Cooking 101

This page is designed for those who are new to tinkering around the kitchen. I’ve compiled a list of tips and ideas that I share with my students. I hope you find them helpful.

Organization Keeps You Cooking!

We all have good intentions of making LOADS of healthful and tantalizing meals for our families each week. However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with work, appointments, and life’s little hiccups and succumb to ordering takeout. Here are a few ideas that might help you turn over a new leaf!

Organization is the KEY to make cooking less stressful. If you have a well stocked kitchen and preselected recipes, you are less likely to make excuses not to cook.
Sit down with a couple cookbooks, cooking magazines, or recipes from your favorite blog the night before your grocery trip. Select several recipes for the week that vary in flavor and in cooking time. This way, you have options! You can cook what you’re in the mood for, or what you have time to cook.
Write down your weekly “menu” including where you found the recipe and the page number. Then post it somewhere (on the fridge or inside a cabinet door.)
Using the recipes you selected, make your grocery list, checking your cabinets to make sure you have everything you need.
At the grocery store, get everything on your list. If you can’t find it, make a substitution or stop at another store on the way home. You’re more likely to cook your meals if you don’t have to go back to the store later!
When putting your groceries away, wash all your produce before they go in the fridge. Let them air dry for a few minutes. Then wrap them in a paper towel to absorb excess moisture and put them in a plastic zip bag. This keeps your produce fresh and reduces prep time throughout the week.
ALWAYS keep a “running” grocery list available in your kitchen. Every time you use a common ingredient (olive oil, butter, flour, spices) and discover it is almost gone, IMMEDIATELY write it on your grocery list. That way, you won’t forget about it later!
When you’ve used a recipe and like it, SAVE IT! Keep a notebook, or put tabs in your cookbooks.

What You Need

Your knives should be your #1 kitchen tool. (Followed by a good cutting board to keep them sharp!) You get more use out of a good knife, than any other kitchen utensil or gadget. Therefore, you should invest in well-made knives and take special care of them. Choosing a good chef’s knife can be tricky. Cutlery companies address the steel and ergonomics in different ways. The two most important things to consider: the knife should be made from one piece of steal, running from the tip all the way through the handle, and the knife should be comfortable to hold. There are two common varieties of chef’s knives to inspect.

The classic french chef’s knife is long with a curved blade, to allow a rocking motion when slicing.
The Santoku, or Japanese chef’s knife, has a straighter edge along the blade, but tends to be a lighter weight knife.

The best way to decide which kind you like is to try them out. Some kitchen stores will allow you to handle the display knives. An even better place to try them out is at a friend’s house. If you have a friend with both types, offer to go over and help make dinner. By the end of the night, you’ll know which one you like best! Good knives will last forever, so buy the best you can afford. It’s better to spend $100 on one reliable and comfortable chef’s knife, than to have a butcher’s block full of cheap, flemsy knives that dull easily.

Caring for knives. Knives need to be hand washed and dried to stay sharp. Using a steel to sharpen your knives is a good idea too, but over time even this will not keep the blade as sharp as it should be. I recommend taking your knives to a professional sharpener about once a year. Oh yes, they’re out there–blade sharpening shops–just waiting to breath new life into your sad little knives. This keeps your knives in the best possible shape–for a small amount of money!

Other equipment to invest in: A good cutting board, heavy bottomed pots, a large cast iron skillet, a zester, a food processor, a whisk, silicon spatulas, a couple good baking sheets, and an apron.

All available in my online store!

Getting Started

Relax! Turn on your favorite music and pour yourself a drink. You will enjoy cooking more and are less likely to make mistakes.

Always start cooking with an empty dishwasher. You can put dirty pots and pans in as you’re finished with them so that clean up doesn’t seem so bad.

Put out a veggie tray! The smell of mom cooking always seems to draw all the little beggars to the kitchen. I like to stop all snacks an hour (or more) before dinner. Then I put out a plate of carrot sticks, snap peas, celery, etc. right before I start. If the kids are really as hungry as they say—they’ll eat the veggies. If not, they can wait until dinner. After all, it’s not so bad if kids can’t eat everything on their plate because they filled up on raw veggies! Snacking on veggies also helps me not over eat at dinner.

Wear your apron. If you don’t, you’ll be amazed how many of your shirts end up with splatter stains.

