Like most crafts and arts do, cooking has a specialized language. The words in cooking are often derived from the French; some, like purée or sauté, more obviously than others. Many are not. They can be thought of as a shorthand describing a variety of techniques. This avoids repeating longer instructions. While this book cannot list all of them, I thought it might be helpful to give a selection of those terms that I use frequently.
To dredge something means to coat it evenly. It is usually followed by the word “in” and then some sort of dry ingredient, such as teff flour, cornstarch, or rice flour. Other times some sort of liquid used as a coating—egg yolks, egg wash, etc.—will be added to the process before the dry ingredients are put on.
Dredging is useful for two important reasons. First, it forms a protective coating that seals in moisture. Second, that coating browns well to form a golden crust when exposed to hot fat.
Items can be dredged in dry ingredients and then cooked in hot oil or can be dredged in a multistep process beginning and ending with dry ingredients with a dredging in liquid in between. The added liquid step creates a thicker, more insulating protective coating.
Some of the most comforting meals for cold, bleak midwinter days are boiled treats—traditional one-pot meals with broth, meats, vegetables, and herbs. Unfortunately for time-pressed cooks, the recipes are throwbacks to the days when time was not in such short supply and the cost of ingredients was more of a concern.
But who has the luxury of time today? The only solution is to reformulate dishes like shabu-shabu—a fonduelike beef and vegetable dish from Japan by way of New England whose onomatopoeic name suggests the sound the meat makes as it goes into the broth—so that they can be completed more quickly. This requires some cleverly thought out shortcuts, some relatively expensive foods, and maybe even some tight-lipped secrecy around the stove. One does not have to admit to using prepared ingredients like canned stock.
Once the accelerating, expediting, and recipe rejiggering have been done, feasts such as Chinese Chicken in the Pot (page 88), Luxury Boiled Beef (page 105), and Apple-Cider-Rich Boiled Tongue Dinner (page 139) can be ready in about an hour. The best way to serve them is in big, old-fashioned rimmed soup dishes, accompanied by knives, forks, and large soupspoons. If the dishes are unavailable, serve the solids on dinner plates and give each person a bowl of soup on the side. In that case, the noodles or rice should go into the bowl.
A few terms:
Rolling boil: large bubbles form and continue to rise.
Medium boil: smaller bubbles form continuously.
Low boil: only occasional bubbles form.
Simmer: bubbles are mainly around the edge of the pot.
The main distinction between these two ways of cooking seems to be the outdoor macho associated with grilling. I would even argue that it was James Beard with his writing on grilling that made it all right for men to cook as a nonprofessional activity.
That was then. Today, many men cook to entertain or for pleasure.
There are, of course, other significant differences between the two modes. When grilling, the heat comes from beneath, and when broiling it usually comes from above. Always place the wire rack closest to the heat source. For oven broiling, place the rack on the top level of the oven. For grilling, place the rack low and close to the heat.
Come the warm days of summer, eating and entertaining outdoors is not only a possibility, but a pleasure. It may also be a necessity if your house is, like mine, at times swarmed by people who have come to swim or chat or stay.
Of course, these meals can be eaten indoors if the weather is too hot or buggy. In any case, such meals tend to be less formal than winter meals. People may even wander around with a glass in their hands.
Grilling is a good option, and I give several possibilities in my book Party Food in which I envisage eaters having their grilled food on grilled bread, or it can be roasted as in Roasting: A Simple Art.
It is hard to give precise instructions for grilling. The most important variable is the fire. Start it a good hour before it will be needed; alternatively, leave enough time so that the coals are white hot before you start cooking. How to heat the grill is also important to how food will taste. Mesquite, oak, charcoal, etc., add more tasty flavors to food than conventional gas.
Meat for grilling and broiling should be relatively tender, vegetables cut into broad strips, fruit left whole unless very large. Nothing should be too thick. Remember, the high heat will cook things quickly. All things to be cooked like this need a thin slick of oil all over them unless there is a marinade. Turn food fairly often and check for doneness.
Special tools are useful: tongs, sleeved pot holders, sturdy spatulas, and, for grilling, long-handled forks. Don’t forget the grill brush to clean the grill off thoroughly for next time. While I have heard it said that leftover bits of food “add flavor,” I think it’s just an excuse not to clean.
I believe roasting is one of the best techniques for savory food without gluten or lactose. I’ve written a whole book on roasting, Roasting: A Simple Art, and I don’t propose to rewrite it in this book, although I will give a few new recipes using my basic high-heat method. Open the window, turn on the exhaust, keep the oven clean, and if need be, remove the batteries from the smoke detectors. Put them back after eating. Except for the starches (but yes for potatoes), almost all of the normal foods in the meal or the kitchen can be roasted, from vegetables through fish, poultry, meat, and fruits.
Roasted food has a rich flavor, and in the case of meats the internal fats obviate the need for adding more.
Today, “no fat” is the name of the game. I must say that I am sometimes tempted to leave a little fat in the sauce for added unctuousness. To remove the fat before deglazing, transfer the main ingredients to a platter, tilt the roasting pan so that all the liquid collects in one corner, and pour off or spoon out excess fat. To deglaze, put the roasting pan, fresh from the oven (main ingredients transferred to a platter), on top of the stove. Add water, wine, or stock and boil while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. If not using a nonstick pan and the residue is particularly stubborn, use a metal spatula for scraping. Boil until the liquid is reduced by half.
Deglazing makes the base of a gravy. It also cleans the pan. Pour the gravy into a sauceboat or bowl or pour it over the cooked food.
Many sauces and stews need to be thickened toward the end of cooking. The most commonly used thickener—flour cooked in butter—is clearly no good for us. However, there are many alternatives. Some of the hot liquid can be stirred into lightly beaten egg yolks before being cooked in the dish. Dishes can also be thickened with puréed starches such as chickpeas.
A slurry is perhaps the best thickener for Intolerants. Arrowroot or cornstarch is mixed with a little cold water, and then with some of the hot liquid that is being thickened. It is then poured into the liquid needing thickening and then cooked—usually briefly.