"Al dente" means "to the tooth" in Italian. (Like "terroir", it's one of those concepts that poorly translates into English.) The phrase refers to the desired texture of cooked pasta, which should be soft but still slightly firm at the core of the noodle (or shell or spiral or alphabet letter). Some cooks define "al dente" as "not hard and not soft."
Pasta cooked "al dente" should require some chewing but not crunch or stick to the teeth when chewed. The firm texture should allow you to taste some of the pasta's flavor. Overcooked pasta tends to be mushy and flavorless.
So how do you know when your pasta is "al dente"? In my house growing up, we threw a strand of spaghetti at the wall -- as soon as it sticks, it's done. The problem with that test is that overcooked pasta sticks to the wall, too. So now I just use my teeth: Before I think it's ready, I draw a piece of pasta from the pot, let it cool a few seconds and take a bite. If it's ready, my mouth knows.
Related: What's the point of putting oil in my pasta water?
Related: How to cook garlic for pasta
What is the difference between stock and broth?
What is the difference between stock and broth?
The two terms are often used interchangeably but retain an aura of cloudiness like the unskimmed foam on a simmering pot of stock or broth.
Stock is the strained liquid that you get once you've cooked various meat, poultry, fish or seafood, vegetables, herbs and seasonings in water. Brown stock is made by browning bones and vegetables first in oil before adding water and/or wine to the pot.
Stock is the basis for many a soup, stew and features in many sauces, often reduced. White sauce is made from white stock made with chicken, veal or other poultry; brown sauces incorporate brown stock made from veal, beef or poultry meat and bones. A court-bouillon is also a stock. Vegetable stock is made with vegetables which may or may not have been first sautéed in oil or butter.
Broth is also the strained liquid that's left after you've cooked meat, poultry, fish or seafood, vegetables, herbs or seasonings in water. Broth is also called bouillon. Nevertheless, cubes of instant stock that is reconstituted with water as a cooking shortcut are called bouillon cubes. The liquid in a pot-au-feu is also called bouillon.
When you want a dish to have quintessential garlic flavor that permeates each bite, mince it. You can mince with a knife, or a garlic press.
Either way, you need to free the individual cloves. To do that, press down on the head with the heel of your palm. Apply firm, even pressure so the cloves don't fly all over the place.
To peel an individual clove, cut of the hard stem end where the clove attached to the bulb. Either stop the cut just short of the skin on the other side and peel the skin around to remove it, or make the cut all the way through and squeeze out the clove. The older the clove, the easier the skin releases.
You can also peel it by setting the side of your knife blade on the clove and pressing down until you feel the skin release, though not hard enough to pulverize it, or the skin will get mixed in with the garlic.
To mince with a knife, smash the peeled clove with the side of the knife. Then just run your knife back and forth across the smashed clove, chopping as you go until it's as fine as you like.
If you don't want individual little pieces of garlic and have a press, just put the whole peeled clove (or cloves, if you can fit them) in the press and squeeze. Use your knife to trim away any clinging garlic.
What's the difference between a chile and a chili?
What's the difference between a chile and a chili?
Nothing. The small hot pepper known as the chili, chilli or chile pepper is essentially the same thing, spelled differently depending on where you live. Chile sauce, chili powder, chilli oil or paste are used to give food throughout the world a fiery kick as they have for thousands of years.
Once a prize kept under lock and key in wealthy households, sugar is now ubiquitous and comes in many forms. Most commercial sugar is made from cane or beet root. Here's a look at the most common types of sugar used in the kitchen.
Granulated white sugar: White sugar is highly refined and made from sugarcane or beets. This all-purpose refined white sugar has small but fairly coarse crystals and is used to sprinkle on food, sweeten beverages, or add to dishes during cooking. Golden granulated sugar is a brown sugar made from sugar cane molasses that is similar but has a light brown color.
Castor (caster) or superfine sugar: This refined white sugar has fine crystals that dissolve more quickly than regular granulated sugar, making it a good choice for baking meringues. Golden castor sugar is made from unrefined cane sugar.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar is nothing more than white sugar that has been mixed with molasses to color it and give it a moist texture. Light brown sugar has less molasses than dark brown sugar. Brown sugar should not be confused with raw sugar, which has a similar color and taste but is actually the residue from processed sugarcane.
