Cooking Glossary
S
Sauté -- To cook food quickly in a small amount of oil in a skillet 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.
Scant -- Not quite up to full measure.
Score -- To tenderize meat by making a number of shallow 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.
Season -- To enhance the flavor of foods by adding ingredients such as salt, pepper, herbs, spices, condiments, and vinegars. Also, to treat a pot with a coating of cooking oil and baking it in a 350° F oven for approximately 1 hour; this process seals any tiny rough spots on the pan's surface that may cause food to stick.
Seize -- To form a thick, lumpy mass when melted.
Set -- Let food become solid.
Shallots -- Herb of the lily family whose root forms small clusters of bulbs with a mild garlic flavor.
Shallot Recipes
Shred -- To cut into long narrow strips.
Sift -- To remove large lumps from a dry ingredient 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 liquids.
Soft crack stage -- In candy making, the test for sugar syrup describing the point at which a drop of boiling syrup dropped in cold water separates into hard though pliable threads. On a candy thermometer, this is between 270 degrees and 290 degrees.
Spiedini -- Italian for small pieces of meat and other foods grilled on a skewer.
Springform pan -- A two-part baking pan in which a spring-loaded collar fits around a base; the collar is removed after baking is complete.
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.
Steep -- To soak dry ingredients in liquid until the flavor is infused into the liquid.
Stewing -- Browning small pieces of meat, poultry, or fish, then simmering them with vegetables or other ingredients in enough liquid to cover them, usually in a closed pot on the stove, in the oven, or with a slow cooker.
Stir-Fry -- The fast frying of small pieces of meat and vegetables over very high heat with continual and rapid stirring.
Stock -- A strained broth made by cooking any vegetable, meat, seafood, or poultry in water. Used for soups and sauces.
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