Bain-marie.—An open saucepan or kettle of nearly boiling water, in which a smaller vessel can be set for cooking and warming. This is very useful for keeping articles hot, without altering their quantity or quality. If you keep sauce, broth, or soup by the fireside, the soup reduces and becomes too strong, and the sauce thickens as well as reduces; but this is prevented by using the bain-marie, in which the water should be very hot, but not boiling.
Béchamel.—French white sauce, now frequently used in English cookery.
Blanch.—To whiten poultry, vegetables, fruit, &c., by plunging them into boiling water for a short time, and afterwards plunging them into cold water, there to remain until they are cold.
Blanquette.—A sort of fricassee.
Bouilli.—Beef or other meat boiled; but, generally speaking, boiled beef is understood by the term.
Bouillie.—A French dish resembling hasty-pudding.
Bouillon.—A thin broth or soup.
Braise.—To stew meat with fat bacon until it is tender, it having previously been blanched.
Braisière.—A saucepan having a lid with ledges, to put fire on the top.