Bringing the food, fashion, and decor of the Mid Century to today through a delightful blog.
PROCESSES
BAKE
To cook by dry heat, usually in an oven.
BARBECUE
To roast or broil whole, as a hog, fowl, etc. Usually done on a revolving frame over coals or upright in front of coals. To cook thin slices of meat in a highly seasoned vinegar sauce.
BASTE
To moisten roasting meat or other food while baking by pouring melted fat, drippings or sauces over it.
BEAT
To make a mixture smooth and introduce air by a brisk regular motion that lifts the mixture over and over.
BLANCH
To pour boiling water over a food, then drain and rinse with cold water. Used to whiten or to remove skins as from almonds.
BLEND
To mix two or more ingredients so that each loses its identity.
BOIL
To cook in liquid, usually water, in which large bubbles rise rapidly and continually so that all of the liquid is agitated.
BROIL
To cook by exposing the food directly to the heat source.
BRAISE
To cook meat by searing in fat, then simmering in a covered dish in a small amount of moisture.
CANDY
To conserve or preserve by boiling with sugar. To incrust or coat with sugar.
CARAMELIZE
To heat dry sugar or foods containing sugar until light brown and of caramel flavor.
CHOP
To cut into pieces.
COMBINE
To mix ingredients.
CREAM
To work foods until soft and fluffy. Usually applied to shortening and sugar.
CUT
(a) To divide foods with a knife or scissors. (b) To incorporate solid fat into dry ingredients with the least amount of blending so the fat remains in small particles.
DICE
To cut into small cubes.
DISSOLVE
To pass into solution.
DREDGE
To coat with flour.
FRICASSEE
To cook meat by stewing in grav
FRY
To cook in fat.
GARNISH
To ornament with something bright and savory. Something added for decoration.
GLACE
To coat with a thin sugar sirup that has been cooked to crack stage.
GRATE
To reduce to small particles by rubbing with anything rough and indented.
GRILL
To cook by direct heat on a gridiron.
GRIND
To reduce food to particles by using a food chopper.
KNEAD
To manipulate with a pressing motion plus folding and stretching. Usually applied to bread dough.
LARD
To place strips of fat into or on top of lean meat or fish.
MARINATE
To treat with a marinade
MASK
To completely cover with a thick sauce, jelly or mayonnaise.
MELT
To liquify by heat.
MINCE
To chop very fine.
MIX
To combine in any manner that effects distribution.
PAN BROIL
To cook meat on a hot surface, pouring off fat as it accumulates.
PARBROIL
To boil raw food until partially cooked.
PARCH
To brown by means of dry heat. Applied to grains.
PARE
To cut off the outside covering. Applied to potatoes, apples, etc.
PASTEURIZE
To preserve food by heating sufficiently to destroy micro-organisms and arrest fermentation. Applied to liquids such as milk and fruit juices.
PEEL
To strip off the outer covering. Applied to oranges, grapefruits, etc.
POACH
To cook slowly in hot liquid to cover.
RENDER
To free fat from connective tissue by heating until fat melts and can be drained off.
ROAST
To cook by dry heat, usually in an oven.
SCALD
To heat liquid to temperature just below the boiling point. A think skin forming over milk indicates sufficient scalding.
SCORE
To cut lightly so as to mark with lines.
SHIRR
To break eggs into a dish with cream or crumbs and bake in an oven.
SIMMER
To cook in liquid, usually water, at a temperature below boiling. Small bubbles are formed and rise slowly but the liquid is practically motionless.
SKEWER
To pierce or fasten with skewers - as a piece of meat.