Eggs and Dairy Ingredients and Recipes

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. In many parts of the world, butter is an everyday food. Butter is used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying. Butter consists of butterfat surrounding minuscule droplets consisting mostly of water and milk proteins. The most common form of butter is made from cows' milk, but can also be made from the milk of other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, and yaks. Salt, flavorings, or preservatives are sometimes added to butter. Rendering butter produces clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat. When refrigerated, butter remains a solid, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32–35 °C (90–95 °F). Butter generally has a pale yellow color, but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. The color of the butter depends on the animal's feed and is sometimes manipulated with food colorings, most commonly annatto or carotene. The term "butter" is used in the names of products made from puréed nuts or peanuts, such as peanut butter. It is also used in the names of fruit products, such as apple butter. Other fats solid at room temperature are also known as "butters"; examples include cocoa butter and shea butter. In general use, the term "butter", unqualified, almost always refers to the dairy product. The word butter, in the English language, derives (via Germanic languages) from the Latin butyrum, borrowed from the Greek boutyron. This may have been a construction meaning "cow-cheese" (bous "ox, cow" + tyros "cheese"), or the word may have been borrowed from another language, possibly Scythian.<ref>Douglas Harper's Online Etymology Dictionary entry for butter. Retrieved 27 November 2005.</ref> The root word persists in the butyric acid found in rancid butter and other rancid dairy products.

Milk is the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals (including monotremes). The female ability to produce milk is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborns before they are able to digest more diverse foods. Humans, like other mammals, consume mother's milk during their infancy, but many human societies consume the milk of domesticated ruminants as well, especially milk from cows, but also that from sheep, goats, yaks, water buffalo, horses and camels. Milk can be processed into dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, casein, whey protein, lactose, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other food-additive and industrial products. Milk contains significant amounts of saturated fat, protein and calcium, although these amounts are not large in comparison to other foods rich in them, including coconuts, fish, and kale respectively. Aquati mammals, such as seals and whales, produce milk that is very rich in fats and other solid nutrients when compared with land mammal's milk. The term milk is also used for the processed meat and juice of the coconut, non-animal substitutes such as soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk, and even the regurgitated substance pigeons feed their young, called crop milk, which bears little resemblance to mammalian milk. Human milk is fed to infants through breastfeeding, either directly or by expressing the milk to be stored and consumed later. The early lactation milk is known as colostrum, and carries the mother's antibodies to the baby. It can reduce the risk of many diseases in both the mother and baby.

Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of Lactobacillus bacteria. The bacterial culture, introduced either deliberately or naturally, produces lactic acid, which sours and thickens the cream.

Mozzarella is a generic term for the several kinds of Italian fresh cheese that are made using spinning and then cutting (hence the name: the Italian verb mozzare actually means to cut): mozzarella di latte di bufala made from unpasteurized water buffalo's milk; mozzarella di bufala campana made only from Campania's buffalo milk; mozzarella fior di latte made from fresh pasteurized or unpasteurized cow's milk; and mozzarella made from mixtures, sometimes smoked, and those stored in preservatives.[2]. Fresh mozzarella is usually served alone the day it is made as it does not keep beyond 12 or 24 hours. Mozzarella of several kinds are also used for most types of pizza (more compact lower water content kinds) or served with sliced tomatoes and basil in Insalata caprese (ideally fresh di bufala).

Coconut milk is a sweet, milky white cooking base derived from the meat of a mature coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high coconut oil content and coconut sugars. The term "coconut milk" can also refer to the watery liquid found inside the nut. This liquid is more unambiguously referred to as "coconut water" or "coconut juice." Two grades of coconut milk exist: thick and thin. Thick coconut milk is prepared by directly squeezing grated coconut meat through cheesecloth. The squeezed coconut meat is then soaked in warm water and squeezed a second or third time for thin coconut milk. Thick milk is used mainly to make desserts and rich, dry sauces. Thin milk is used for soups and general cooking. This distinction is usually not made in western nations since fresh coconut milk is usually not produced, and most consumers buy coconut milk in cans. Manufacturers of canned coconut milk typically combine the thin and thick squeezes, with the addition of water to maintain a consistent product between batches. Coconut milk is a common ingredient in many tropical cuisines, most notably that of Southeast Asia (especially Thai, Singaporean Malaysian, and Sri Lankan), West African, West Indian, and Polynesian cuisines. Coconut milk can usually be found in the Asian food sections of supermarkets either frozen or canned. Frozen coconut milk tends to stay fresh longer, which is important in dishes where the coconut flavor is not competing with curries and other spicy dishes. Depending on the brand and age of the milk itself, a thicker, more paste-like consistency floats to the top of the can, and is sometimes separated and used in recipes that require coconut cream rather than coconut milk. Shaking the can prior to opening will even it out to a cream-like thickness. Coconut milk is the base of most Thai curries. To make the curry sauce, the coconut milk is first cooked over fairly high heat to break down the milk and cream and allow the oil to separate. The curry paste is then added, as well as any other seasonings, meats, vegetables and garnishes. Open cans of coconut milk must be refrigerated, and are usually good for a few days. An open can should never be left at room temperature, as the milk can sour and spoil easily. It should also be taken into consideration that too much coconut milk can cause diarrhea.

Half and half refers to a dairy product, an alcoholic beverage, or a soft drink.