Commonly Used Cooking Techniques
 
It can be so frustrating looking through a cookbook, finding great recipes, then realize you don’t know what half of the terms and techniques are! The following is a list of the most commonly used cooking techniques and what they mean.
 
Al Dente – Pasta that is cooked until it has a slight resistance when bitten and not soft all the way through. The easiest way to test for al dente is to sample it for consistency.

Bain-Marie – AKA double-boiler - A bowl with your cooking ingredients held over a simmering pot of water, used to slowly warm foods that could be ruined with too much heat.

Baste – Applying melted butter, meat drippings, or stock to a meat as it cooks, this creates a nice glaze.

Beat – To stir rapidly, most easily done with an electric mixer.

Blanch – Plunge vegetables into boiling water briefly, then plunge into ice water to stop it from cooking.

Blend – The mixing of two or more ingredients together until evenly distributed.

Braise – When meat is first browned in fat then cooked slowly with a small amount of liquid with a tight lid so the liquid cannot evaporate.

Brown – Cook quickly over high heat so the outside turns golden and crisp, but the inside is still soft and moist, like when cooking pancakes.

Cream – The mixing of ingredients until soft, smooth and well combined.

Cut-in – To mix cold butter or shortening into dry ingredients with fingers, mixer, or pastry blender until the mixture begins to hold together in small clumps.

Deep Fry – To cook in a vat of oil that is deep enough for the food to be completely submerged, the temperature of the oil should be roughly 375ºF measured with a thermometer.

Dice – Cutting food into small cubes of about a 1/8 of an inch.

Fold – To delicately mix a light airy mixture with a denser mixture using a spatula, slowly push the light mixture down, and then drag the denser mixture from the bottom up and over the light mixture (folding it over) and repeat slowly until just combined.

Fry – Cooked in fat over high heat.

Grill – Food cooked on a wire rack over an open flame.

Poach – To cook in a liquid that is slightly below boiling point.

Reduce – To thicken a liquid by boiling it until the water evaporates, this thickens and intensifies the flavor making a nice sauce.

Sauté – Cooking food quickly in a skillet with a small amount of oil.

Sear – To brown meat quickly over high heat to seal in the juices.

Simmer – Cooking gently in liquid that is just slightly below a boil, when only a few bubbles make it to the surface.

Steam – Place food in a wire rack above boiling water and cover, used mainly for potatoes and vegetables, cook them until soft.

Stew – Meat that is cooked with a little liquid in a covered pot for a long period of time until the meat becomes soft.

Whip – To beat vigorously incorporating air until the item is light and fluffy, best done with an electric mixer.

Zest – Removing the outermost layer of a citrus fruit like an orange, lemon, or lime with a vegetable peeler or cheese grater to add a citrus flavor.