a mixture smooth or add air to it.
Blend—To combine ingredients until smooth.
Boil—To cook in boiling liquid (212 degrees F. at sea level).
Braise—To brown in small amount of fat, then add a small amount of liquid and cook slowly on top of stove or in oven, tightly covered.
Bread—To coat with bread crumbs or cracker crumbs (sometimes crushed wheat or corn flakes). Sometimes the item to be breaded is first dipped in a mixture of beaten egg and milk.
Broil—To cook by direct heat, in a broiler, under flame or over coals.
Brown—It’s different in the kitchen. To cook in hot fat until brown in color.
Chop—To cut in pieces with scissors or a knife. (If you’re going to use scissors, I would recommend that you have a separate pair for kitchen use only.)
Cream—Didn’t know cooking could be so C.A.M.P.y, did you? This means to rub...stir...or beat. But with a spoon until a mixture is soft, creamy, and smooth.
Cut—In addition to the obvious meaning of separation into pieces by scissors or knife, it also means the combination of shortening with dry ingredients by means of a pastry blender or two knives. I prefer to discard the utensils and use my lily white hands.
Dice—To cut into small cubes.
Dissolve—To mix a dry substance in a liquid until it passes into solution.
Dredge—To coat with flour or other specified fine substance.
Flake—To break into small pieces (as tuna).
Fold—To combine ingredients by cutting down through mixture with your tool, sliding it across the bottom and bringing it up and over top close to the surface. The tool you use, however, should he a spoon, whisk, or fork.
Fricassée—To braise fowl or rabbit.
Fry—To cook in hot fat, as directed.
Garnish—To decorate foods with small pieces of colorful ones, such as parsley, pimentos, or egg slices.
Glaze—To coat with a thin sugar syrup.
Grate—To separate food in various sizes of bits or shreds by rubbing on a grater.
Knead—To work and press dough to smoothness with the palms of the hands.
Marinate—To allow a food to stand in a liquid (usually flavored) to soften or add flavor.
Melt—To heat a substance until it liquefies.
Mince—And I don’t mean down Main Street. You can camp in your kitchen, but this means to chop into tiny pieces.
Mix—To stir, and thus combine ingredients.
Pan-broil—To cook uncovered in a hot skillet. Pour off fat as it accumulates.
Parboil—To cook partially, by boiling.
Pare—To cut away the outer covering or skin.
Peel—To remove outer covering by stripping, as a banana.
Pit—To remove the seeds from fruits. Not yours, honey.
Poach—To cook in hot liquid, taking care that foods hold their shape.
Roast—See bake.
Sauté—To cook in small amount of hot fat. Whether you’re pan-frying or sautéing depends on the food you’re cooking.
Scald—To bring a liquid to a temperature just below boiling.
Score—No, this doesn’t mean to make out. It means to cut narrow gashes in the outer covering of food.
Sear—To brown quickly with intense heat. Before you hop on the stove, better refer back to the kitchen definition of brown.
Shred—To cut or tear into ribbon-like pieces.
Sift—To pass dry ingredients through a sieve.
Simmer—To cook slowly over low heat, usually about 185 degrees.
Steam—A delicious way to prepare vegetables, but since we’re not going to do it at first, I won’t discuss it further.
Steep—To extract color or flavor from a substance by letting it stand in water just below the boiling point.
Stew—To simmer slowly in a small amount of liquid for a long time.
Stir—To mix ingredients until blended with a circular motion of a fork or spoon.
Toast—To brown by direct heat. There’s that word again.
Toss—This isn’t a score either. It means to mix ingredients lightly.
Truss—To tie fowl or meat with skewers and string or needle and thread to hold its shape during cooking.
Now you’re ready for the rest of this book. But, please, keep in mind that this book is, basically, one person’s opinion, as modified by the rest of the C.A.M.P. staff. There are other methods, ways, preferences—and I’m sure all of them have reason for being. So, keep your eyes and ears open at all times for little tidbits of information that you might be able to pick up in the strangest places.
Don’t neglect educational TV cooking shows for more elegant types of recipes. And if you find a better way to do something, or an absolutely fantastic recipe, I’d like to hear about it. And don’t hesitate to use a new recipe or a new method just because C.A.M.P., Lady Agatha or mother does it this way. The more you learn, the better the road is paved through that stomach to the heart of your desires.
CHAPTER TWO
When She Reigns, She Pours (Wines, Liquors, etc.)
Candlelight and wine can raise many a mundane meal into the realm of the sublime. More about the candlelight later on, though; right now we’re concerned with the spirit of the meal—the wine.
Wine might be said to be the soul of a good meal. Whether it is used in a marinade or sauce as a basting ingredient, or as an accompanying beverage, it adds a certain something in the way of elegance that cannot be achieved with beer.
Doubtless, you’re going to ask what wine you should serve. If you turn to the various books on the problem of wine selection, the astronomical number of answers you’re going to get will serve only to confound you further. The best way to determine what to serve, how and with what, is to start out simply, experiment and expand.
There has been, and perhaps always will be, a certain amount of snobbery or P-elegance connected with wine and wine service, but I’ve found that those who are really in the know are the least snobbish. One particular example is a decorator friend of mine from France, whose shop was invaded one day by a gushing lady customer who had just purchased for him, as a Christmas present, a very expensive bottle of imported French wine. After he had properly oohed and ahhed his thanks and she had left the shop, he told me in confidence that the Gallo winery makes the same type of wine, only better, and at a tenth the price.
So don’t be afraid to use cheaper wines—especially if you’re on a budget. If you want to, and can afford to buy names, be my guest. But I’ll bet most of your guests wouldn’t know the difference if they didn’t see the label.
First and last are the fortified wines, or ones to which brandy has been added. Ranging in taste from dry to sweet, their alcoholic content is about twenty percent. The drier varieties are usually used as cocktails, the medium-dry varieties may be served with soup, and the sweet varieties are served with dessert, or after meals. The main varieties are Sherry, Madeira, and Marsala, and the labels will generally inform you as to the particular dryness or sweetness of each.
Second, let’s consider the dinner wines. Basically there are three varieties—red, white, and rosé. Basically, dinner wines are dry, and can be served all through the meal, unless you are set upon the proper wine with the proper course.
The red wines include Bordeaux, Burgundies,