- Industry: Printing & publishing
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Founded in 1941, Barron's Educational Series is a leading publisher of test preparation manuals and school directories. Among the most widely recognized of Barron's many titles in these areas are its SAT and ACT test prep books, its Regents Exams books, and its Profiles of American Colleges. In ...
A cookie can be any of various hand-held, flour-based sweet cakes — either crisp or soft. The word cookie comes from the Dutch koekje, meaning "little cake. " The earliest cookie-style cakes are thought to date back to seventh-century Persia, one of the first countries to cultivate sugar. There are six basic cookie styles, any of which can range from tender-crisp to soft. A drop cookie is made by dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet. Bar cookies are created when a batter or soft dough is spooned into a shallow pan, then baked, cooled and cut into bars. Hand-formed (or molded) cookies are made by shaping dough by hand into small balls, logs, crescents and other shapes. Pressed cookies are formed by pressing dough through a cookie press (or pastry bag) to form fancy shapes and designs. Refrigerator (or icebox) cookies are made by shaping the dough into a log, which is refrigerated until firm, then sliced and baked. Rolled cookies begin by using a rolling pin to roll the dough out flat; then it is cut into decorative shapes with cookie cutters or a pointed knife. Other cookies, such as the German springerle, are formed by imprinting designs on the dough, either by rolling a special decoratively carved rolling pin over it or by pressing the dough into a carved cookie mold. In England, cookies are called biscuits, in Spain they're galletas, Germans call them keks, in Italy they're biscotti and so on.
Industry:Culinary arts
A crisp tortilla chip topped with melted cheese (usually cheddar) and chopped chiles, usually served as an appetizer or snack. Nachos sometimes appear on menus as "Mexican pizza," in which case they generally have additional toppings such as cooked, ground chorizo, onions and sometimes olives.
Industry:Culinary arts
A mixed drink of orange juice and vodka served over ice. Its origins are unknown but the most popular tale is that it was named in the 1950s by American oil-rig workers stationed in the Middle East who opened and stirred cans of this mixture with their screwdrivers.
Industry:Culinary arts
1. A strip of beef from the chuck end of the short ribs. 2. A Jewish dish using this cut of beef, which is boiled and usually served with horseradish.
Industry:Culinary arts
As a ten-armed member of the cephalopod class in the mollusk family, squid is related to both the octopus and cuttlefish. Squid meat has a firm, chewy texture and mild, somewhat sweet flavor. Also called calamari, squid can range in size from 1 inch to the seldom seen 80-foot behemoth of the deep. Smaller squid are marketed in fresh, frozen, canned, sun-dried and pickled forms. They are very popular in Asian and Mediterranean cuisines and can be found in ethnic markets and some supermarkets. When buying fresh squid choose those that are small and whole with clear eyes and an ocean-fresh fragrance. They should be refrigerated, airtight, for no more than a day or two. Squid can be panfried, baked, boiled, stir-fried or coated with batter and deep-fried. The cooking time should always be short, since the texture of squid becomes rubbery when overcooked. Squid is used raw by the Japanese in sushi dishes. The ink can be extracted from the ink sacs and used to color preparations like pasta or to flavor dishes such as calamares en su tinta ("squid in their ink"), a popular Spanish dish. Squid are rich in protein and phosphorus. See also shellfish.
Industry:Culinary arts
These young leaves of the prickly ash tree have a fresh, subtle mint flavor and a tender texture. They're occasionally available fresh in Japanese markets during the spring. Kinome is used as a garnish for many Japanese dishes. Store the fresh leaves in a plastic bag in your refrigerator's vegetable drawer. They should be used within 3 to 4 days. Though watercress or mint can be used as a substitute for color, nothing can duplicate the flavor of kinome.
Industry:Culinary arts
Of the major wholesale cuts of beef, this is the most tender. It lies in the middle of the back between the sirloin and the rib, and the muscles in this section do little that could toughen them. The two main muscles in the short loin are the tenderloin and the top loin. The elongated tenderloin muscle (when separated from the bone and the rest of the short loin) can be sold as tenderloin roasts (often labeled chateaubriands), or cut into tournedos; or filet mignon steaks. The top loin muscle with the bone attached is called a club steak. When removed from the bone, the same muscle is marketed as New York (or Kansas City) strip steak; or delmonico steak. When the bone is left in and portions of both the tenderloin and top loin muscles are included, the short loin is the source of porterhouse steaks and T-bone steaks. See also beef.
Industry:Culinary arts
1. A French term meaning "froth" or "foam," mousse is a rich, airy dish that can be either sweet or savory and hot or cold. Cold dessert mousses are usually made with fruit puree or a flavoring such as chocolate. Their fluffiness is due to the addition of whipped cream or beaten egg whites and they're often fortified with gelatin. Savory mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese or even vegetables. Hot mousses usually get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites. They're generally baked in a water bath to prevent the mixture from curdling. 2. When applied to wine, the word mousse describes the foam that forms on the surface of champagne or other sparkling wine when it's first poured. Mousse is analogous to the term "head," which is the foam on a freshly poured glass of beer.
Industry:Culinary arts
In the United States, the term "sweet pepper" encompasses a wide variety of mild peppers that, like the chile, belong to the Capsicum family. Both sweet and hot peppers are native to tropical areas of the Western Hemisphere and were brought back by Christopher Columbus to his homeland where they quickly found their way into Spanish cuisine. Sweet peppers can range in color from pale to dark green, from yellow to orange to red, and from purple to brown to black. Their color can be solid or variegated. Their usually juicy flesh can be thick or thin and the flavors can range from bland to sweet to bittersweet. The best known sweet peppers are the bell peppers, so-named for their rather bell-like shape. They have a mild, sweet flavor and crisp, exceedingly juicy flesh. When young, the majority of bell peppers are a rich, bright green, but there are also yellow, orange, purple, red and brown bell peppers. The red bells are simply vine-ripened green bell peppers that, because they've ripened longer, are very sweet. Bell peppers vary from 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches long and from 2 1/2 to 4 inches wide. Green bell peppers are available all year long, while the red, orange, yellow, purple and brown varieties are found sporadically throughout the year. With their tops cut off and seeds removed, bell peppers are excellent for stuffing with a variety of fillings. The large, red, heart-shaped pimiento is another popular sweet pepper. Fresh pimientos are available in some specialty produce markets from late summer to fall. Canned or bottled pimientos are marketed year-round in halves, strips and small pieces. Pimientos are the familiar red stuffing found in green olives. Other sweet pepper varieties include the thin, curved, green bull's horn; the long, tapered Cubanelle, which can range in color from yellow to red; and the sweet banana pepper, which is long, yellow and banana-shaped. Most sweet peppers are available year-round with a peak from July through September. Choose peppers that are firm, have a richly colored, shiny skin and that are heavy for their size. Avoid those that are limp, shriveled or that have soft or bruised spots. Store peppers in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week. Sweet peppers are used raw in salads and as part of a vegetable platter served with various dips. In cooking, they find their way into a variety of dishes and can be sautéed, baked, grilled, braised and steamed. Sweet peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C and contain fair amounts of vitamin A and small amounts of calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin.
Industry:Culinary arts
A traditional Irish dish made by combining mashed potatoes and green onions with plenty of butter.
Industry:Culinary arts
