DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
What is knocking back?
Bread baking recipes often call for you to "knock back" the dough after it has proven (check my other definition on proving if you like) or risen. Knocking back is remarkably similar to what it sounds like. You take a clenched fist, and punch the inflated dough in the bowl, so the air escapes and it returns to its original size. Always a fun step in our bread baking classes or when we make our own pizza dough in kids cooking classes in the school holidays!
DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
What is prooving?
Again, an important step in baking, proving is when you make a dough, then you leave the dough aside for a couple of hours to rise. I guess this "proves" to the baker that the bread will rise in the oven and that the yeast is active. When proving, I always cover the dough - usually with glad wrap or a wet tea towel. This is to stop the dough drying out and getting a crust on top! I also oil the bowl the dough is lying in. I don't want this sticking too much during proving. And finally, I never worry too much about making a really "warm" place for the dough to prove. It will prove at room temperature if the yeast is doing its job! Long before the cooking school ever existed, I watched my dad putting the dough in the sun, or beside the hot oven or even on the hood of the car! Forget it, yeast should work at anything above 16 celcius.
DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
What does "set a sponge" mean?
This may be known by other names, and sometimes people don't take this step when baking bread or working with yeast. Often, I like to start a yeast recipe (eg. pizza dough, or bread) by putting 1 Tbs yeast, 2 Tbs sugar in a bowl, then 1 cup warm water.
I mix them briefly and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it for 15 mins.
When I come back, I want to see 2 things:
I want the plastic to form a bubble over the bowl, as the yeast becomes active and air is trying to escape.
Secondly, I want to see a spongy consistency floating on the water, not just a flat, slightly discoloured amount of water I began with at the bottom of the bowl.
I do this to ensure the yeast is healthy and will work for me when I need it to later in the bread-making process! If you want to know more about bread baking classes or any other classes at the cooking school, just call or post me a question!
DictionaryDecember: a quick+basic cooking definition every day this month!
Gnocchi recipes often ask you to "rice your potatoes" or "put your boiled potatoes through a potato ricer". This is basically like mashing them while making them extremely light and fluffy so your gnocchi doesn't turn out dense. If you haven't made the investment in a potato ricer (don't worry, neither have I), reach for the strainer. Then put in a few potatoes, and mash them through the strainer with the back of a tablespoon, into a bowl. Notice how the come out all light and fluffy? That's potato ricing!
(did I mention it's all a part of our "tradition italian cooking" class here at the cooking school?)
A student at the cooking school asked me this the other day! This usually refers to a type of meat cooked in it's own fat. For example, confit duck is duck, totally submerged in duck fat and slowly cooked at 100 degrees for a long period. The whole pot of fat and duck can then be left to cool and set. This is a wonderful way of preserving the meat. When it's time to cook it, scrape off excess fat with a spoon, and put the meat on a frying pan to crispen and heat through. Delicious!
