The Cookery Language

Most words used in recipe and cooking books are somehow bothersome to people who aren’t that good in cooking terms. There’s what we call the Cookery Language that most food experts, chefs and some critics use. So do not fret, it’s not that hard as you think. Here are few terms that will broaden your vocabulary when talking about the Cookery Language.


Terms used in Food Preparation:

To Beat- a brisk movement to lighten

To Bind- to blend ingredients together with an egg or a thick sauce (panada) so they form the desired consistency. The term often used for the binding agent, ‘liaison’.

To Blend- to mix ingredients thoroughly

To Blanch- some offal such as tripe and sweetbreads are put into cold water, the water brought to the boil is then discarded. The purpose is to whiten or ‘blanch’. Almonds are ‘blanched’ when placed into boiling water for a short time so skin may be removed.

To Chop- to cut food into small pieces with a sharp knife on a chopping board.

To Clarify- to clean. Generally used in connection with dripping or fat.

To Coat- to cover food with flour, egg and crumbs or batter to encourage browning

To Conserve- to retain. Vegetables are cooked in the minimum of liquid to conserve vitamins and etc.

Consistency of Mixture- this means that the appearance and texture of the mixture. It is used a great deal in cake making to describe whether the mixture be should be soft, stiff or etc.

To Cream- to soften a mixture until the consistency of cream such as creamed potatoes, creamed fat and sugar. Often done with wooden spoon.

To Decorate- to add extra ingredients to make food look more attractive. The word ‘decorate’ is generally used for sweet dishes, ‘garnish’ for savory ones.

To Dice- to cut into even, small pieces.

To Dilute- to make less strong such as fresh lemon juice is diluted with water for lemonade.

To Dredge- to coat liberally, generally with flour or sugar.

To Dust- to coat lightly, generally with flour or sugar.

To Ferment- the chemical change that takes place in bread making, also in wine making.

To Flake- to divide food, particularly a fish into small pieces.

To Fold- to ‘flick’ an ingredient into others already beaten together, to retain lightness such as flour into eggs and sugar. It’s best to use a metal spoon or palette knife.

To Garnish- to decorate

To Glaze- to brush with egg, milk or liquid and sugar before baking to give shine or a syrup or jelly mixture to cover fruit in a flan.

To Grate- to rub food against a grater to obtain small pieces such as cheese, citrus fruit (for rind) and a lot more.

To Knead- a word used in yeast cookery and also in handling some biscuit dough. The ingredients are mixed with the hands or a dough hook in a mixer, to give an even texture.

To Knock Back- ‘proven’ or risen yeast dough is kneaded until it returns to its original size.

To Mash- to beat food such as potatoes into a smooth puree. You can use a fork or a potato masher.

To Pare or Peel- to remove the outer skin or rind of vegetables or fruit.

To Pipe- to press a mixture, generally some form of icing, cream, creamed potatoes and etc. through a shaped pipe.

To Prove- the term used in bread making where the dough is put into a warm place to rise.

To Rise- the word used to describe the change that takes place in certain dishes which swell and become light during cooking such as cakes, due to the action of the rising agent used; or pastry and a whisked sponge, where correct handling incorporates air; and bread, where yeast makes the dough ferment and so to rise.

To Roll Out- dough for pastry is rolled lightly with a rolling pin to the required shape and thickness.

To Rub In- to mix fat with flour with your fingers until the mixture is like breadcrumbs.

To Season- to add salt and pepper; in many recipes the word seasoning is used to denote these. It is also the term for preparing an omelet pan.

To Scrape- to remove peel by a scraping movement with a sharp knife. Use for new potatoes, new carrots when it would be wasteful to peel.

To Sieve- to push food such as spinach and fruit through a sieve to obtain puree or to lighten flour and to ensure it is free from lumps.

Sponging or ‘To Allow The Sponge To Break Through’- a term used only when cooking with yeast.

To Strain- It has to definitions, one is to remove food from liquid such as vegetables when cooked and another is to remove bones from stock and etc.

To Toss- one method of turning a pancake or vegetables in hot fat before serving or before adding liquid in a stew or casserole.

To Whip or Whisk- cream is whipped to thicken it. Care must be taken not to over-whip. A fork or egg whisk is used. Egg whites are whisked to make meringue.

To Work- the method of moving eggs in an omelet.



I hope you enjoyed and learned something. Till then.



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(c)therottengenius

Learn French Terms in Cooking

Cooking is an indispensable activity in our lifestyle. Age and status in life doesn’t matter at all, you just need magical hands and a creative mind to produce a good yummy dish. Cooking originated thousand years ago and we should really be thankful for that. Imagine your life with raw food, it’s just totally unbearable. So to explore more on the world of food, let me show you some French cooking terms we commonly see in our day to day lives.

Usual French Terms:

Au Gratin- means browned on top with a crisp breadcrumb topping; often cheese is mixed with the crumbs but it isn’t essential.

Bouquet Garni- a selection of fresh herbs tied in a small bunch with cotton. They generally include a bay leaf, thyme, parsley, rosemary, or tarragon (marjoram) or other herbs. Sage may be put in but can be omitted in some dishes as it has a very definite flavor.

Croissants- a particular crescent shape, rich pastry-like roll generally served with butter and eaten for breakfast in France.

Gratinee- means browned on top.

Mornay- means in a cheese or mornay sauce. A cheese sauce is based on an ordinary white sauce but a mornay sauce on a bechamel sauce.

Saute- this is a word often used in cooking instead of using ‘fried’.

Merci! Au Revoir.



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(c)therottengenius

Simple and Easy: Herbed Tortellini

Delicious Herbed Tortellini

Here’s a dish you will really like. It’s simple and easy to make. Enjoy your own Herbed Tortellini!


