Cooking Dictionary Results

M

Meat - 1. The flesh (muscles, fat and related tissues) of animals used for food. 2. The edible part of nuts.

Medallion - a small, coin-shaped slice of meat or fish.

Melba Toast - thin slices of bread baked slowly until crisp. Named for the coloratura soprano, Dame Nellie Melba, who was the toast of international society early in 21st century.

Melon - a member of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae; grown on vines worldwide, these fruits generally have a thick hard rind, many seeds and a sweet juicy flesh; there are two principal types: muskmelons and watermelons.

Melt - to liquefy by heat.

Meringue - a mixture of egg whites beaten with sugar and baked into cookies or used as a pie topping. The addition of sugar to a meringue is critical; poured in too quickly, the meringue will fall and will not be usable.

Meunière - French for literally, “in the style of the miller’s wife”, dusted with flour and sautéed in butter.

Mexican Corn Truffle - A nickname for Huitlacoche (also spelled cuitlacoche) a fungus which grows naturally on ears of corn (Ustilago maydis). The fungus is harvested and treated as a delicacy. The earthy and somewhat smoky fungus is used to flavor quesadillas, tamales, soups and other specialty dishes.

Microwave Cooking - a heating method that uses radiation generated by a special oven to penetrate the food; the raidiation agitates water molecules in the food, creating friction and heat; this energy then spreads throughout the food by conducting (and by convection in liquids).

Microwave Oven - a specially constructed and wired oven that cooks with microwaves, a form of electromagnetic radiation used in radar and telecommunications. Microwave ovens tenderize foods more rapidly than conventional cooking instruments.