Cooking Terms

Batter
A mixture of flour, fat, and liquid that is thin enough in consistency to require a pan to encase it. Used in such preparations as cakes and some cookies. A batter is different from dough, which maintains its shape.

Beat
To smoothen a mixture by briskly whipping or stirring it with a spoon, fork, wire whisk, rotary beater, or electric mixer.

Bias-slice
To slice a food crosswise at a 45-degree angle.

Bind
To thicken a sauce or hot liquid by stirring in ingredients such as eggs, flour, butter, or cream.

Blackened
A popular Cajun-style cooking method in which seasoned foods are cooked over high heat in a super-heated heavy skillet until charred.

Blanch
To boil briefly to loosen the skin of a fruit or a vegetable. After 30 seconds in boiling water, the fruit or vegetable should be plunged into ice water to stop the cooking action, and then the
skin easily slices off.

Blend
To mix or fold two or more ingredients together to obtain equal distribution throughout the
mixture.

Boil
To cook food in heated water or other liquid that is bubbling vigorously.

Braise
A cooking technique that requires browning meat in oil or other fat and then cooking slowly in liquid. The effect of braising is to tenderize the meat.
Bread
To coat the food with crumbs (usually with soft or dry bread crumbs), sometimes seasoned.

Broil
To cook food directly under the heat source.

Broth or stock
A flavorful liquid made by gently cooking meat, seafood, or vegetables (and/or their by-products, such as bones and trimming) often with herbs, in liquid, usually water.

Brown
A quick sautéing, pan/oven broiling, or grilling method done either at the beginning or end of meal preparation, often to enhance flavor, texture, or eye appeal.

Brush
Using a pastry brush, to coat a food such as meat or bread with melted butter, glaze, or other
liquid.

Bundt pan
 The generic name for any tube baking pan having fluted sides (though it was once a trademarked
 name).

Butterfly
To cut open a food such as pork chops down the center without cutting all the way through, and then spread apart.

Coat
To evenly cover food with flour, crumbs, or a batter.

Coddle
A cooking method in which foods (such as eggs) are put in separate containers and placed in a pan of simmering water for slow, gentle cooking.

Combine
To blend two or more ingredients into a single mixture.

Confit
To slowly cook pieces of meat in their own gently rendered fat.

Core
To remove the inedible center of fruits such as pineapples.

Cream
To beat vegetable shortening, butter, or margarine, with or without sugar, until light and fluffy. This process traps in air bubbles, later used to create height in cookies and cakes.

Crimp
To create a decorative edge on a piecrust. On a double piecrust, this also seals the edges together.

Crisp
To restore the crunch to foods; vegetables such as celery and carrots can be crisped with an ice water bath, and foods such as stale crackers can be heated in a medium oven.

Crush
To condense a food to its smallest particles, usually using a mortar and pestle or a rolling pin.

Crystallize
To form sugar- or honey-based syrups into crystals. The term also describes the coating.

Curd
Custard-like pie or tart filling flavored with juice and zest of citrus fruit, usually lemon, although lime and orange may also be used.

Curdle
To cause semisolid pieces of coagulated protein to develop in food, usually as a result of the addition of an acid substance, or the overheating of milk or egg-based sauces.

Cure
To preserve or add flavor with an ingredient, usually salt and/or sugar.

Custard
A mixture of beaten egg, milk, and possibly other ingredients such as sweet or savory flavorings, which is cooked with gentle heat, often in a water bath or double boiler. As pie filling, the custard is frequently cooked and chilled before being layered into a prebaked crust.

Cut in
To work vegetable shortening, margarine, or butter into dry ingredients.

Dash
A measure approximately equal to 1/16 teaspoon.

Deep-fry
To completely submerge the food in hot oil.

Deglaze
To add liquid to a pan in which foods have been fried or roasted, in order to dissolve the caramelized juices stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Devil
To add hot or spicy ingredients such as cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce to a food.

Dice
To cut into cubes.

Direct heat
A cooking method that allows heat to meet food directly, such as grilling, broiling, or toasting.

Dot
To sprinkle food with small bits of an ingredient such as butter to allow for even melting.

Dough
A combination of ingredients including flour, water or milk, and, sometimes, a leavener, producing a firm but workable mixture for making baked goods.

Dredge
To sprinkle lightly and evenly with sugar or flour. A dredger has holes pierced on the lid to sprinkle evenly.

Drizzle
To pour a liquid such as a sweet glaze or melted butter in a slow, light trickle over food.

Drippings
Used for gravies and sauces, drippings are the liquids left in the bottom of a roasting or frying pan after meat is cooked.

Dust
To sprinkle food lightly with spices, sugar, or flour for a light coating.

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