Cooking terms and ingredients
• Al dente
Italian for slightly firm to the bite. This is a term used to test pasta for doneness. Pasta should not be cooked to the point that it is competely soft, although tastes vary.
• Amuse bouche
French for little bite or literally mouth pleaser. This is a complimentary food given individually to guests at a table before a meal. It is meant to stimulate the appetite.
• Ancho chile
The ancho chile is a dried form of a poblano pepper. It has a rating of 1k - 2k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. The ancho chile is one of the milder dried chiles.
• Baste
Basting means to moisten the outside of a food when roasting or grilling. The pan juices, sauce, or marinade can be used. A heatproof brush is typically used, but a turkey baster can also be used. The purpose is to to add flavor, provide color, and to keep the surface moist.
• Béchamel sauce
A French white sauce that starts with a roux and adds a liquid, usually milk although a stock can be used depending on the use of your sauce.
• Bias
Cutting a food on the bias means to cut it at angle. 45º is the most popular angle. Not only can you cut on different angles, but you can cut into different thicknesses. A thicker cut is used for roasting in the oven for a longer period of time. A medium cut is for steaming or sautéing. A thin cut for stir fries.
There are several reasons to cut on the bias. The first reason is simply for the look. I think foods cut on the bias are more attractive, but there are more important reasons to cut on the bias. By cutting on an angle, the food has more surface area so it will cook faster. A lot of Asian cooking, especially stir fries, call for cutting both vegetables and meat on the bias for faster cooking. Cutting meat on the bias, that is to say against the grain, produces a more tender result because you are shortening the muscle fibers. This is especially true with skirt, flank, and hanger steak. Since the meat will have more surface area, it is important to cut the meat just before cooking to prevent discoloration and possible contamination.
• Broil
An oven has two heating elements. One is in the bottom of the oven and heats the oven from the bottom. When you turn your oven to bake, this is the element that is used. The top element is called a broiler. It cooks food from the top. Broilers can be used as an alternative to grilling. Broilers are also used to brown foods on top. An example is a tuna melt. The sandwich is put on the top rack in the oven and the broiler melts the cheese.
• Cascabel chile
The cascabel chile is a Mexican small round chile that is also called the rattle chile because the seeds dislodge and rattle when moved. Fresh cascabel chiles are called chile bola. It has a ranking of 1k - 8k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This is a mild-medium chile.
• Chile de árbol
The chile de árbol is a small chile that is also called the bird's beak chile. They are used to make colorful wreaths because they do not lose their color. It has a ranking of 15k - 60k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. The árbol chile has a medium-hot spice. Ground cayenne or pequin chiles can be substituted for chiles de árbol.
• Clarified butter
Clarified butter is only the butterfat from the butter. The water and milk proteins have been removed. To make clarified butter, you start by melting butter. As the butter heats the milk proteins rise to the surface as white foam. Simply remove that foam, and then scoop out the butterfat leaving the remaining water in the pan. Ghee is a type of clarified butter where the milk proteins are browned before they are removed and the water is boiled out. The advantage to clarified butter and ghee is that they have a higher smoke point and a longer shelf life although they are not as flavorful as butter. Because there is no liquid in clarified butter or ghee, do not use these for French sauces because the liquid ratio will be off.
• Cutting in butter
The purpose of this is to distribute the fat into the dry ingredients. You can do this by hand or with two knives. For both methods, cut the butter into small pieces and drop into the dry ingredients. If by hand, rub the butter between your fingers until all of it becomes the size of peas. If using two butter knives, have one in each hand. Start the knives on opposite sides of the bowl and drag them towards each other cutting the butter as you go. Continue until all the butter is pea-sized. This technique is demonstrated in this video for making Pete's biscuits.
• Debeard
When you buy mussels, they typically have threads or "beards" hanging from them. These threads are what the mussel uses to hold on to rocks. Simply remove these beards by pulling down on them and using the shell to cut them off. They are slippery, so use a paper towel or cloth if necessary. Remove as much as possible. You do not want to eat these.
• Deglaze
After cooking or browning meat in a pan, there are typically little browned bits in the bottom of the pan. This is called the fond. By adding a liquid, typically stock or wine, the fond can be removed from the bottom of the pan and made into a flavorful sauce. To do this, remove the meat from the pan and any excess fat. Heat the pan. Pour in the liquid and scrape the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits. If you are using a non-stick pan, use a wooden spoon. Otherwise, a metal spatula will work well.
• Devein
It is easy to buy shrimp that have already been shelled and deveined, but I think it is important to know how to devein shrimp. Deveining shrimp means to remove the dark dorsal vein that runs along the back of the shrimp. This is the digestive tract. It is not posionous to eat, but it can be gritty and is unattractive. It is simple to remove this vein although a little time consuming if you have a lot of shrimp. Hold the shrimp in one hand with the back of the shrimp pointing toward you. With a paring knive cut a shallow line down the center of the back. Using the tip of your knife lift out the vein. Try to get as much of the black line out as possible.
• Emulsify
To mix together thoroughly, especially an oil and vinegar. When a vinaigrette is thoroughly combined, it is an emusion.
• Fond
French for base or bottom. This term refers to the browned bits in the bottom of a pan usually from browning meat.
• Front to back, top to bottom
Some ovens have hot spots which means that parts of the oven are hotter than others. When baking cookies this can be problematic. Some cookies may burn while others may not. The problem increases when you have two baking sheets in the oven. To solve this problem simply rotate the sheets. Take the top sheet and turn it so that the side that was in front is now in the back. Repeat with the bottom sheet. Then move the top sheet to the lower rack and the bottom sheet to the upper rack.
