Cooking Glossary

Here are a few terms that might need explaining:

BAIN MARIE	Refers to a method of cooking in which food is cooked in a warm water bath. The food is placed in a pan that is then placed in another pan containing warm, simmering water. This is a good method for melting chocolate, cooking custards, and similar dishes that may scorch or burn if placed over direct heat.
BEURRE MANIE	A paste made of equal parts butter and flour added to a sauce to thicken it.
BLIND BAKE	To pre-bake a tart or pie dough until slightly dried prior to adding a wet filling to maintain crispiness of shell, usually done with a layer of baking beans.
BOUQUET GARNIS	A bundle of herbs including bay leaf, parsley stem, peppercorns and thyme used for seasoning.
SCALD	To heat a liquid, generally referring to milk, to just below the boiling point. It should be heated just until tiny bubbles begin to form at the very edges. To place fruits or vegetables into boiling water for a short period of time to aid in peeling the skin off.
SOFT PEAKS	Egg whites beaten until they are still fairly wet but can hold a peak.
STIFF PEAKS	Egg whites beaten past the soft peak point until they are drier in texture and the peak holds without falling.
TEMPER/TEMPERING	A process where hot liquid is gradually added to eggs or other foods that needs to be incorporated into a hot sauce or soup without curdling. This slowly raises their temperature and then they can be added into the hot mixture. A melting and cooling process used to stabilize the texture of chocolate.

Tips & Tricks - Bake It!

Oven Shelf	If you're recipe doesn't state what oven shelf to use then you should assume it's the middle shelf. Check the Guide/Manual for your oven to find out which shelf is the middle one as sometimes it's not where you would expect it to be, i.e. it's actually higher than the middle of the oven.
Measuring Flour	When measuring flour with cups make sure you don't compact the flour into the cup or you will have too much. My best advice is to aerate your flour first and then use the scoop-and-level technique. To do this, stir the flour in its container to aerate and lift it. Then scoop out the required amount, getting a heaping measure, and level it off with the back of a knife. The measuring cup should not be tapped or shaken to make the flour settle. If your flour is in the bag you bought it in and it's too small to stir, then simply transfer roughly the amount you need to a small plastic bag and give it a shake, then scoop-and-level as above.
Cake making	Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature to prevent the mixture from curdling. Once your flour is incorporated, don’t keep mixing for too long or you will stretch the gluten and your cakes will be tough. I use a Gas oven and I turn my bun trays/cake tins around after half the cooking time had elapsed so that they are evenly browned. After you've put your cake mixture in your tins, tap it on your counter/table to get rid of any large air bubbles which will make your cake look like swiss-cheese. Cakes with dried fruits or nuts added to them can often turn out with most of the fruits or nuts sunk to the bottom. This can be remedied by lightly tossing/coating them in flour before incorporating them into the mixture. This forms a bond with the mixture and prevents them sinking. This method doesn’t work with frozen fruit!
Pastry	When making pastry: when you have to chill the dough, roll it out so it's about an inch thick then put it on a metal baking sheet before you put it in the fridge so that it chills quicker. If you need to re-roll your puff pastry, stack the trimmings on top of each other to keep the layers.
Measuring Lemon Juice	1/2 lemon = 1 tablespoon 1 lemon = 2 tablespoons
Measuring Golden Syrup	According to Tate & Lyle: 1 tablespoon = 1 oz or 25g.  Alternatively put the tin on weighing scales without its lid, note the total weight and spoon out Lyle's Golden Syrup until you have reduced the total weight by the designated amount.
Egg Whites	1 large egg white = 25ml or 25g You can freeze egg whites, ideally in an ice cube tray to keep them separate. Or you can keep them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Older eggs (3-4 days) are better for making meringues.

I just found these really useful pages on the Dr Oetker website.

Tips & Tricks - Substitute It!

• If you have a recipe which calls for Buttermilk then you can make your own with normal milk and lemon juice or vinegar. Just mix 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice/vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. The resulting mixture won't be as thick as buttermilk so you will need to reduce the amount, so for buttermilk pancakes which requires 1.5 cups you will only need 1 cup.

Tips & Tricks - Freeze It!

• Always use freezer bags to store food in the freezer as they will prevent "freezer burn" which is when the food is damaged by ice crystals due to air reaching the food and give it an unpleasant flavour.
• If you're like me and hate eating over-ripe bananas but haven't got time to make Banana Bread, then don't bin them - freeze them! Simply pop them unpeeled into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months. The skins will go brown/black but don't worry. When you want to use them for Banana Bread/Muffins (see my yummy recipe!) then defrost at room temperature, snip the top off and squeeze out the fruit like a tube of toothpaste!
• Are you put off from buying fresh root ginger because it always seem to go off before you've used it up? Well you can freeze the whole root and then just use a grater to get the amount you need - no need to thaw it first!
• You can freeze egg whites, ideally in an ice cube tray to keep them separate.