Kitchen Math/Cooking Skills

Kitchen Math &

Cooking Terms
 Kimmie Facts
1. My husband and I have been married
for 3 years. We have an 8 month old
son who started crawling last week
and got his first tooth on Monday!

2. I’m type 1 diabetic. I have a little

insulin pump that beeps a lot. I like
to call her Debby because sometimes
she’s a downer.

3. Ask me a random question!

Outcomes

- 5.2.3 Demonstrate basic kitchen math skills (Idaho Nutrition & Foods
CTE).
- 5.3.1 Define food preparation terms (Idaho Nutrition & Foods CTE).
Equivalents Table
See page 20 of your notebook
Cooking Terms
Al Dente
Means “to the tooth”. Pasta should be
tender but firm to the bite.
Baste
Spoon or brush liquid over food during
cooking to keep it moist and to add flavor.
Beat
Make mixture smooth with a rapid
vigorous over-and-over motion using a
spoon, hand beater, wire whisk, or electric
mixer.
Blanch
Plunged into boiling water for a brief time
and then into an ice bath to preserve
color, texture, and nutritional value or to
remove skin from fruits and vegetables.
Blend
The process of combining two or more
ingredients together so that they lose
their individual characteristics and
become smooth and uniform.
Boil
Heat until bubbles rise continuously and
break on the surface of the liquid.
Braise
Cooking (meat, fish, or vegetables) by
sautéing in fat and then simmering slowly
in a small amount of liquid.
Broil
To cook by exposing food to direct
radiant heat from above.
Chop
To cut into bite sized pieces.
- Fine: smaller than bite sized.
- Rough: slightly larger than bite sized.
Cream
Technique of softening solid fat into a
smooth mass and then blending it with
other ingredients, usually sugar.
Cut In
Distribute solid fat in dry ingredients by
cutting with a pastry blender with a
rolling motion or cutting with two knives
until particles are desired size.
Dice
To cut food into even, small squares about
¼’’ in diameter.
Fold
Gently mix a light fluffy mixture into a
heavier one by cutting vertically through
mixture with a rubber scraper.

Then sliding scraper across the bottom of

the bowl, turning mixture over.

Continue down-across-up-over motion

while rotating the bowl ¼ turn with each
series of strokes.
Grease
To coat a utensil, such as a baking pan or
skillet, with a thin layer of fat or oil.
Grill
Involves a significant amount of direct,
radiant, dry heat that is applied to the
surface of food, usually from below. Used
for cooking meat and vegetables quickly.
Julienne
A culinary knife cut in which the food
item is cut into long, thin strips, similar to
matchsticks.
Knead
To work dough into a uniform mixture by
pressing, folding, and stretching.
Marinate
Let food stand in a savory, usually acidic,
liquid for several hours to tenderize and
add flavor.
Mix
Combine in any way that distributes all
ingredients evenly.
Pare
To remove the skin of a fruit or vegetable
using a swivel-bladed peeler or sharp
paring knife.
Roux
A French term that refers to a mixture of
flour and a fat cooked to a golden- or
rich-brown color and used for thickening
sauces, soups, and gumbos.
Saute
Cook rapidly in small amounts of fat,
stirring occasionally.
Sift
Passing dry ingredients such as flour
through a mesh bottom sieve. This
process combines air with the ingredient,
making it lighter and more uniform in
texture.
Simmer
Cook in liquid just below the boiling
point (bubbles form slowly and collapse
below the surface).
Steam
To cook a food in vapor given off by
boiling water.
Stir
Combine ingredients with a circular or
figure-eight motion until of uniform
consistency.
Toss
Mix ingredients by using a light lift and
drop method.
Whip/Whisk
To beat a food rapidly to incorporate air
into the food and increase its volume.
Zest
To remove the colored outer portion of
citrus peel often used as a seasoning, by
peeling or grating.
Adjusting a Recipe
 1. Use Whole Numbers
Multiply or divide by a whole number,
when possible.
 2. Write it Down
Even if you can multiply or divide the
numbers easily in your head, ALWAYS
WRITE IT DOWN. That way you don’t
forget to add anything.
 3. Seasonings, Seasonings, Seasonings
Don’t adjust seasonings by the same factor
as the rest of the recipe. Start with smaller
amounts of seasonings and spices and
adjust to taste.
 4. Half an Egg?
If a recipe calls for half of an egg, whisk
the egg until the yolk and egg whites are
combined and then use half of that
mixture.
 5. Times and Temperatures
With recipes that have been adjusted, if it
requires you to check internal
temperatures of a food then cook time or
cooking temperature may need to be
adjusted to account for the decreased or
increased recipe yield.