Read your entire recipe(s) before starting. Make note of cooking times so you can decide what part of your meal to begin first.

Pull out all your ingredients at once. It saves time.

Put ingredients away as you use them. Quicker clean up at the end!

If possible, make a deal with your husband or kids that when you cook, someone else does the clean up.

Pack Your Pantry

Having ingredients on-hand gives you the ability to get CREATIVE when the moment strikes! Here is a complete (long) list of items I regularly use in my kitchen!

all-purpose flour
whole wheat flour
granulated sugar
powdered sugar
brown sugar
cornstarch
baking powder
baking soda
yeast packets
vegetable shortening
chocolate chips or baking chocolate
dried fruits
raisins
Arborio rice
brown rice
jasmine rice
tomato sauce
tomato paste
canned diced tomatoes
apple cider vinegar
balsamic vinegar
red wine vinegar
raspberry vinegar
rice vinegar
dried pasta
dried basil
dried thyme
bay leaves
caraway seeds
cayenne pepper
chili powder
coriander
ground cumin
curry powder
dillweed
fennel seeds
herbes de Providence
dried mustard
oregano
hot smoked paprika
peppercorns
salt (kosher and sea salt)
saffron
sesame seeds
turmeric
Thai chile paste
ground cinnamon
ground cloves
ground allspice
ground cardamom
ground ginger
ground nutmeg
chicken stock
honey
horseradish
maple syrup
mayonnaise
molasses
Dijon mustard
peanut butter
pickles
salsa
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
extra-virgin olive oil
vegetable oil
coconut oil
instant coffee (for baking)
teas
pure vanilla extract
vanilla beans
red wine
white wine
anchovies (or anchovy paste)
artichoke hearts
capers
black truffle oil
fresh herbs (various)
lemons and limes
garlic bulbs
onions
potatoes
carrots
celery
salad greens
unsalted butter
eggs
fresh parmesan cheese
plain greek yogurt

Cooking Terms

Al dente

“To the tooth,” in Italian. The pasta is cooked just enough to maintain a firm, chewy texture.

Baste

To brush or spoon liquid fat or juices over meat during roasting to add flavor and to prevent it from drying out.

Bias-slice

To slice a food crosswise at a 45-degree angle.

Bind

To thicken a sauce or hot liquid by stirring in ingredients such as eggs, flour, butter, or cream.

Blackened

A popular Cajun-style cooking method in which seasoned foods are cooked over high heat in a super-heated heavy skillet until charred.

Blanch

To boil briefly to loosen the skin of a fruit or a vegetable. After 30 seconds in boiling water, the fruit or vegetable should be plunged into ice water to stop the cooking action, and then the skin easily slices off.

Braise

A cooking technique that requires browning meat in oil or other fat and then cooking slowly in liquid. The effect of braising is to tenderize the meat.

Broil

To cook food directly under the heat source.

Butterfly

To cut open a food such as pork chops down the center without cutting all the way through, and then spread apart.

Caramelization

Browning sugar over a flame, with or without the addition of some water to aid the process. The temperature range in which sugar caramelizes is approximately 320º F to 360º F (160º C to 182º C).

Clarify

Remove impurities from butter or stock by heating the liquid, then straining or skimming it.

Confit

To slowly cook pieces of meat in their own gently rendered fat.

Cream

To beat vegetable shortening, butter, or margarine, with or without sugar, until light and fluffy. This process traps in air bubbles, later used to create height in cookies and cakes.

Cure

To preserve or add flavor with an ingredient, usually salt and/or sugar.

Cut in

To work vegetable shortening, margarine, or butter into dry ingredients.

Dash

A measure approximately equal to 1/16 teaspoon.

Deglaze

To add liquid to a pan in which foods have been fried or roasted, in order to dissolve the caramelized juices stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Dice

To cut into cubes.

Direct heat

A cooking method that allows heat to meet food directly, such as grilling, broiling, or toasting.

Dredge

To sprinkle lightly and evenly with sugar or flour. A dredger has holes pierced on the lid to sprinkle evenly.

Egg wash

A mixture of beaten eggs (yolks, whites, or whole eggs) with either milk or water. Used to coat cookies and other baked goods to give them a shine when baked.

Emulsion

A mixture of liquids, one being a fat or oil and the other being water based so that tiny globules of one are suspended in the other. This may involve the use of stabilizers, such as egg or mustard. Emulsions may be temporary or permanent.

