Blanch and refresh

Bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Prepare a large bowl of ice water (1/2 ice and 1/2 water).  Place the food in boiling water for 2 minutes.  Carefully transfer to ice water and chill.  Transfer to drain on paper towels or clean kitchen towel.

Blind baking

Partially or completely cooking a pastry crust in the pan before adding the filling is known a blind baking. When baking the crust for a pie or tart, the amount of bubbling in the crust can be reduced or eliminated by docking the crust.  Prepare the dough and transfer to the pie or tart pan.  Using a fork, poke holes through the crust, to the pan, every 1/2" or so all over the crust. This will allow and steam that develops under the crust to be released through the holes.  Using parchment, foil or commercial grade plastic wrap, place a sheet over the pastry crust so that there is significant amount of overlap.  Pour enough weights into the paper lined crust to fill the crust. Weights may be made of round ceramic pie weights or dried beans or a combination of dry rice and dried beans. Place in a 400° oven for 15 minutes for a partially baked crust.  Reduce the temperature to 375°, remove the weights and return to the oven for 15 more minutes for a completely baked crust. 

Breading

The breading process is always the same.  You will have three bowls or two bowls and a large plastic bag.  In the first bowl, place the flour. In the second bowl place the beaten eggs or egg and water mixture. In the third bowl place the breading mixture.  I like to use a bag of flour instead of a bowl of flour..  Simply place the food to be breaded into the bag of flour and toss to coat evenly.  The coating is a series of layers. Be sure to coat the food completely at each step of the process. The dry flour sticks to the moist food; the moist eggs stick to the dry flour and the dry breading sticks to the moist eggs.  Allow the food to sit a room temperature for about 30 minutes to allow the coating to develop

Breaking down a chicken into pieces

To break-down (cut-up) a whole chicken into pieces, begin by removing any package of inside parts from the bird.  Rinse and drain the chicken.  Place the bird on the back with the legs pointed away from you.  With a very sharp chef knife, remove the tip and first joint of the wings.  Save these for stock.  Next, turn the bird so that the legs point toward you and slice through the skin between the legs and the body of the bird.  Pop the thigh bone out of the pelvis and cut down the side of the body to remove the leg quarter.  Place the knife at the joint between the leg and thigh and cut though the joint.  How remove the backbone by cutting along the backbone, through the ribs until you reach the neck area. Place the breast skin-side down (inside up) and chop down between the breasts through the cartilage.  Cut each breast into two pieces -- one will have the last section of the wing attached.  This will give you 8 pieces - 2 legs, 2 thigh and 4 pieces of breast.

Brining

Brining is a process that produces two wonderful results:  increased flavor and color and what amounts to a chemical searing of the meat, keeping in juicy. Place the meat in a container large enough to hold  it with a lot of excess room.  Add enough water to the container to cover the meat and then remove the meat.  Measure the liquid and prepare the brining solution.  For every gallon of water, add 1 cup of kosher salt and 1 cup of brown sugar.  Dissolve the salt and sugar in the water and pour into the container with the meat.   Place a dinner plate on top of the meat to keep it under the surface and let soak for about 1/2 hour per pound.

Butterfly

Pieces of poultry and meat are sometimes too big to cook properly and they are "butterflied" to make them larger {plate coverage} and/or more equal in thickness.  This will make it easier to cook more consistently and quickly. To butterfly a chicken breast, remove the skin and lay the breast skin side up on the cutting board.  Each breast will have one side that is curved and one side that is more straight.  Turn the breast so the curved side is on the right (for right handed cooks).  Place the edge of a chef's knife or a slicing knife against the breast 1/2 way up the side.  Using as few strokes as necessary, slice the breast almost to the straight side and open up.  This is said to resemble the wings of a butterfly or almost Valentine heart shaped.

Citrus Supréme

To make supréme or clean citrus sections, cut the both ends of the citrus fruit.  Place the fruit on the cutting board with one of the cut ends down.  With a sharp knife, remove the peel by slicing down between the peel and the fruit.  Continue all around the fruit.  All the peel and white pith should be removed.  With a paring knife, carefully slice along the membranes that divide the section from the outside to the center and the clean segments should fall away easily.

