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When we’re designing a new dish and are deciding how to approach a particular ingredient, we think about its texture, flavor, density, fat content, and appearance. Then we ask ourselves questions. How can we make a roasted leg of lamb juicier? How can we add more body to the soup without saturating it with fat? How long should we infuse the cream with nuts and flowers so that it absorbs their perfume without becoming cloying? In other words, we try to pick a complementary cooking method for each food. Here are some of the basics.

BLANCHING

Blanching is a technique commonly used to precook vegetables and legumes. It involves submerging them briefly in salted boiling water and then “shocking” them in an ice-water bath to preserve their color and prevent them from overcooking. Blanching is also used to soften the bitterness of vegetables like rapini, and to make fruits like peaches easy to peel.

BRAISING

Braising uses both moist and dry heat to create tender, drop-off-the-bone meat—a perfect braise will almost melt in your mouth. It’s a particularly good technique for tougher cuts, like veal shank, pork shoulder, chicken thighs, and duck legs. Typically, braising involves searing the meat until it’s nicely caramelized on the outside, then covering it with liquid (the moist heat) and cooking it slowly in the oven (the dry heat) until the muscle fibers and the connective tissues break down. As the meat cooks, its collagens and gelatins dissolve into the cooking liquid, leaving you with a tasty sauce.

Braising is not restricted to meat. We like to braise vegetables like green garlic, artichokes, and even fennel in chicken stock, seasoning, and a little olive oil. They come out amazingly rich and sweet.

BLIND BAKING

This is a term widely used in the pastry kitchen. It refers to prebaking a tart or pie shell before adding the filling, to ensure that the crust will bake properly and not get soggy. To prevent the crust from puffing up as you blind-bake it, coat the shell lightly with nonstick cooking spray, line it with three coffee filters that are slightly overlapping, and fill it with dried beans or rice. Then bake the shell until golden. Remove the beans and coffee filters, and pour the pie filling of your choice into the prebaked shell.

BRINING

Brining, also known as pickling, is a common practice in our kitchen. We brine many of our proteins—like whole chicken, leg of lamb, pork shoulder, and turkey breast—prior to roasting or making a confit. Traditionally, brining is the first step in meat preservation, but for us, it’s also an efficient way of enhancing the meat’s flavor. Not only does it give large cuts time to absorb their seasonings, but it also tenderizes and moistens the meat and makes it more likely to brown while roasting in the oven.

All brines start with salt and water, but our brine solution also contains sugar (regardless of what else we add, the proportions of those three ingredients always stay the same). Depending on the kind of meat we’re using, we may also include spices, herbs, or aromatic vegetables. The time required depends on the size and the density of the cut of meat—our recipes usually say to brine for about 12 hours. To ensure that the salt and sugar are fully dissolved, start with boiling water (this will also discourage bacteria growth), and make sure to cool the brine down completely before adding your meat. For safety’s sake, start with cold meat, use a nonreactive container to hold the meat, and keep it in the refrigerator while it’s brining. We also recommend setting a heavy plate on top of the meat to make sure that it stays submerged in the brine.

BROILING

Broiling is a vague term that usually refers to cooking food directly under or above the heat source. At the Bakery, we never use a broiler—first, because we don’t have one, and second, because that’s what the wood-fired oven is for. But most home cooks don’t have 700°F wood-fired ovens, so if you're thinking of using