Turbinado sugar: A sugar cane extract that is made by steaming unrefined raw sugar. It has large crystals and a slight molasses flavor. It's a shade paler than brown sugar and can be substituted for brown sugar in recipes. We like to use turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top of muffins, cookies and scones. It holds its texture well and, when cooked, has a nice sweet crunch.
Demerara Sugar: True Demerara sugar is raw or partly refined sugar with large crystals, but some impostors are nothing more than white sugar stained with molasses.
Muscovado Sugar: This raw cane sugar comes in light and dark varieties and is used to make cakes and desserts.
Powdered, icing or confectioner's sugar: This sugar is made by reducing granulated sugar to a powder and mixing it with starch to prevent it from lumping up. It's used to decorate cakes and can also be used in making sweet dishes and baked goods.
Why does Cookthink use red pepper flakes in so many recipes?
Why does Cookthink use red pepper flakes in so many recipes?
We use red pepper flakes so often that we've come to think of them as the third standard seasoning, after salt and pepper.
Why do we use red pepper flakes in so many recipes?
We use it as a flavor highlighter. In addition to the fives tastes -- sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami -- our tongues detect capsaicin, the main ingredient found in any hot chile. The heat of capsaicin in red pepper flakes "points up" the taste of ingredients they season. So, no matter what tastes and flavors you have going on in a dish, a pinch of red pepper flakes will help clarify and those tastes and flavors without necessarily adding heat (though you can add plenty of heat by adding red pepper flakes).
Experiment with red pepper flakes by starting out with a pinch in a dish like this Fusilli with Broccoli Raab and Parmesan. Increase (or decrease) the amount you use to get a sense of how much you like to add.
Recipe: New York Strip With Spicy Gremolata Dressing (Cookthink)
Reference: Measuring freshly ground black pepper (Cookthink)
Cumin is the dried seed of an aromatic plant that has a dusty, vaguely bitter taste and a distinctive smell. Cumin seeds can be used whole, fried in oil to release their aroma; or ground into a powder.
Most cumin seeds are light brown in color, but they are also available in white (similar to the brown in flavor) and black (which has a more peppery taste). Cumin seeds look a lot like caraway seeds.
You can find references to cumin in the Bible, where it was cited as a flavor-enhancer for soup and bread. The Romans used it to preserve meat and broil fish and it was popular in the Middle Ages. Today, cumin seeds are used to spice up Munster cheese, to make Indian and Pakistani curries and to add flavor to Tex-Mex chili. Cumin is also popular in many cuisines of the world, including Middle Eastern, Mexican, Eastern European and Mediterranean.
During the Middle Ages, cumin was believed to keep loved ones (and chickens) from straying; likewise, brides and grooms carried cumin seeds during the wedding ceremony as a happy marriage charm.
Is black bean sauce made from black beans?
Is black bean sauce made from black beans?
Despite its name, black bean sauce is not made from black beans.
Instead, black bean sauce is made from dried, fermented soybeans, which turn a dark brownish-black during the curing process -- hence the name.
Used as a condiment in stir-frys and Asian cuisine or as a flavoring agent for sauces, black bean sauce is extremely flavorful (and salty).
Chopping is probably the most common way to prep an onion. Chopped onions show up in anything that needs the basic, earthy pungent flavor that onions give. Chop them larger for longer-cooking dishes like stews and rustic soups, and smaller (call it a dice if you like) for anything from salsas to sauces to ragouts.
To start, cut the onion in half through the root. The root itself will help keep the onion together for chopping
Rotate the onion 90 degrees and cut off the papery end (not the root end). This will make the skin easy to peel away and discard.
Peel back the onion's papery skin. It's often easiest to peel away the first layer of the onion along with the skin.
Make a series of diagonal cuts (roughly 45 degrees) into the side of the onion. Keep more space between the slices for a large chop. Make the cuts closer together for a small chop or a dice.
Now make a series of horizontal cuts to finish shaping the chop or dice.
Finally, rotate the onion again and slice crosswise against the checkerboard pattern you made in the onion. The chopped pieces will fall away from the onion.