Cleaning crabmeat

When crabs are commercially processed to remove their meat, very small pieces of shell are often missed as a part of the process.  To easily identify the shells, spread the crabmeat on a baking sheet.  Preheat the broiler in the oven.  Place the tray of crab under the broiler for just a minute.  The heat will turn the shells bright white and they can be removed.  Turn the crab and repeat.

Cleaning shrimp

Running down the back of the shrimp is the digestive track known as the 'vein'.  It is preferred that this vein is removed.  Begin by removing the shell.  After the shell is removed, with a very sharp paring knife, carefully make a shallow slice down the length of the back to reveal the vein.  Use the tip of the knife to remove the vein and/or rinse under cold running water.

Cooling food properly

To reduce the chance of making your food unsafe from biological pathogens it is important to cool it to below 41° as quickly as possible.  Never place hot food in your refrigerator.  This may harm the other foods in your refrigerator and actually damage the mechanical system.  Stop the drain in your sink and fill it with ice water that is 1/2 ice and 1/2 water.  Place the pot of hot food into the ice bath and cool to below 70° (room temperature) within 2 hours.  Now cover and place in your refrigerator.

Creaming butter and sugar

When a recipe calls for creaming butter and sugar together it is an important first step.  The process should take 8-10 minutes to complete correctly and is generally done in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment..  The purpose is two-fold:  to combine the fat and sugar and to 'trap' as much air into the mixture as possible to assist in the batter rising and to increase fluffiness in the final product

Cutting a tournay

Tournay is a term used to describe a traditional French Knife Cut that resembles a 7 sided football shape.  It is one of more difficult of the cuts.  You can substitute large chunks of the ingredient instead.

Deep-fry

The best way to safely deep-fry is to use an appliance designed to deep-fry.  If you are using a simple pot on the stove, be very careful.  Begin by choosing a heavy gauge pot and filling it no more than 1/4 full of good vegetable oil like soybean or peanut.  Heat oil to desired temperature. Many items being deep-fried require only a depth of oil about one inch Use a deep frying thermometer to monitor temperature. If you don't have a deep frying thermometer available, use the following guidelines:  heat oil slowly; dip wooden spoon into oil -- if bubbles form around spoon, the oil is at, or near, the proper frying temperature; adjust heat to maintain strong bubble production around frying foods; smoking oil is too hot -- remove from heat and let cool; Bread or batter food to be fried and carefully lower into hot oil making sure the oil does not boil over the sides of the pot.

Degrease liquid

The easiest method to remove the grease (degrease) a liquid is to use a stock or sauce separator.  Place the liquid into the separator, the grease will float to the top, the degreased liquid is then poured out through the tube at the bottom.  Any remaining grease can be removed by laying a paper towel on the surface of the liquid to soak the grease. Remove and trash.  Without a separator, use a ladle.  Carefully lower the edge of the ladle under the surface of the liquid and allow the grease floating on top to drain into the ladle.  Once most of the grease has been removed, lower the ladle into the center of the liquid.  Begin stirring just the surface of the liquid.  This will force the grease to the outside.  Carefully skim the accumulated grease and continue as necessary.  Use a paper towel to finish,

Docking

When baking the crust for a pie, the amount of bubbling in the crust can be reduced or eliminated by docking the crust.  Prepare the dough and transfer to the pie or tart pan.  Using a fork, poke holes through the crust to the pan every 1/2: or so all over the crust.

Dredging

Wash and dry the food.  Place flour in bowl or plastic bag.  Place food in flour and turn to coat completely.  Dredge the food just before cooking.  Dredging the food too far in advance will produce a gummy texture.

Emulsion

An Emulsion is created when two different liquids are "attached" to each other - Oil and Vinegar or egg yolk and butter.  Examples include mayonnaise or sauce béarnaise.  The key is to combine the non-fat ingredients well and then slowly…very slowly whisking in the fat.  If the fat is added too quickly the two liquids will separate again and this is known as "breaking".  To insure the proper amount of oil is being added, dip a fork into the fat and allow the droplets to fall into the other ingredients while whisking.  Once the emulsion begins to form, the fat can be added in a slow and stead stream.

Flambé

Food is flambéed to quickly and lightly caramelize the sugars.   This adds color and taste.  An alcoholic beverage with a high percentage of alcohol is used such as brandy or fortified wines.  This is a very dangerous technique and should be done with the utmost care.  The pan must contain some amount of food and be very hot.  Carefully add the flammable liquid and the alcohol will quickly evaporate.  These fumes are ignited by tipping the pan to the flame if using gas to cook or by using a long match or igniter.

