When we watch TV these days there are cooking shows of one kind or other everywhere. This is really great, because so much more information is readily available than ever before. Not everyone who cooks on TV is a true professional chef, but many are. They are trained professionally, and certain terms are taught to them. These words become second nature to hear and use, though not all of the general public watching at home always understands what these terms mean. Here are five of the most common terms for ways of cutting foods that should demystify these terms for everyone.

Slice

Slicing is the simplest of all methods. Most people understand the word, so maybe this is less necessary to explain. Slicing can be done thick or thin and any gradient between. Not everyone is able to slice neatly and evenly, but slicing is a downward motion with a knife. How this downward motion is accomplished can vary. One may slice bread, which requires a sawing downward motion to slice without smashing the bread. If slicing an onion, a simple downward motion is perfect. Slicing a green pepper can vary. Usually one cuts the pepper open and cleans out seeds and membranes, but then do we slice across the pepper, or lengthwise? Sometimes this is purely preference, and sometimes it depends on how the final dish is to look.

Chop

Chopping can be done roughly or finely. The gradations are sometimes individually termed, such as coarse chop, or fine chop. Chopping is the method for making smaller pieces of a vegetable or fruit, for such things as a saute, salad, or soup. Making a salsa can be done coarsely chopped or more finely chopped. Chopping an onion is relatively simple, since with all the layers, quite a lot of small pieces are accomplished with few strokes. Some people chop slowly and some develop skill and chop more quickly. The most important thing is a sharp knife, which makes any chopping task much easier.

Mince

To mince means to chop into extremely tiny bits. Most often one minces garlic, as an example. This allows the strongly flavored bulb to be distributed evenly throughout a dish. Mincing any vegetable will take a longer time, as the chopping motions must continue until all the pieces are uniformly small. Fresh herbs are often minced before adding to food. Mincing is used when the desire is to distribute flavors without marring the visual effect, or as with the garlic, to distribute flavors most evenly. A garlic press will approximate the fineness of mincing garlic, though most professional chefs do not use a press.

Julienne

To julienne means to slice into long strips of very uniform matchstick shape and size. There are tools out there these days that can help to make quick work of julienning vegetables such as carrot or zucchini, among others. If julienning by hand, take the vegetable, such as a carrot, cut 3 to 4 inch lengths and slice each piece lengthwise into thin, even slices. Stack 3 or more of these thin slices together and again slice lengthwise through the stack, creating very thin sticks of the vegetable. These little sticks are often about 3 or more inches long, and can be added to a salad or a stir fry or wherever desired.

Chiffonade

This term is most often applied to leafy foods, such as herbs or spinach or other leafy vegetables. It involves taking the leaves and stacking a lot of them together and then rolling the stack into a cigar like shape. While holding that roll steady with one hand, take your knife and slice across the cigar shape in very narrow slices. What you will have at the end are literally threadlike pieces of the food. A chiffonade of basil leaves is most wonderful on a Caprese Salad of tomato and mozzarella slices. A chiffonade of spinach or kale would be excellent tossed into a stir fry at the last minute.

Try out your skills with these methods to see how they work. When you hear a chef on TV speaking these words you will have a much better grasp of the meanings of the words and how to accomplish these tasks.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

At first, the halogen oven started as Home TV shopping product, but within few months it made its entry into the mainstream retailing business. On seeing the demand for it, many retailers came up with the supply. Cookworks is one of the leading names in manufacturing kitchen appliances. Their cutlery sets, bread toasters, saut pans, sauce pans and other appliances have already been quite popular among customers. Their products have been quite famous for quality and high performance.

Halogen ovens from Cookworks are completely different from other ovens, they are digital ovens with 12 litres capacity and with the help of extended ring the capacity can be expanded up to 17 litres. It is multifunctional; it performs the function of grill, fryer, broiler, toaster, heater, baker and defroster. The main feature that attracts customers is its uniform cooking and even heating of the food content.

Halogen oven is very ideal for busy people as they can save a good deal of time. The cooking is done faster and it is hassle free. There is no chance for accidental burning of the hands as it has cool touch body. So it is safe to touch the oven even during cooking, more over it belongs to non-stick variety, which helps in cleaning the vessel easily without any scraping. Cookworks has taken extra initiative in making the oven the most energy efficient and it is one of the most appreciated features. When compared to conventional ovens, the consumption of electricity can be controlled to 50%. So the maintenance cost is much lesser when compared to other ovens.

The maximum cooking period required for any type of food is just 60 to 70 minutes. Depending on the type and weight of the food, the time may decrease. It is better to avoid over cooking as nutritional level of the food will be lost. For beginners, it is better to insert a fork to check whether the meat is cooked and inserting thermometer will help to know the exact temperature. You need to get used to this type of cooking using halogen ovens, as it requires less time and the right temperature settings.

It is safe to use halogen ovens as the equipment employ radiation heat for cooking. In this kitchen appliance, the temperature and the heat setting is completely under control and it is never at a level that poses risk. Halogen bulbs are used in this appliance to cook the food, and again these bulbs are manufactured by market leaders like JML or GE. It is worth investing in halogen oven as the safety measures are good and it suits modern day lifestyle.

Summer is often thought of as BBQ season. With holidays such as Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day, you are bound to be invited to a cookout. It's highly possible that you could be the host of one of these shindigs. Whether you are veteran BBQ'er or just getting started, planning ahead can make your summer BBQ go smooth.
BBQ Guests
You should know the approximate number of people that will be attending the festivities. No matter how many invites you send out, there will be people who just cannot attend or who will want to bring a friend or a friend of a friend. Don't expect RSVPs from everyone you invited. You need an approximate amount of attendees to plan for food and possible parking conflicts.
Weather
If it's summertime, we can assume that the temperature will be warm enough. However, we cannot predict any precipitation. If it does rain, do you want all these people in your house or would you rather have them outside in a tent? You can simply have a rain date. You should be keeping tabs on the weather as the BBQ date approaches and make any changes necessary.
Meat for the BBQ Grill
A BBQ isn't a BBQ without any meat to throw on the grill. What types of meats do you want to serve? Is this just a hot dog and hamburger event, or are you cooking chicken, ribs, or sausages? We all like to save money so if you need a lot of food, you might want to shop at a big warehouse store such as Costco or Sam's Club. Your meat should be prepared and marinated ahead of time so those meats are ready for grilling on party day.
Side Dishes
If you want to stick to traditional sides, baked beans, potato salad, and coleslaw will do the trick. If your party has a certain theme, then you need sides to match. When you invite someone to a BBQ, they'll likely ask if they can bring anything. This is a perfect opportunity to have them a bring side dish. This will be one less item you need to prepare. Chips and pretzels are a great snack to have on hand and the chips will go great with the burgers and dogs.
Other Stuff You Might Need for Your BBQ
After planning the food you need to plan miscellaneous items. You guests will need drinks. Non alcoholic beverages should be available for the kids and non-drinkers. If you want to make alcohol available, you need to get that or have a guest bring some. Your guests will need a place to sit. You need to have enough chairs. Everyone won't be sitting at the same time so you don't really need a chair for every guest. If the party will be running into the night you might want to consider tiki torches and mosquito repellent.
Summer time BBQs are a lot of fun but it can be a lot of work for the host. It is a 3 PM to until event for your guests but it's an all day affair for you. To cut down on work time, prepare as much as you can ahead of time. Use disposable items if possible to cut down on cleaning time. Accept any help that is offered to you. The main thing you need to do is to have fun!