Basic Cooking Terms

: Image by adobemac via Flickr

I taught Family and Consumer Science (Home Economics) for 11 year’s before leaving my career to stay home with my son. I taught Foods and Culinary Skills for the majority of my experience. I guess you can say that cooking is something that I love and teaching others how to cook is what I know. I think that is why I love having Frugal Foodies on our blog. Here are some basic cooking terms that I wanted to share with you. They are a fabulous reference when cooking!

Bake – To cook in an oven.
Beat – To mix two or more ingredients together using a fast, circular movement with a whisk or mixer.
Blend – To mix two or more ingredients together gently with two butter knives or pastry blender until combined.
Boil – To heat a food so that the liquid gets hot enough for bubbles to rise and break to the surface.
Broil – To cook under direct heat in your oven.
Brown – To cook over medium heat until surface of food browns or darkens.
Chop – To cut into small irregular sized pieces.
Dice – To cut into small cubes.
Drain – To remove all the liquid from a food.
Grate or Shred – To rub a food against the holes of a grater making thin pieces.
Grease – To lightly coat with shortening, oil, butter, margarine, or non-stick spray so food does not stick when cooking or baking.
Knead -To press down and turn with the heels of your hands until dough is elastic.
Marinate -To soak food in a liquid to tenderize or add flavor to it.
Mince -To cut food into very small pieces.
Mix -To stir ingredients together with a spoon until well combined.
Preheat -To heat oven before baking so that it is at the correct temperature.
Sauté -To cook quickly in a little oil, butter, or margarine.
Simmer -To cook in liquid over low heat. You do not bring to a full boil.