| Cooking & Baking Terms Used In Recipes |
| A la Newburg ~ A seafood cream sauce colored slightly with paprika and flavored with sherry wine |
| A la Provencale ~ With garlic and oil |
| A la broche ~ Food cooked on a skewer |
| A la king ~ Food that is generally served in a white sauce with mushrooms, green peppers, and pimentos |
| A la mode ~ Generally refers to ice cream served on top of pie or cake |
| Aging ~ The term applied to meat being held at a temperature of 34-36 degrees F. for the purpose of making the meat more tender. |
| Al dente ~ Refers to slightly chewy or being tough to the bite |
| Allemande ~ A white sauce with egg yolks added |
| Anchovy ~ A very small fish from the herring family |
| Anisette ~ A cordial flavored with anise seed |
| Antipasto ~ An Italian appetizer |
| Appetizer ~ A small serving of food served before, after, or as the first course of a meal to stimulate the appetite |
| Arrowroot ~ Used as a thickening agent in certain soups and sauces, bringing out a high sheen |
| Aspic ~ A clear jelly typically made of stock and gelatin; Used as a glaze or garnish or to make a mold of meat, fish, or vegetables. |
| Au gratin ~ Foods covered with a sauce, sprinkled with cheese or bread crumbs, or both, and baked to a golden brown |
| Au jus ~ Food served with its natural juice |
| Bake ~ To cook by dry heat, usually in an oven. |
| Barbecue Sauce ~ A highly-seasoned tomato-base sauce |
| Barbecue ~ To cook over the embers or coals of an open fire |
| Baste ~ To ladle drippings over a piece of meat being cooked as a roast to make it juicy and to prevent dryness |
| Bearnaise sauce ~ A Hollandaise sauce with a tarragon vinegar mixture added for use with meat and fish |
| Beat ~ To lift a mixture with a spoon or an electric mixer to inject air and make the mixture smooth and creamy |
| Bercy ~ Sauce made of brown sauce, shallots, lemon juice, and white wine usually served with meat or fish |
Bisque ~ A thick, rich cream soup generally made from shellfish
Blacken ~ To coat fish or meat with pepper and/or other spices, then searing the meat in a hot skillet producing meat that is black on the outside but tender on the inside
Blanch ~ To scald, make white, to partially cook an item, to place fruits or nuts in boiling water to remove the skins, or to dip vegetables in boiling water in preparation for freezing, canning, or drying
| Blanquette ~ A stew of chicken, veal, or lamb in a white sauce |
| Blend ~ To mix thoroughly two or more ingredients |
| Blinis ~ Russian pancakes, usually served with caviar |
| Blue points ~ Small oysters served raw on the half shell |
| Boiling point ~ The temperature reached when a mixture maintains a full bubbling motion on its surface |
| Boil ~ To cook in a liquid, generally water, in which large bubbles rise quickly and steadily so that all the liquid is agitated |
| Bordelaise ~ A brown sauce flavored with red wine usually served with beef entrees |
| Borsch ~ A traditional Russian beet soup |
| Bouchee A very small patty, made of pastry and filled with creamed meat or fish |
| Bouillabaisse ~ A fish soup or stew, usually made with 5-6 different fish or shellfish, flavored with white wine and seasoned with saffron |
| Bouquet-garni ~ A group of herbs tied together as a bouquet or in a cheese cloth bag for the purpose of cooking them with an item to season and makes for easy removal when they are done |
| Bourguignonne ~ Meaning , with Burgundy Wine |
| Braise ~ To cook meat by searing in fat, then simmering in a covered dish in a small amount of liquid or to brown meat or vegetables in hot fat, then to cook slowly in a small amount of liquid |
| Braten ~ German term for roast |
| Breading ~ To coat an item with a mixture of flour, egg, and bread crumbs |
| Brew ~ To cook in hot liquid until the flavor is extracted |
| Brine ~ A liquid of salt and water or vinegar used in pickling |
| Brochette ~ Meat or other foods broiled on a skewer |
| Broil ~ To cook by exposing the food directly to the heat |
| Broth ~ The liquid that meat, fish, poultry, or vegetables have been simmered in | | | |
