Recipes

[torakris]

I was talking with some friends a couple days ago about using recipes. Neither of these friends enjoy cooking and said they may try a recipe once a month or so, but most of the time they just make the same couple of things that they know how to. When I mentioned that I cook with new recipes up to 10 times a week ( and sometimes more) they were shocked.

I don't like to eat the same food over and rarely have the same food more than twice in one year. For me part of the fun of cooking is looking through books and magazines for something new to eat.

However I use the recipes differently now then when I started cooking. At the age of 20 I moved in with my boyfriend and started cooking for the first time in my life. I loved it but had to use recipes for everything, I couldn't even scramble eggs with out looking at a book.

Now 12 years later (and married to a different guy! ) I can cook with out cookbooks (for most things) but still prefer to use them. Now I use them more for inspiration and tweak them to my liking. I also use them to learn how to cook things I am not familiar with, tonight I am cooking cornish hens and would not be able to do so with out a recipe.

I would estimate that I use about 5 to 10 NEW recipes per week and maybe 1 to 3 that I have used previously.

How often do you use recipes?

[Rail Paul]

Great question!

I read recipes vociferously. But, I substitute all the time, based on what's in my pantry and in the market. If you understand some of the chemistry and have a sense of balance, it's easy to do.

Last night, I changed the Ducasse olive mill recipe to accomodate some blue cheese. (simple version: cook an artisanal larger pasta like penne in chicken broth, add shredded parmagiano toward the end, serve with shreds of ham or duck)

[Jinmyo]

I never use recipes though I read many.

I never serve exactly the same meal twice, unless it's rice/miso shiru/tsukemono or a casual soup and sandwich kind of thing.

[NeroW]

However I use the recipes differently now then when I started cooking. At the age of 20 I moved in with my boyfriend and started cooking for the first time in my life. I loved it but had to use recipes for everything, I couldn't even scramble eggs with out looking at a book.

That sounds familiar. When I first started cooking (for him, bless him for helping to set me on the path ) I was entranced, but had to look at a book for every little thing.

Now I use recipes much more as a guideline or inspiration, in the same way I read a few poems from a book before I write. I read recipes every day, whether from my mom's weird old cookbooks where everything is en gelee (I love the pictures!), from my cookbooks, or from the Internet. Rarely do I adhere exactly to the recipe. I almost always substitute.

Like Jinmyo, I don't like to make the same meal twice unless it's a casual soup/sandwich thing, or a simple pasta. In preparation for school, I was told to practice the classics: the mother sauces, souffles, etc., so I have repeated those ad nauseum.

If I could afford it and we had the shops around here with more unusual ingredients, I'd tackle new and fantastic recipes every day! As it stands we usually try about 4-5 new ones per week.

[nightscotsman]

I read recipes vociferously.

You read them out loud at a high volume? That must get annoying.

[Anna N]

Since joining egullet my whole cooking scenario has changed. I used to use a recipe for EVERYTHING, even dishes I had cooked for nearly 40 years! Now, I always, always use a recipe if I am baking (and I only bake goodies for The Dane's packup). For other things, I often start from a recipe and then veer off and now, very often, I just scan what's in the fridge and the cupboards and improvise. Cooking has never been so much fun and we have never eaten so many new and interesting dishes. Nor have we ever tipped the scales quite so much! Time to revert to "calories are too precious to waste". Lots of fresh fruit coming up and a lot less wine will be consumed. But I won't stop cooking.

[Kim WB]

Once again, I agree with Paul...great question.

I tend to decide on a main ingredient,a nd then read a series of recipes tha t include it for inspiration.

Last month, I was determined to make the best brussel sprouts, determined to read every version, braised and roasted and boiled. In this insatnce, Ilet my ideas flow..but in general:

Baking= always a reccipe

composed, plated dish= mostly a recipe

snow is falling, wanna cook+ think about what I read aboput on e-gullet and cookbooks I read = check out the market,buy what is fresh, and go for it!!!

[Bond Girl]

I use and read recipes for inspiration and pairing of flavours that I would never thought of. I also like to collect different variations of the same recipes just to compare them. I have a tendency to cook the same things over and over for a few weeks straight until I get it right, which means lots of tweaking and experimenting. Also, by the time I get it right, I won't ever eat it again for the rest of the year. I started cooking when I was 13 using recipes (my mother is the worst cook in the world), so I can't imagine my life without them.

[torakris]

I also, when trying to make well known dish, will collect as many recipes as possible and compare them, often trying two or three to see which one I like best. I have started now making the recipes simulatenously so it is easier to compare.

I aslo tweak recipes a couple times to a find the perfect balance of flavors only to never prepare it again!

[Vanessa]

Oh, I feel at home here. I almost never cook the same thing twice. Call it a very low boredom threshhold. I cook a lot from recipes - they are my inspiration. As mentioned a long time ago, I liken recipes to music and I have a classical music education. There is no shame to playing from music and the same goes for cooking. A recipe can produce a work of genius or a load of rubbish, it depends upon the interpretation, as well as the quality of the 'music'. That doesn't mean that someone who plays/cooks from ear is any less capable. There is no value judgement here.

v

[Basildog]

My young commis has been making brandy snap baskets for months with no problem.Then he starts guessing the amount of golden syrup

Result...more like cookies than BSBs

One big bollocking later...lesson learnt!