Grill marks, making on food

In order to apply grill marks to food, divide the planned cooking time for the food by four.  Place the food on the grill and leave it untouched for 1/4 of the time.  After 1/4 of the time has passed, using a pair of tongs, lift the food (DO NOT FLIP), and turn it 90 degrees and cook it for the next 1/4 of the time allowed. Use a pair of tongs to turn the food and not a fork.  Next, turn the food over and cook for the third quarter of the time.  Turn the food 90 degrees and finished cooking.   

Grilling shrimp

After the shrimp have been cleaned and seasoned, the shrimp must be skewered.  Use metal skewers or bamboo skewers.  If bamboo skewers are to be used they should be soaked in water for 12 hours to help reduce the burning over open flame.  The shrimp can be placed on the skewers in one of two ways.  The first and easiest is to pick a point in the thick part of the shrimp and thread each one onto the skewer.  Add additional shrimp a press together like spoons in a drawer.  The second method is to bend or curl the shrimp tail to head and thread onto the skewers.  Place the skewers of shrimp over medium high heat and cook about 2 minutes each side or until pink all the way through.

Grilling steak

Grilling steaks is as much an art as a science.  Many variables including temperature of the meat before cooking; height of grate over heat; level of heat and type of meat can influence the cooking process.  As a guide consider this:  a 1 inch thick NY strip cooked over high heat 6 inches above the source will be cooked as follows:  Rare  7 minutes (3 minutes on first side, 4 minutes on other side); Medium Rare 10 minutes (6 minutes on first side, 4 minutes on other side);  Medium 12 minutes ( 6 minutes on each sides) and Medium Well 14 minutes ( 7 minutes each side) Well-done 15 minute (8 minutes on first side, 7 minutes on other side)

Lightening and folding

To better incorporate a lighter substance into a heavier substance such as mousse or soufflé, begin by whipping a small portion of the lighter into the heavier before folding. Use about 1/4 of the whipped cream or egg white and whisk in completely.  Then, fold in the remaining cream or whites 1/3 at a time.

Monte au Buerre

Butter is also used to finish a sauce.  The butter adds a richness and sheen to the sauce.  The process is known as Monte au Beurre or ‘to mount with butter’.  Remove the pan with the sauce from the heat and add one or two tablespoons of whole butter to the pan and swirl the pan to melt and incorporate the butter into the sauce.  If the sauce is too hot the butter will liquefy too fast and break.

Nappé

This term refers to the correct consistence of a sauce -- the ability to coat the back of spoon without being too thick to have shoulders.  If a sauce is the correct consistence it will coat the back of a spoon.  Draw your finger down the middle of the back of a sauce covered spoon and it should leave a clear path.  If the sauce is too thick, the path will have pronounced sides or shoulders.  It is better that a sauce is too thick then too thin. Thin a sauce with added liquid

Pan frying

Pan frying is also known as shallow frying.  Heat enough oil in a heavy skillet to bring the level up 1/2 the height of the food being fried.  To judge the correct temperature of the oil, lower a wooden tool or skewer into the oil.  If bubble appear around the wood, the oil is at the proper temperature.  If smoking, it is too hot and should be removed from the heat to cool.

Peeling tomatoes

The traditional term for peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes is:  concassée.  The traditional method to prepare this begins with bringing a pot of water to a boil and preparing a large bowl of ice water.  Meanwhile, slice a shallow 'X' into the stem end of the tomato.  Carefully lower each tomato into the boiling water and after 30 second or so, transfer to the ice bath.  The skin from the tomato should easily peel away from the fruit.  Quarter the peeled tomatoes lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Slice each quarter into thin strips and across the strips into small cubes.  If you have a 'Y' peeler, you can peel the tomatoes and dice as noted.  This will save considerable time and the dice will be more firm.  This may be a plus or minus depending on the type of recipe you are planning to prepare.  I generally use the boiling method if the recipe is for a cooked (hot) dish and the peeler method for cold dishes, garnishes and salads.  

Reduction of liquid

If a recipe calls for reducing a sauce or liquid by a certain amount -- by 1/2 for example, here is an easy way to measure this.  Carefully pour the liquid into the pan.  Using a wooden tool -- wooden spoon (handle end), chop stick or bamboo skewer, insert the tool until it touches the bottom of the pan.  Remove the tool and mark the level of liquid on the tool.  Visually divide the depth of liquid on the tool from the end to the point you marked on the tool.