• Garlic press
This is one of the most controversial tools in the kitchen. Most professional chefs don't use them. Some of the reasons are: the press is a unitool that can only be used for one task, when you have a lot of garlic to process a knife is simply faster, it purées the garlic instead of chopping it. I see three options with garlic: knive, microplane, or garlic press. Use the one that you feel comfortable with. I like the press unless I want to see the garlic chopped. You don't even have to peel the garlic if you use the press, although I do.
• Ghee
Ghee is a type of clarified butter used in Indian and Pakistani cooking. It is traditionally made from cow's milk. In order to produce ghee, you start by melting butter. The water from butter is then completely cooked out and the milk proteins are browned to create a more aromatic and nutty flavor. These proteins are then strained out to create the ghee. The advantage to clarified butter and ghee is that they have a higher smoke point and a longer shelf life although they are not as flavorful as butter. Because there is no liquid in clarified butter or ghee, do not use these for French sauces because the liquid ratio will be off.
• Giblets
Inside the cavity of a chicken or turkey, there is usally a bag. Typically it contains the neck, heart, liver, and gizzard and sometimes a kidney. Fry the liver with onions as a wonderful appetizer full of iron. Use the remaining items to make a stock. You can store the ingredients, keeping the liver separate, in the freezer until you have enough to make a stock or chicken liver pate.
• Guajillo chile
The guajillo chile is a Mexican chile with leathery skin that is my favorite chile with which to make salsa. It is the dried version of a Mirasol chile. It has a ranking of 2.5k - 5k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This is a mild-medium chile that is full of flavor.
• Gunter Sannam chile
The Gunter Sannam is an important crop in India and today is a wide-spread crop that is important to the local economy. It has a ranking of 35k - 45k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This chile is hot-very hot.
• Heaping measure
Putting as much of something in a container without it spilling over. For example, a heaping teaspoon of salt would mean putting as much salt into the teaspoon as possible without it spilling over the side. It will be mounded as high as possible but should not spill over. It contains more salt than a level teaspoon or a rounded teaspoon.
• Level measure
A level teaspoon of salt will mean that the salt is even with the top of the teaspoon. It is the most common unit of measurement. A rounded teaspoon will have more salt and a heaping teaspoon even more than that.
• Mise en place
French for everything in its place. This means assembling all of your ingredients and equipment before starting a recipe. Some people go so far as to measure each ingredient and put it in a small bowl and cut up all ingredients. Needed pots, pans, and utensils are also assembled.
• Morita chile
The morita chile is a smoked red jalapeño very much like a chipotle chile. It has a ranking of 2.5k - 10k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This is a medium-mildly hot chile that has a smoky flavor.
• Mornay sauce
A Béchamel sauce with the addition of grated cheese.
• Mulato chile
The mulato chile is a dried poblano like an ancho but slightly differnt. It has a ranking of 2.5k - 3k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This is a medium chile.
• Packed
When measuring brown sugar the instructions normally call for packed brown sugar. That simply means to firmly press the sugar into the measuring cup. Fill the measure with brown sugar then firmly press it down with a spoon or plastic wrap. Add more sugar and press it down. Repeat this until the sugar is level with the top.
• Pasilla chile
The pasilla chile, the little raisin, is also called the chile negro and is the dried form of the chilaca pepper. It has a ranking of 250 - 4k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This chile has a wide range from mild to medium-hot.
• Pequin chile
The pequin chile, also spelled piquin, is also called the bird pepper and is from Mexico and the Southwestern United States. It has a ranking of 30k - 100k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This chile is hot and is one of the ingredients in Cholula hot sauce.
• Puya chile
The puya chile is from Mexico and Central America. While it is similar to a guajillo chile, which is my personal favorite, the puya is my least favorite dried chile. It has a ranking of 5k - 30k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This chile has a wide range from medium to hot.
• Rounded measure
A rounded teaspoon of salt will mean that the salt slightly mounds on top of the teaspoon. It is more than a level teaspoon but less than a heaping teaspoon.
• Roux
A mixture of butter and flour used as a base for a sauce.
• Salade composée
A French term describing a plate that has a compostion of multiple salads. For example, a green salad, green bean salad, hard-boiled eggs, tuna salad, and/or bean salad. The possiblilties are endless. They are ideal salads for the summer and to use little bits of leftovers.
• Scant measure
A scant teaspoon of salt will mean that the salt is not quite even with the top of the teaspoon. It is less than a level teaspoon of salt.
• Spoon and level technique
When measuring flour it is imporant to get the correct amount especially in baking. The best way to measure flour is by weight, but most recipes do not include the weight. 1 cup of all-purpose flour should weigh 4.25 ounces or 120 grams. To best approximate this we measure flour by the spoon and level technique. Using a spoon put some flour from the container into your dry measuring cup. It is important not to use a liquid measuring cup. Continue adding flour into the cup until it is mounded on top. Using a butter knife scrape it along the top so that the flour is even with the top of the cup.
• Tien tsin chile
The tien tsin chile, also known as the tianjin chile, is from China, but they are now grown in the US. It has a ranking of 50k - 75k Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). While the hottest pepper to date has a rating of 2.2 SHUs, a habañero pepper, which is considered very hot, has a rating of 100k - 350k SHUs. This chile is hot-very hot.
