Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Cooking Help

Terms

This page shows common culinary terms that are used frequently in this blog. Let me know if you see any terminology that should be added to this page.

Bouquet Garni (boo-KAY gar-NEE)
A bundle of aromatics consisting of bay leaf, thyme, parsley, celery stalk, and sometimes peppercorns all wrapped up with twine inside leek greens.

Clarified Butter
Clarified butter means the milk solids and water have been removed from the butter. It is also known as “drawn butter”. Click here for recipe.

Mirepoix (MEER-pwah)
A basic flavouring for soups and stews that is comprised of a coarsely diced mixture of onions (or leeks), carrots, and celery. Roughly half the mixture is onions, a quarter is carrots, and another quarter is celery.

Mise en place (meez-on-plahs)
“Set in place”, getting everything for a recipe ready beforehand, including preparing any vegetables, measuring out liquids and dry ingredients, and assembling the equipment you will need.

Roux (roo)
A mixture of equal parts flour and fat (usually butter) used to thicken sauces. White roux is cooked for about 1 minute, blond roux is cooked for 2-3 minutes until the flour browns slightly, and brown roux is cooked until it has the color of peanut butter.

Check The Cook's Thesaurus for a thorough list of cooking terms.

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Conversions

I am often checking Google or my handy fridge magnet for conversions. There are many pages on the internet that can help you too. Here are just some of my favorites:

GourmetSleuth.com
OnlineConversion.com
Conversion tables
Epicurean.com

Measure Equivalents



1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been lookinng for a rice pudding recipe but only have a partial memory of how my mother did it. I only recall that she baked it on a sheet baking tin and that it had a crispy top like toasty meringue. Any ideas what this version might be located under?

graysmoke