Saute? or Fry?

[lilylove]

If I take some venison steaks.... season them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and then dust with a tad amount of flour...

put some olive oil in a pan heat it up and add those steaks...
cook for a few minutes on each side and then add a few tablespoons of butter to finish them off am I sauting them or frying them?


or is it something else?

Thanks!!

[joec]

Sounds like frying to me. If you are using stainless, copper, aluminum or cast iron then I heat the pan first then add the oil followed by the protein. In the case of non stick add oil/butter before heating it.

[PanchoHambre]

I would say pan-fry (as opposed to deep-fry) I always think of saute being a bit more liquidy but I am not great with the proper terminology

[High Cheese]

For thicker cuts that need a minute in the oven - Pan Roasting. I actually still call what you do pan roasting, but it may be incorrect without the use of an oven.

Where's IC when you need him. lol

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n248/Jeekinz/My%20Recipes/RibEye006.jpg

[lilylove]

I'm just trying to figure out the "right" cooking words to use.

Thanks guys!! : )

[chowhound]

When I was looking up cooking terms recently, the definition said there wasn't much difference between the two other than sauteing uses less fat than frying and is supposed to be faster.

I would call what you are doing pan frying, but I guess it could also be called sauteing by some.

[chowhound]

Here's the site I was using.
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary

[lilylove]

I guess what I'm doing is a combo of all the above! Works for me!! Thanks again!!!

Jee...the photo looks exactly like what I do!

[joec]

I hate cooking terms as most of them are French and I'm not a fan of theirs. I say fry/sauté are really pretty close to the same thing. Now why are the French so renowned for their food, hell the Italians taught the rest of Europe how to eat food cooked. Now the Italians learned to cook from everyone before them. :whistling:

[lilylove]

I guess all that really matter is that my guests Thursday night like dinner. They've never had venison before and I want to send them away with full and happy tummies!

[High Cheese]

I guess what I'm doing is a combo of all the above! Works for me!! Thanks again!!!

Jee...the photo looks exactly like what I do!

The picture is actually Pan Basting. I tilt the pan to pool the fat near the handle and use the spoon to baste the meat. For fish, this also cooks the top side since the oil is so hot. Almost like frying....sort of. lol

[lilylove]

:yum:lol... I do that with my sunny side UP eggs... so I'm not frying them... I'm using all that good bacon grease to pan baste them?:yum::yum::yum:

[High Cheese]

That's actually a pretty good idea.

[PanchoHambre]

I hate cooking terms as most of them are French and I'm not a fan of theirs. I say fry/sauté are really pretty close to the same thing. Now why are the French so renowned for their food, hell the Italians taught the rest of Europe how to eat food cooked. Now the Italians learned to cook from everyone before them. :whistling:

I will disagree with you here... I find the French can be very agreeable folks (as long as you get out of Paris and away from the Southern Coast)


I don't like to use the French cooking terms because they can come across as pretentious but I think they serve a purpose because they are specific and descriptive.

I think the French get so much traction because they codified cooking... with the mother-sauces and the like its not that they invented it per-se but they did sort of organize it all (organization not being one of Italy's strong points) ... and they can definitley make one fine crepe.

Also Julia Child and Jacques Pepin making french style cooking to the people really opened the door for Americans to start broadening their perspective on food.

I really like alot of rustic style French foods....not such a fan of rabbit jelly however

[Maverick2272]

I always understood sauteing to be moving things around in some sort of fat, IE shaking the pan around and moving the food around a lot, flipping the pan up, etc.
But hey, we could always just come up with our own terms, LOL.

[High Cheese]

I don't like to use the French cooking terms because they can come across as pretentious but I think they serve a purpose because they are specific and descriptive.

I don't throw French cooking terms around like 4-letter words, but I found it easier using those terms describing a recipe or technique. i.e. Carrot, celery, onion, it's so much easier to say mire poix. It almost seems that you need a description rather than a name to describe someting in words other than a French term. (ahem)....fine dice - brunoise, cut into thin strips - julienned.

They are pretentious if you are talking with someone who has no experience cooking, but if you are talking shop with other cooks I don't see a problem with it. In the end, they are good terms to know.

[PanchoHambre]

yeah that is sort of what I was getting at Jeeks

[Maverick2272]

I don't see any problems with using cooking terms as long as you are cool about explaining them to 'newbies'.
What I don't like is when you ask, and the response you get back is some link to some website... or a reminder that 'Google is your friend'. Sure I can Google it, but then if I ask in a thread and it is answered, everyone else who comes after me that might not know now does...

[chowhound]

Well why didn't you say so Trish?
If it's for guests, then you are definitely serving sauteed venison and not fried deer meat. :yum:

I have no problem seeing the french term, but since I did not take french or study cooking, it is easier for me to type and say carrots, celery and onion. Then it can be recognized for what it is by anybody reading or hearing it, and not have some people wondering which ingredient it is that gets swapped out between mire poix and "The Trinity".
errr, the carrots for bell peppers, right? :wink:

[lilylove]

:applause:lol! Sauteed venison it is! They shall be impressed. I hope

[joec]

Trinity is onions, bell pepper and celery, no carrots.

[High Cheese]

There's actually many different mire poix and trinity's...depending on your country or culture. For instance, Greek trinity is lemon, olive oil and oregano. Basically they are just a trio of the most widely used flavor base for that area.

[joec]

I didn't know that since the only trinity I've ever heard about is in Cajun cooking but it makes sense that it would be different per culture/area.

[chowhound]

There's actually many different mire poix and trinity's...depending on your country or culture. For instance, Greek trinity is lemon, olive oil and oregano. Basically they are just a trio of the most widely used flavor base for that area.

That's interesting.

[AllenOK]

What I learned in school as far as saute/frying is:

-Saute: high heat, very little fat, rapidly moving and shaking the pan.
-Pan-fry: medium to medium-high heat, and about 1/4 - 1/2" of fat in the pan. It's enough fat that the food has fat coming up the sides, but not enough to completely submerge the food.
-Deep-fry: Various heat levels, but usually 350 degrees F. The fat is deep enough to completely submerge the food.