Fillet

To remove the bones from meat or fish for cooking.

Flambé

To ignite a sauce or other liquid so that it flames.

Fold

To cut and mix lightly with a spoon to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.

Fricassee

Usually a stew in which the meat is cut up, lightly cooked in butter, and then simmered in liquid until done.

Garnish

A decorative piece of an edible ingredient such as parsley, lemon wedges, croutons, or chocolate curls placed as a finishing touch to dishes or drinks.

Glaze

A liquid that gives an item a shiny surface. Examples are fruit jams that have been heated or chocolate thinned with melted vegetable shortening. Also, to cover a food with such a liquid.

Grate

To shred or cut down a food into fine pieces by rubbing it against a rough surface.

Grease

To coat a pan or skillet with a thin layer of oil.

Ice

To cool down cooked food by placing in ice; also, to spread frosting on a cake.

Infusion

Extracting flavors by soaking them in liquid heated in a covered pan. The term also refers to the liquid resulting from this process.

Jell (also gel)

To cause a food to set or solidify, usually by adding gelatin. Also SET.

Julienne

To cut into long, thin strips.

Jus

The natural juices released by roasting meats.

Knead

To work dough with the heels of your hands in a pressing and folding motion until it becomes smooth and elastic.

Leavener

An ingredient or process that produces air bubbles and causes the rising of baked goods such as cookies and cakes.

Marinate

To combine food with aromatic ingredients to add flavor.

Marzipan

A paste (of ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites) used to fill and decorate pastries.

Mince

To chop food into tiny, irregular pieces.

Moisten

Adding enough liquid to dry ingredients to dampen but not soak them.

Mull

To slowly heat wine or cider with spices and sugar.

Panbroil

To cook a food in a skillet without added fat, removing any fat as it accumulates.

Panfry

To cook in a hot pan with small amount of hot oil, butter, or other fat, turning the food over once or twice.

Parboil

To partly cook in a boiling liquid.

Parchment

A heavy, heat-resistant paper used in cooking.

Peaks

The mounds made in a mixture. For example, egg white that has been whipped to stiffness. Peaks are “stiff” if they stay upright, or “soft” if they curl over.

Pinch

Same as “dash.”

Pipe

To force a semisoft food through a bag (either a pastry bag or a plastic bag with one corner cut off) to decorate food.

Poach

To simmer in liquid.

Pressure cooking

A cooking method that uses steam trapped under a locked lid to produce high temperatures and achieve fast cooking time.

Proof

To let yeast dough rise.

Purée

To mash or sieve food into a thick liquid.

Reduce

To cook liquids down so that some of the water evaporates.

Refresh

To pour cold water over freshly cooked vegetables to prevent further cooking and to retain color.

Render

To melt down fat to make drippings.

Roast

To cook uncovered in the oven.

Roux

A cooked paste usually made from flour and butter used to thicken sauces.

Sauté

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

Scald

Cooking a liquid such as milk to just below the point of boiling; also to loosen the skin of fruits or vegetables by dipping them in boiling water.

Score

To tenderize meat by making a number of shallow (often diagonal) cuts across its surface. This technique is also useful in marinating, as it allows for better absorption of the marinade.

Sear

Sealing in a meat’s juices by cooking it quickly under very high heat.

Sift

To remove large lumps from a dry ingredient such as flour or confectioners’ sugar by passing it through a fine mesh. This process also incorporates air into the ingredients, making them lighter.

Simmer

Cooking food in a liquid at a low enough temperature that small bubble begin to break the surface.

Skim

To remove the top fat layer from stocks, soups, sauces, or other liquids such as cream from milk.

Steam

To cook over boiling water in a covered pan, this method keeps foods’ shape, texture, and nutritional value intact better than methods such as boiling.

Truss

To use string, skewers, or pins to hold together a food to maintain its shape while it cooks (usually applied to meat or poultry).

Unleavened

Baked goods that contain no agents to give them volume, such as baking powder, baking soda, or yeast.

Whip

To incorporate air into ingredients such as cream or egg whites by beating until light and fluffy; also refers to the utensil used for this action.

Whisk

To mix or fluff by beating; also refers to the utensil used for this action.

Zest

The thin, brightly colored outer part of the rind of citrus fruits. It contains volatile oils, used as a flavoring.