Rice cooking

To cook long grain white rice, begin by measuring the rice. The rice has been milled and processed and is coated with a fine dust of starch.  If you want the cooked rice to be fluffy, separate grains, begin by washing the rice.  Place the rice into a mesh strainer and place the mesh strainer in a large bowl.  Fill the bowl with cold water and swirl the rice to remove the starch.  Drain the water and repeat until the water runs clear.  If you have washed the rice, the ratio of liquid to rice is 1.75:1.  If you did not wash the rice use 2 cups liquid to 1 cup unwashed rice.  Use 1 3/4 cup of liquid for every cup of rice. I use the term liquid because you can use water, stock, broth or a combination to cook grains.  Place liquid in pot with a lid.  Bring the liquid to a boil, add the salt and butter.  Add the rice and bring back to a boil.  Place the lid on the pot, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook for exactly 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir with a fork and cover for 5 minutes longer.  Rice can also be cooked in a 350° oven for 20 minutes.

Roast peppers

Roast peppers over open flame until skin blackens, turn and blacken all four sides.  This may be done over a gas range or outdoor grill.  If you have electric oven, turn on the broiler and place the peppers in a pan and on a rack so that the peppers almost touch the elements.  Blacken all sides ( about 2 minutes of cooking time each side).  Place the peppers while still very hot in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam for 30 minutes.  The blacken peel should come off easily.

Rolling dough

Once your dough is prepared,  chill it so that the shortening, lard and/or butter firms.  Begin by dusting your counter with flour.  Place the dough on the flour and sprinkle more flour on top of dough.  Don't use too much flour - just a light dusting….more can be added.  Place the rolling pin on the dough and work from the center to the outside.  Rotate the dough 90° (1/4 turn) and dust the counter and the surface as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the pin and the counter.

Roux, making and use

A roux is used to thicken liquids to make sauces and is a blend of equal amounts by weight of flour and fat - usually clarified butter.  There are three traditional types - White, blond and brown.  Place the fat in a heavy pan or skillet.  Over medium high heat, melt the fat and stir in the flour all at once.  For a white roux, cook stirring for about 2 minutes -- for blond 4-6 minutes and for brown 8-10 minutes.

Slurry

A slurry is used to thicken a liquid such as a sauce or soup.  A slurry is made by whisking together a pure starch and cold water.  The starch can be flour, but the preferred types of starch are:  arrowroot, corn starch or kudzu (kuzu).  Quickly whisk the slurry into the liquid and continue to gently stir or whisk until the desired thickness is obtained.

Tempering eggs

Eggs need to be tempered so that they don't become scrambled when mixing with a hot liquid {usually a hot dairy product, but may be stock or a sauce}.  Begin to temper by whisking in about 1/3 of the hot liquid into the eggs.  Carefully and slowly, whisk in the the remaining hot liquid

Toasting Nuts

Toasting nuts adds a tremendous amount of flavor.  Toasting in a pan on the stove often ends with scorched or burnt nuts.  The best way to toast nuts is to place them on a lipped baking sheet or shallow baking dish.  Place them in a pre-heated 350° oven and begin by toasting for 10 minutes.  Increase the length a few minutes at a time until the desired color is achieved.

Transferring dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer

To easily add dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, place a sheet of parchment paper on the work surface.  Combine all the dry ingredients on a sheet of parchment paper.  When you need to add the dry ingredients, fold the lower edge of the parchment over until the lower and upper corners meet.  Pick the parchment up by the corners being careful not to let the dry ingredients pour out the ends.  Tilt the back end of the parchment up and let the ingredients slide into the bowl.

Using fresh pearl onions

Bring a small pot of water to boil.  Meanwhile, trim the ends of the onions and cut a shallow X into the root end.  Place in boiling water for 30 seconds and transfer to an ice bath.  Gently squeeze the stem end and the onion should pop out of the bottom.

Water bath

Baking in a water bath helps to cook delicate items more effectively.  Place the items into a baking dish or roasting pan.  Bring a kettle or pot of water to a boil.  Place the baking dish of items in the oven and then carefully pour the boiling water into the baking dish so the level of water comes up the sides of the item about 3/4 of the height.