This is a clean and healthy version of a typical Spanish Style Seafood Stew.
Sometimes you just need a hearty, spicy stew to clear out your sinuses and fill your belly.
I’m thinking this is that stew for me….
Before we dive into actual cooking I think it’s important for people who are new to the kitchen to learn some basic terms. This way we can all start on the same page and you always have this post as a resource to look back on as we move through this series. Understanding many of these terms will hopefully help you to feel more comfortable reading recipes, and trying new things. A number of the things on this list are the names of actual skills that every new cook should learn (like sauté). We will go over these skills in more detail later on.
Al dente: An Italian term meaning “To the tooth”. It requires the food to be cooked so that it has a slight resistance when biting into it, but should be hard in the center, conversely it should also not be completely soft in the center.
Bechamel: A rich white sauce infused with milk, herbs and butter.
Braise: To sauté meat or vegetables, and then slowly cooked with liquid over low heat.
Broth: A flavorful liquid like substance made as a result of boiling bones, vegetables, and herbs in water. Typically it uses less meat part and is lighter in color than stock (see below).
Charcuterie: A French term for the cooked meats ranging from bacon to cured meats and sausage (think salami and pepperoni).
Chiffonade: A French term for a particular knife cut where herbs and leafy greens are cut into thin strips and typically used to garnish a plate or soup.
Deglaze: The process of removing the browned bits from the bottom of a sauté pan with the use of liquid and heat.
Dredge: To lightly coat food with flour, cornmeal, or breadcrumbs.
Dust: To lightly coat food with a powdery ingredient or to lightly coat a work surface with flour.
Emulsion: To have one liquid suspended in another, often with liquids that do not mix easily, so emulsions are performed through vigorous stirring or shaking. For example, the combination of oil and vinegar to make salad dressing.
Fond: The roasted browned bits that form on the surface area of a baking sheet, typically used to make sauces.
Gratin: A dish that is topped with cheese or breadcrumbs and dabs of butter and then baked in the oven.
Grease: To apply a thin layer of butter or oil to a cooking surface to prevent food from sticking when cooked.
Infuse: To soak herbs, teas or fruits in liquid to extract their respective flavors.
Kosher salt: A flaky type of granular salt. It is typically proffered in cooking because of its lack of additives.
Leaven: The addition of ingredients (such as yeast, baking soda and baking powder) which cause dough to rise.
Mirepoix: A combination of chopped carrot, celery, and onion.
Mise En Plas: French phrase meaning “putting in place”. Typically referring to setting up cooking supplies, including tools, measured out ingredients and anything else necessary to cook the desired dish.
Mesclun: A combination of small leafy greens often found in specialty stores and food co-ops.
Macerate: To immerse food in liquid to breakdown and soften. The technique is commonly used to infuse fruit with liquor and vise versa.
Muddle: To press fruit and herbs against the side of a glass to release their juices.
Pinch: To grasp a small quantity of spices or seasonings between the thumb and forefinger for sprinkling over food.
Purée: To place vegetables or fruit in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Roux: A combination of fat (typically butter) and flour cooked over low heat used to thicken soups and sauces.
Rest: Allowing the prepared food to sit at room temperature, typically referring to meat, when resting allows the juices to reabsorb.
Reduce: To boil excess liquid in a cooking pan in order to decrease the volume through the process of evaporation. Doing so concentrates the flavor of the dish to be served.
Sauté: To cook food quickly in a skillet, using a small amount of oil or animal fat over medium high heat.
Simmer: To cook food over low heat, whereby small bubbles rise to the surface of a cooking pot. Simmering is the desired process for making stock.
Stock: A flavorful liquid/gelatin like substance made as a result of boiling bones, meat, vegetables, and herbs in water. It is typically darker and has a richer flavor than broth (see above).
Umami: The fifth flavor element not covered by sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Most often associated with Japanese cooking.
Whisk: To stir egg whites or heavy cream with light rapid movements, thereby forcing air into food.
Zest: The aromatic outermost part of a citrus peel used to flavor food to great effect.
Any terms that you think I missed or have other questions on? Please let me know and I will add to this list!
I get asked a lot of questions about cooking, some pretty basic, and some are very involved. After years of running this blog I realize that there are certain aspects of cooking and recipes that I take for granted, things that I assume everyone knows. Then some one like Chuck tries to read my recipes and comes back with a million questions, and I realize that not everyone is on top of all things cooking. I thought it might be a good idea to go into a bit more detail about cooking basics.
This series will be a once a month series that will run for at least a year, perhaps more. I’d really like to use this series to help new cooks build a strong foundation of information that will last a lifetime.
I’m going to start out very small and hit all of the topics that I think are important. I would also love to hear from you guys, what do you want to know? What are the skills that you want to learn or the random weird questions that you have? Please comment or shoot me an email me. If there is anything that I do not know I will take some time to figure it out or get a professional to help me.
I’m really excited about this series so keep an eye out on the second Tuesday of every month for a new cooking lesson starting tomorrow.
This is a recipe for basic Venison Meatballs to be served with tomato sauce.
In our house venison is pretty much a staple, and because of this I haven’t bought beef in quite some time, something you long time followers may have noticed. It’s not because we don’t eat red meat, believe me we do, it’s simple because we don’t need to buy it. I like to think that we are helping in the fight against factory farming by not buying it as well.
Anyway over the years I have learned how to work with venison as a substitution for when beef is required in a recipe; most of the time it works quite well. I know that many people worry about the gaminess of the meat and if that will come through in the finished dish, but this has never really been a problem for me. Much of the gaminess comes from excess blood in the meat poor butchering or dressing and can easily be corrected by soaking it in buttermilk or salt water.
This recipe is pretty straight forward and sure to please. While it’s based on the basic Italian style meatballs that would be served with tomato sauce this recipe is basic enough to be used with a number of sauces for serving.
Related Recipes:
Venison Swedish Meatballs
Venison Meatloaf
Venison Steak with Mushroom Sauce
As of Sunday Chuck and I have taken on a new health challenge. We are trying out the slow carb diet for 28 days. That means getting creative with beans and lentils for nearly every single meal.
One of the first things I thought about when I was researching this diet was breakfast, beans with breakfast just seemed weird at first but then I remembered Ireland. Specifically the fact that standard Irish breakfast typically include English style baked beans, along with sausage, bacon, blood pudding, tomatoes, or mushrooms, eggs, and toast. While that’s a little more than I need to be eating each day I decided to recreate a healthier version of it for this challenge.
**Photo**
For this breakfast I made my own homemade beans (recipe follows), turkey sausage, sautéed spinach, and eggs. It was really great, and the recipe make enough beans for both Chuck and I to last nearly the whole week!
For lazy week day mornings I’ve taken to just cooking up spinach, beans, and eggs all in one big scramble, it comes together in just a few minutes which is what I need in the morning.
