Some Terminology for beginners (a good review for experienced cooks)

When I share a recipe, I throw around terms without giving them much thought.  Usually, my audience doesn't question them but as I am now teaching extreme novices, I realize that a precise definition can make or break a recipe. For example, what is the difference between bread and dredge? If I said to dredge something in a recipe, I would know what I mean, but will my reader? So for the next few days here some cooking terms and their definitions.

Bread(ing) Dip the food such as chicken strips or fish filets into a liquid, such as milk or an egg wash (lightly beated eggs with water or milk).  Then dip the food into seasoned or unseasoned crumbs made up of crackers, bread crumbs, corn meal or flour.  The breaded food can then be fried or baked and should develop a delicate crust.  Sometimes the food is dipped first into the dry mixture, then into the wet mixture, then back into the dry mixture to develop a thicker crust.  With some recipes, the food being breaded should be frozen to help the breading stick until the food is cooked.

Dredge refers to coating a food with a dry ingredient, such as flour.  Place the dry ingredient(s) into a large plastic bag. Add the food, a few pieces at a time and shake the bag to coat.  This technique is often used to coat meat such as beef or chicken, before browning in a stew or cassoulet.  Cookies or candies can be dredged in sugar either before or after baking although I prefer to place the sugar in a shallow dish for cookies and candies to maintain their appearance.