He has even started his own box of index cards for recipies(like i suggested months ago)

[Anna N]

My young commis has been making brandy snap baskets for months with no problem.Then he starts guessing the amount of golden syrup

Result...more like cookies than BSBs

One big bollocking later...lesson learnt!

He has even started his own box of index cards for recipies(like i suggested months ago)

Basildog, Basildog - what must one do to get a recipe for brandy snaps? I've been dreaming of them for weeks now. Only ever had them in England (where I grew up) and they were a very special treat even then. Please

[A Scottish Chef]

How often do you use recipes?

Probably my favourite recipe and certainly the one I turn to twice a week or more.

Ingredients.

One half bottle of fine whisky. Antiquary a current favourite.

4/6 bottles of Staropramen.

One Scottish Chef

One Kitchen.

Method.

Add whisky and lager to Scottish Chef

Let result loose in Kitchen.

My recipe for cream of haggis soup will be with eGullet by May.

[FoodMan]

, wanna cook+ think about what I read aboput on e-gullet and cookbooks I read = check out the market,buy what is fresh, and go for it!!!

Pretty much sums it up for me as well.

When it comes to pastries and baking I do stick more to the recipes.

FM

[Basildog]

Anna N

Will post recipie when i get back to work Wednesday

[Mottmott]

Baking: I always use recipes, no matter how many times I've made it (except for tarts).

Day to day cooking: What I cook is usually governed by what I find in the market. Most of the time I wing it as I enjoy improvising.

I read a lot of cookbooks, and I am often inspired by something I saw in a recipe. Occasionally I will test out some recipe that I intend to use as a company dish. And if I am making a food I've never cooked before or trying out a new technique, I will usually follow a recipe before I begin playing with it.

I try to take some notes on my more successful improvisations.

[Jinmyo]

Recipes for baking, definitely. But I don't bake any more as we have our own baker.

[Xanthippe]

I also, when trying to make well known dish, will collect as many recipes as possible and compare them, often trying two or three to see which one I like best.

Ditto here. My last such experiment involved an attempt to duplicate the piquant Romesco Sauce served at a local eatery (recipe a "family secret," according to the owners). I did a Google search and came up with some 400 hits. After perusing a number of the recipes, I narrowed my choices down to four, took bits and pieces from two of them, and ended up with a version that most who have tasted find even better than the original.

Such is my therapy . . .

[Ruth]

I love to use chefs' recipes even though I often substitute ingredients and modify the recipes in other ways. I rarely make the same dish twice - unless I am rehearsing for a dinner party. For the past fifteen years I have been building a recipe index on my computer. 90% of the 11,000 recipes are from chef's books or the Great Chefs TV series and other internet sources. I just key in two or three of the ingredients I have on hand and generally come up with several options. It's a lot of fun and often a challenge.

[Xanthippe]

Probably my favourite recipe and certainly the one I turn to twice a week or more.

Ingredients.

One half bottle of fine whisky. Antiquary a current favourite.

4/6 bottles of Staropramen.

One Scottish Chef

One Kitchen.

Method.

Add whisky and lager to Scottish Chef

Let result loose in Kitchen.

My recipe for cream of haggis soup will be with eGullet by May.

I intend to try this recipe tonight, even tho' I'm only half-Scottish. I've had a hellish day. Alas, however, I can't seem to find any Staropramen locally; guess I'll resort to some Sierra Nevada stout.

I'll look for that cream of haggis soup recipe come May . . .

[Marlene]

 

I tend to decide on a main ingredient,a nd then read a series of recipes tha t include it for inspiration.

I tend to do this a lot too. I'll decide on say, pork and look at every cookbook I have for recipes. Then I have to look up recipes for the side dishes I decide I want to go with it!

I do a lot of cooking by recipe, but I am now at the point where I can take a recipe and make changes to it to realize what it is I truly want my dish to taste like

[Basildog]

Brandy Snap Baskets

8oz Butter

1lb Castor Sugar

8oz Golden Syrup

8oz Plain Flour

Optional...pinch of ground ginger or cinammon

Melt sugar, syrup and butter over a gentle heat

Then mix in the flour, and take off the heat

Allow to cool, then cook as small discs approx 1 1/2 oz on silicon paper or slip mat at 375 for 15 mins

remove from oven and allow to cool slightly, then whilst still pliable shape over a ramakin or cup.Store air tight container

[Anna N]

Brandy Snap Baskets

8oz Butter

1lb Castor Sugar

8oz Golden Syrup

8oz Plain Flour

Optional...pinch of ground ginger or cinammon

Melt sugar, syrup and butter over a gentle heat

Then mix in the flour, and take off the heat

Allow to cool, then cook as small discs approx 1 1/2 oz on silicon paper or slip mat at 375 for 15 mins

remove from oven and allow to cool slightly, then whilst still pliable shape over a ramakin or cup.Store air tight container

Thanks, Basildog. No brandy??

I'll let you know how they turn out. (That's after I source some Golden Syrup! Haven't eaten that in more years than I will admit to here.) Anna N

[indiagirl]

Recipes for baking, definitely. But I don't bake any more as we have our own baker.

jinmyo - pray tell.

how does one get one's own baker?

:)

[stellabella]

i'm a terrible meddler and i always want to change the recipe somehow, except, usually, if baking. i find that these days i am more inclined to read techniques than to follow recipes.