- 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 ...
Literally translated as "queen of fragrance," basmati has been grown in the foothills of the Himalayas for thousands of years. Its perfumy, nutlike flavor and aroma can be attributed to the fact that the grain is aged to decrease its moisture content. Basmati is a long-grained rice with a fine texture. It can be found in Indian and Middle Eastern markets and some supermarkets. See also rice.
Industry:Culinary arts
Literally translated as "stuffed peppers," this Mexican specialty consists of cheese-stuffed mild green chiles, cloaked with an egg batter and fried until the outside is crisp and the cheese inside is melted.
Industry:Culinary arts
Literally translated as "yule log," this traditional French Christmas cake is shaped and decorated to resemble a log. It's made of a sheet of genoise that is spread with mocha or chocolate buttercream, rolled into a log shape and covered with more buttercream. The surface is ridged to resemble the bark of a log, and sometimes garnished with meringue "mushrooms" and with "moss" made from chopped pistachio nuts.
Industry:Culinary arts
Literally translated from German as "hare pepper," this dish is a thick, highly seasoned stew of rabbit meat. Before stewing, the meat is soaked in a wine-vinegar marinade for 1 to 3 days. Hasenpfeffer is often served garnished with sour cream and accompanied by noodles or dumplings.
Industry:Culinary arts
Literally translated, this French phrase means "made of rags. " Culinarily, it refers to thin strips or shreds of vegetables (classically, sorrel and lettuce), either lightly sautéed or used raw to garnish soups.
Industry:Culinary arts
Long a staple of soul food, collard (also called collard greens and just plain collards) is a variety of cabbage that doesn't form a head, but grows instead in a loose rosette at the top of a tall stem. It's often confused with its close relative kale and, in fact, tastes like a cross between cabbage and kale. Collard's peak season is January through April, but it's available year-round in most markets. Look for crisp green leaves with no evidence of yellowing, wilting or insect damage. Refrigerate collard in a plastic bag 3 to 5 days. The Southern style of cooking the greens is to boil them with a chunk of bacon or salt pork. They can be prepared in any manner suitable for spinach or cabbage. Collard is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, calcium and iron.
Industry:Culinary arts
Long a versatile kitchen helper, this lightweight natural cotton cloth won't fall apart when wet and will not flavor the food it touches. Cheesecloth has a multitude of culinary uses including straining liquids, forming a packet for herbs and spices (as with bouquet garni) that can be dropped into a soup or stock pot and lining molds (such as for coeur À la crème). It comes in both fine and coarse weaves and is available in gourmet shops, supermarkets and the kitchen section of many department stores. In Britain it's sometimes called butter muslin.
Industry:Culinary arts
Long, thin and fibrous, this boneless cut of beef comes from the animal's lower hindquarters. It's usually tenderized by marinating, then broiled or grilled whole. In the case of London broil, the flank steak is cut and cooked in large pieces, then thinly sliced across the grain. See also beef.
Industry:Culinary arts
Looking like a giant, multipetaled, ruffled flower, this vegetable comes in colors that range from white to pink to purple, all encircled by curly green leaves. Flowering kale (Brassica oleracea), which is the oldest member of the cabbage family, has a slightly bitter taste and semicrisp texture. It's available from September through December. Choose heads with fresh-looking, brightly colored leaves with no sign of wilting. Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 5 days. See also kale.
Industry:Culinary arts
Made by churning cream until it reaches a semisolid state, butter must by U. S. law be at least 80 percent milk fat. The remaining 20 percent consists of water and milk solids. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades butter quality based on flavor, body, texture, color and salt. Butter packages bear a shield surrounding the letter grade (and occasionally the numerical score equivalent) indicating the quality of the contents. The grades, beginning with the finest, are aa (93 score), A (92 score), B (90 score) and C (89 score). aa and A grades are those most commonly found at the retail level. Butter may be artificially colored (with natural annatto); it may also be salted or unsalted. Unsalted butter is usually labeled as such and contains absolutely no salt. It's sometimes erroneously referred to as "sweet" butter — a misnomer because any butter made with sweet instead of sour cream is sweet butter. Therefore, expect packages labeled "sweet cream butter" to contain salted butter. Unsalted butter is preferred by many for everyday eating and baking. Because it contains no salt (which acts as a preservative), it is more perishable than salted butter and therefore stored in the freezer section of some markets. Whipped butter has had air beaten into it, thereby increasing volume and creating a softer, more spreadable consistency when cold. It comes in salted and unsalted forms. Light or reduced-calorie butter has about half the fat of regular butter, possible through the addition of water, skim milk and gelatin. It shouldn't be substituted for regular butter or margarine in frying and baking. Storing butter: Because butter absorbs flavors like a sponge, it should be wrapped airtight for storage. Refrigerate regular butter for up to 1 month, unsalted butter for up to 2 weeks. Both can be frozen for up to 6 months. See also bercy (butter); beurre blanc; beurre manié; beurre noir; beurre noisette; butter substitutes; clarified butter; compound butter; fats and oils; garlic butter; ghee.
Industry:Culinary arts
