Kitchen 102

Boiling, braising, searing, roasting, grilling, blanching, stewing....have you guessed it? Yes, I'm giving you the lowdown on 5 cooking techniques today. Having never had any culinary training, these are terms that baffled me sometimes when I pulled up recipes online or grabbed one of my cookbooks to try something new. Have a gander and I hope you learn something new 😃

Searing... This is my favourite step in braising meat! To sear meat is to brown it on all sides. Yup! It's that simple! The aim is not to cook it through but rather to get the edges completely cooked.

Braising (v)... This is much easier than it sounds and actually applies to large cuts of meat that tend to be a little tougher. A heavy bottomed pot is necessary. To braise any piece of meat,

Step one, season and sear (brown on all sides) the joint on all sides;

Step two, remove the meat from the pot or pan and set aside to rest briefly;

Step three, add your stock to the pan then using a wooden spatula, scrape up the browned bits into the sauce;

Step four, return the meat to the pan and top up your liquid;

Step five, simmer on the burner or put in oven at around 170°C for a good hour and a half, MINIMUM!!

Stewing (v) ... Similar to braising except you use smaller pieces of meat and you tend to use vegetables to thicken up the sauce. To West Africans, stew must consist of red peppers, onions, chillies and tomatoes and they form the lovely thick sauce that goes with the meat.

Blanching (v)...SImply put, boil some water, drop the item into the boiling water, time it; a couple of minutes for almonds and up to 5 for vegetables; take it straight back out, run it under cold water or put in a bowl of ice! What's the point I hear you ask? Why it's to make skinning easy of course! 😉 It's also done to partially cook veg!

Basting (v)...This is popular when roasting meat and chicken. It's the act of scooping the juices from the cooking meat or chicken and spooning it over the meat at regular intervals.