roughly, then chop crosswise, then repeat
-Mix: Combine two or more ingredients
-Mold: Form into an attractive shape (usually by using a decorative container called a "mold")
-Parboil: Precook in boiling water (see blanch)
-Peel: Remove the skins/peels from fruits or vegetables
-Poach: Simmer very gently
-Puree: Mash to a smooth blend
-Reduce: Boil down to reduce the amount of liquid
-Render: Melting solid fat (like butter) slowly
-Roast: Cook by dry heat in an oven (see bake - you usually "bake" cookies, but "roast" a turkey)
-Sauté: Gentle cooking on top of a stove, requires less fat than frying
-Score: Make shallow cuts in meat or fish or the top of a pie crust
-Sear: Briefly cook food at a very high heat to seal in juices
-Shred: Cut or grate into shreds (picture lettuce in fast food tacos)
-Sift: Remove lumps in dry ingredients by putting through a strainer or sifter
-Simmer: Boil gently so that liquid barely bubbles
-Steam :Cook food over boiling water, but not in the water
-Steep: Pour boiling water over something and let it sit, i.e. tea bag in a teapot
-Stew: Long slow cooking in liquid
-Whip: To lighten a substance and increase the volume by beating rapidly
-Zest: Peel citrus fruit, like a lemon, then remove and discard all the white flesh from the peel, the remaining peel is the zest (do not use fruits that may have been treated with pesticides or other chemicals)
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