Tuesday, Jul. 07, 2009

Raising your Culinary IQ

The economy is driving a lot of people back to the kitchen. But new cooks may find themselves skipping steps or missing ingredients. Here are some suggestions for improving your cooking skills:

• Ingredients are listed in the order you use them. If the last ingredient is "½ cup chopped parsley," you won't need it until the end. So you can chop it while the things at the top of the list are cooking.

• Get out a sheet pan, also called a jellyroll pan. Place all the ingredients on the pan. As you use each one, put it away. It contains the clutter that can confuses you, and at the end, if there's something still on the pan, you'll know you left it out.

Here are some points on swapping ingredients in a pinch:

• HERBS. You can substitute almost any herb for another, such as rosemary for thyme. You can swap dried herbs for fresh if the consistency isn't important. (For instance, you can't make pesto with dried herbs.) Just remember that dried herbs need to cook longer to release their flavor, so add them early. Fresh herbs release their flavor quickly, so add them at the end.

• PROTEINS. You can swap meats, poultry and seafood if the consistency, density and fat levels are similar. For instance, you can swap one kind of white fish for another, or swap lean chicken for lean pork. But you can't swap a tender cut, such as steak, for a tough cut, such as chuck.

• VEGETABLES. Follow the same rule as proteins: Stick to things that are similar. Swap one kind of green for another kind of green, or a delicate vegetable such as asparagus for another delicate one, such as snow peas. Or swap a dense vegetable, such as carrots, for another dense one, such as winter squash.

What does it mean?

• BEAT: Combine vigorously with a spoon, fork, whisk or electric mixer. In recipes, it usually means to use a mixer.

• BLANCH: Plunge food into boiling water for a short time, usually to preserve color and texture or to remove the skin.

• BRAISE: Cook slowly in a covered container with a small amount of liquid.

• DASH: Less than ‹ teaspoon.

• DEGLAZE: Pour a little liquid (usually broth, water or wine) into a hot cooking vessel to stir up browned bits.

• DICE: To cut food into squares about the same size; large or small may be specified.

• DUTCH OVEN: A large pot with a snug-fitting lid.

• FOLD: Lightly combine two mixtures of different weights. Use a rubber spatula to reach to the bottom and come up through the mixture several times.

• MINCE: Cut in small pieces.

• POACH: Cook in a small amount of simmering, not boiling, liquid.

• REDUCE: Boil, uncovered, to evaporate some of the liquid. To check the amount, use the handle of a wooden spoon to measure the depth at the beginning and several times during boiling.

• ROAST: Cook uncovered in a shallow pan without additional liquid.

• SAUCEPAN: Any small or medium-size pan with a lid and a handle.

• SAUTÉ: Cook in hot fat, such as oil or butter, over medium-high heat, turning occasionally.

• SEAR: Brown quickly over high heat, usually in a dry pan.

When meat is seared, it usually will release from the pan when you nudge it.

• SIMMER: To cook in liquid just below boiling.

• SKILLET: A wide cooking vessel with or without a lid.

• SPATULA: A rubber utensil with a flat edge, or a metal utensil that is straight on three sides (sometimes called a pancake turner).

• ZEST/ZESTER: Outer, colored layer of citrus, removed with a vegetable peeler or a zester, a small tool with holes for removing strips.