Baste To coat with sauce, marinade, or pan juices during the process of cooking to add flavor and color, and to keep food from drying out. A bulb baster works best when you’re cooking in a large roasting pan. Use a brush for broiling or barbecuing.
Blanch To cook a food (such as fruit or vegetables) very briefly in a large amount of boiling water; often the food is plunged into cold water after it is blanched in order to keep it from cooking longer.
Brown To sear meat or poultry in a very hot pan to give it color and seal in juices. Usually this is done before adding the meat to the stew or casserole.
Clarify To remove impurities, usually from butter or stock. When you clarify butter you remove the milk solids. Slowly melt butter in a small pan. When it’s completely melted, carefully pour off the clear butter on top for use in cooking.
Cream To mix a softened ingredient, like butter, alone or with other ingredients until well blended.
Deep-Fry To cook completely submerged in fat.
Deglaze To add liquid to a hot roasting or frying pan to loosen particles and glaze that adhere to the bottom of the pan during cooking. Frequently a frying pan is deglazed with a bit of wine. This liquid is tasty and is added to or becomes the base for a sauce or gravy.
Dice To cut into small cubes.
Dredge To coat a food lightly, usually with flour, bread crumbs, or cornmeal before cooking. With a boneless chicken breast, for example, lay both sides of the breast in a plate of flour, then shake off the excess.
Fillet (v.) To cut meat, chicken, or fish from the bones. (n.) A piece of boneless fish; the whole tenderloin of beef, trimmed; the little flap of boneless meat on a chicken or turkey breast.
Flake To break something apart in ragged pieces with your fingers or a fork. Often you will flake chicken for a chicken salad. Also used to determine when fish is finished cooking, as when the meat flakes apart.
Fold To incorporate one ingredient into another without beating, but gently lifting from underneath with a rubber spatula.
Grease To lightly coat a pan with fat, such as vegetable oil, to keep foods from sticking and to encourage browning.
Julienne To cut into thin matchstick-size strips.
Marinate To soak fish, fowl, or vegetables in a flavored liquid before cooking to impart flavor and, often, to tenderize.
Mince To chop into extremely fine pieces.
Nap To dab with sauce, usually before serving or putting under the broiler.
Poach To cook food gently in simmering liquid that does not boil.
Pound To flatten meat, often between sheets of wax paper, using a mallet or heavy saucepan.
Parboil To boil briefly before cooking further in another manner.
Pinch A very small amount, usually as much as you can pick up between your thumb and forefinger.
Preheat To heat the oven to the proper temperature before baking.
Purée To blend or process into a smooth paste or liquid.
Reduce To cook a liquid uncovered over a high heat to let it partially evaporate and thicken, thus concentrating the flavor.
Refresh After boiling, to immediately transfer to cold water. This stops the cooking process and preserves the color of the vegetables.
Roux A mixture of flour and a fat, such as butter or pork or beef fat, used to thicken sauces and soups, usually in Cajun cooking.
Sauté To cook quickly in a pan over high heat in a small amount of oil or butter.
Scald To bring a liquid, usually milk, to the point just before it starts to boil and then remove it from the heat.
Sear To brown the surface of meat very quickly in a pan over high heat, either on top of the stove or in the oven.
Sift To press one or more dry ingredients (such as flour or confectioners’ sugar) through a fine screen (or filter) to remove large particles and lighten texture.
Simmer To keep a liquid at a very gentle boil over low heat. Once a liquid is boiling, it takes surprisingly little heat to keep it simmering, especially with the pot covered.
Skim To remove the top layer from a liquid, such as a layer of fat or scum, from a soup or broth.
Steam To cook a food on a rack or in a specially designed basket over simmering or boiling water in a covered pan.
Strain To remove solids from liquids by pouring through a colander or sieve.
Toss To quickly mix ingredients together, usually salad or pasta, using a large spoon and fork.
Zest The colored part of a citrus fruit peel or the action of removing it.