More of My Ignorance on Display - Calling all Cooks

 Ok...  I am NOT a cook.  My greatest feat other than grilling was a "grilled" cheese sandwich.   So answer me this:

  What is the difference in "chopping" a veggie and "dicing" a veggie?

  Why "cube" a chicken breast after cooking instead of just cooking it cubed?

   Sautee veggies vs  coo****il soft?

  

 I HAVE learned that a "clove" of garlic is just one little piece of the whole clump (oops) and that some people have bigger "pinchers" than others ("pinch" of Acid-like hot spice).  I figured out that humidity and local weather effect cooking time, as well as varying from oven to oven. 
  

Ok... learn me, oh great Chef -hat ones!!

dicing is smaller then chopping. dicing is like mini squares, chopping pieces are bigger. it's easier to chop then dice.

as for the chicken, it's easier to cube it after it's cooked, and depending on cooking method can be juicer. when i ate chicken i always cubed the frozen breasts and then cooked them - cooked faster.

thanks!
   I read recipes and see "dice"  and "chop"  - I just interpreted it as "make it smaller than its original form"   HA

Wendy neatly answered the chopping/dicing and chicken question. Sauteeing usually involves some type of oil and cooking the vegetables till they are not only softened, but also slightly carmelized (that is, the sugars concentrate) whereas cooking till soft could be any method, including boiling.

LOL about the garlic. Not all garlic is created equal   Elephant garlic is much milder in taste than its regular conterpart.

does PAM count as oil for sauteeing?

 Believe me... I like garlic just fine.  but one CLOVE, not one clump!! lol

Wendy is right. Diced is smaller, in general than chopped. Finely diced is when you dice it to the point owhere it is teeny-weeny. A rough chop means there is no consistency in the size of a chop versus regular chopping where you try to get all the pieces about the same size.

Sauteeing is to "fry something briefly over high heat." Usually with onions you either cook them until they are translucent (slightly clear) or until caramelized (darker brown color and the sugars of the onion have come to the surface).

Garlic can be used many ways. Minced is when the cloves are chopped up sort of roughly. You can also chop it or grate it, depending on what you are trying to do. My recipes mostly call for minced garlic because you're adding it at the end of sauteeing veggies and before adding some liquid to the mix. Garlic can burn and when it does it is NOT tasty. In general, the smaller/more finely cut up the garlic, the earlier in the game you can add it but then the earlier you add it the more garlicky the taste.

I try not to use measurements like a pinch although sometimes I say to use a "splick" of something which is literally less than 1/8 tsp. Just a little splick, lol!

I generally don't cube chicken before cooking it because cooking it whole (then letting it rest) allows the meat to retain its juices and moistness. Chicken tends to be drier (in the long run) if you cut it first then cook it.

Let me know if you have any other questions. You may have inspired a new tutorial BF post :)

Hey Nik,

I love Gazepacho, a cold soup. However, I don't know how to make it. A friend who moved away never gave me her recipe. I do know it has a V-8 Juice in it. Maybe cold soups for summer time could also be a BF idea? Could you help with that? I hate to cook in the summer time when I have no Central Air...

I would love your help. Plus I'm not good at playing with my food.

Ohhhh a challenge. I've had it but never made it myself. I will say though that until recently I too cooked without AC in the summer. You can do it!!!

But I will research it.

I will be able to handle it better when some of this weight comes off. I can make it from a recipe off the internet but sometimes my substitutions are all wrong and I want one that is good for us... Oh by the way, I made a protein shake off of BF today! I did not have any syrups that you mentioned but since I have not had my surgery yet, I tried the vanilla shake with coconut extract. OMG, that was good! So good I almost wanted another one... hehehe

edited part: I forgot to thank you.. So thank you for researching it! I can't wait to see and taste what you come up with.

is the minced garlic what you do in that crazy looking little tool?  It looks like a minature cheese grater on scissor handles and you squish the garlic in there?  My garlic always gets stuck, so I smashed it with the back of a spoon and then "chipped" it really little (my contribution to the "chopped" and "diced" topic).

  Oooh I didn't know that about adding it early in the process (obviously) good to know!  I think it was your Taco Casserole that I have managed to butcher with garlic a couple of times now lol.

 The chicken cubing makes sense.  I suppose ideally you let it cool before cutting then  (yes, when I cubed after cooking I burned my fingers.  Dork)

oh I have tons of questions.  I'll find myself thinking  "WTH?!?!?!?!?" when I am cooking and I just fake it.  It "usually" turns out ok.  If it doesn't involve garlic.