Cooking 101: Kitchen Basics

The Cook's Dictionary continued...

Dice: To cut food into tiny cubes (1/8 to 1/4 inch).

Dilute: To reduce a mixture's strength by adding liquid (usually water).

Dollop: A small glob of soft food, such as whipped cream.

Dredge: To lightly coat a food with flour, cornmeal, or breadcrumbs before frying or baking.

Dust: Lightly coating a food with a powdery liquid, such as flour or powdered sugar.

Egg Wash: Egg yolk or egg white mixed with a small amount of water or milk. It's brushed over baked goods before baking to give them gloss and color.

Pinch: The amount of dry ingredients you can hold in a pinch (between your thumb and forefinger). It's equivalent to 1/16 teaspoon.

Puree: To mash a food to a smooth, thick consistency.

Sauté: To cook food quickly in a small amount of oil in a skillet or sauté pan over direct heat.

Spatula: A flat utensil. Some are shaped to scrape sides of the mixing bowl; others are shaped to flip foods, or to stir ingredients in a curved bowl.

Sear: To burn or scorch a food with an application of intense heat.

Simmer: To cook food gently in liquid at a temperature low enough that tiny bubbles just begin to break the surface (around 185 degrees).

Steam: A cooking method in which food is placed in a steamer basket over boiling water in a covered pan.

Stir-Fry: To quickly fry small pieces of food in a large pan over very high heat while stirring.

Whisk: A utensil with looped wires in the shape of a teardrop, used for whipping ingredients like batters, sauces, eggs, and cream. The whisk helps add air into the batter.

Zester: A utensil with tiny cutting holes on one end that creates threadlike strips of peel when pulled over the surface of a lemon lime or orange. It removes only the colored outer portion of the peel (zest).