What you need:

500 grams tortellini pasta
90grams butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2/3 cup (50 grams0 grated Parmesan cheese.


What you need to do:

Add pasta into a large pan of boiling water, boil, uncovered, until just tender; drain. Heat butter in pan, add tortellini, herbs, pepper and half the cheese, stir util heated through and combined. Sprinkle pasta with remaining cheese.



Viola! Happy eating!





More to press so, stay tuned.

(c)therottengenius

Spaghetti with family-style pasta sauce

Here’s another delicious meal that I’m sure you can make at home. Easy and quick. Simple yet Delicious.

What you need:



500 grams spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium (300grams) onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic. crushed
500 grams minced meat
2 x 400 grams cans tomatoes
2 medium (240grams) carrots, sliced
1 stick celery, sliced
1 medium (200grams) green capsicum, chopped
1 medium (200grams) red capsicum chopped
1/4 cup (125ml) dry white wine
1 small beef stock cube
1 cup (250 ml) water


What you need to do:



Add pasta into a large pan of boiling water, boil, uncovered, until just tender, drain.
Heat oil in pan, add onions and garlic, cook stirring, until onions are soft. Add mince, cook, stirring until browned. Add undrained crushed tomatoes add remaining ingredients, simmer, covered, about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and sauce has thickened. Combine sauce with hot pasta, mix well and serve.


Microwave Pasta Suitable



Voila! Happy eating!



More to press so ,stay tuned.

(c)therottengenius

Produce Good Quality Photos like a Pro with the Best Photo Online Editor Sites

Want to produce good looking photos? To generate images with high quality resolution that will surely add spice in your own blog posts or within your sites? You’ve come to the right place.

We all want to achieve to capture all good photos but it’s quite bothersome to use the Photoshop program especially when you are not techy at all. Well it’s not that you don’t need to learn to acquire pro-like skills but here is a list of the Top online photo editors that might help you if you want immediate photo enhancement and alterations which is easy and simple as ABC. It’s convenient and really reliable.

So here’s my list.



Best Online Photo Editors



Picnik.com
I’ve been always a fan of good looking photos and photo editing is a hobby I can’t defy. I tried to learn Photoshop but due to the busy and hectic schedule at school I don’t have the time to study it any further. I am not some genius whiz in computers or programming but aspiring to be one. I may not be as gifted as others but striving hard might help. As I surf through a lot of websites, www.picnik.com caught my attention. My friends already told me about it and I’m quite fascinated with the good results with the proof of before and after scenes. I’ve been using it for almost a year now and it’s really good. What I love most with this site is that they don’t require any registration or signing up, all you need to do is open the browser and type picnic.com then there you go. There are a lot of tools and effects you can experiment with.

Phixr.com
This is the first online photo editing site that I used ever since I got to the interest to photography and similar stuff. You need to sign up in order to avail the free editing service but it’s all worth it. It also has a good set of editing tools like picnik.com. All you need is to play with your artistic, imaginative and creative side. It’s also simple, user friendly and you’ll learn to use it for a couple of minutes. Just log in to www.phixr.com and you are ready to transform and explore. Don’t let those lifeless pictures to wither, go to phixr.com to fix your photos.



Pizap.com
I used this site when I want to do doodling and scribbling with my pictures. They also offer good tools that will help you produce animate pictures. I usually use this when I deal with posting stickers and other childish things to the photos that will satisfy your child-like heart. It’s still simple as the other two sites mentioned above; just type www.pizap.com and you’re on the go.

I hope you savor your interest to photography and produce all good looking, high quality photos to show the beauty of the world. Use it as a medium to inspire others, to show the aesthetic side of every little thing that others fail to see.

Capture it with love and passion and editing for improvement and beautification.



More to press so, stay tuned.

©therottengenius

Alone? Not Anymore

Being alone is just normal phase of our lives. It may be due to work, for studies or simply deciding to stand with thy own feet. Home sickness will somewhat be an issue during the period of adjustment. It may seem difficult at first but enduring it could be something rewarding.

Instead of thinking you are solely alone, pause for a moment and try to recapitulate everything that happened. Replenish your memory and ask yourself, “Why are you alone?” We all have reasons and everything happens for its own purpose. It might be for the sake of your own good or for other people. Let it be your inspiration to push hard and to survive. Make yourself busy by doing a simple household chore, cook something different, watch your favorite TV show, do something you enjoy, try something new and most of all pamper yourself. It’s not that you are alone because you are not wanted but it is for the betterment of all.

Once there was a girl who entered college. This made her all go nuts for she was still fresh, innocent, immature and young. It was a huge turn of events for her and everything seems difficult and she felt alone. She have to dwell on a spooky dormitory be herself, eat instant food for she is always exhausted to cook something good and the worst part is she was separated from her family whom she love most. She said it was not easy but she decided to focus and be strong so that she will overcome everything for herself, to finish her studies and for her parents who paid sweat and blood just to provide quality education and let her study in a medical school.

Loneliness is all in the mind. It won’t affect you if you won’t let it. Just be optimistic and life will be wonderful. Keep an eye to the bull’s eye and do what you should do. Try to excel in your field so that a day will come the horizon shall shine in favor of you. Life is a battle field and we should be brave. Bravery might not be the absence of fear, anxiety, worries and doubts but it is the gift of knowing what is more essential other than fear, anxiety, worries and doubts. Keep your head up, smile, be cheerful and let the world recognize you. Let not loneliness eat you up but start on building your dreams and take the first step without depending on anyone. You might be physically alone but someone will always be there to pick you up if you are down. Rise and shine and tell the world you can make history.

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