Glazing Meat and Vegetables

• Typically, glazes for meats and vegetables contain sugar, which begins to caramelize when heated to produce a shiny finish that adheres to cooked food even after it cools. Many items can be used to create glazes. For example, if you have maple syrup, you can add a little cider to tone down the sweetness and drizzle the mixture over vegetables, or brush it onto meat or chicken, before, during or after roasting or cooking. Jams, jellies and other preserves, diluted with vinegar, juice or wine, can be heated, strained to remove any bits of fruit and used as glazes.

Glazing Baked Desserts

• Frosting may be the most familiar form of dessert glaze, but less time-consuming alternatives can also shine up and seal moisture into baked goods. A light dusting of icing sugar, which melts in the oven, is the simplest. For an invisible, tasteless sealant, boil clear gel in water and brush it over your pastry. To deepen the toasty brown color of baked goods, an egg wash consisting of a yolk mixed with cream and a few grains of salt does the trick. Apricot jam or jelly boiled with water and brushed on the surface both enhances color and imparts sweetness.

Deglazing: Glazing in Reverse

• Deglazing is a technique invented by French culinary master Auguste Escoffier, known as “the king of chefs and the chef of kings.” When meat is cooked at high temperatures, a dark brown crust created by the chemical reaction between proteins and sugars forms on the bottom of the pan. This crust, called the fond, is a glaze containing the most concentrated meat flavors. To reconstitute the fond back to liquid form, all you do is add stock, wine or water to the pan and stir over moderate heat until the solids dissolve, forming sauce.

Demi-Glaze: Stopping Halfway Through

• "Demi" means "half" or "partly," so a demi-glaze, also spelled demi-glace, is merely a sauce that would turn into a glaze if you cooked it until most of the moisture evaporated -- but you don't go that far. To make a basic demi-glaze, a pan sauce traditionally served with red meat, use beef, lamb or veal stock, the stronger the better. Add wine, herbs and any other flavorings that strike your fancy, bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer until it's reduced by about one-half and thick enough to coat the back of your spoon. Strain it through a fine sieve or cheesecloth and you're there.