Trying to recreate recipes

[Toasted]

It was the best lasagna I ever made. Everyone loved it and loved

me for bringing it. Life was good. Now, I can't seem to recreate

the lasagna. As usual, I didn't write down the exact measurements.

I know what all the ingredients were but for some reason it just doesn't

taste as good as the first time I made it. Has this ever happened to

anyone else?

[dano1]

Every time i step into the kitchen. And i'm not kidding. Almost nothing seems to be "Just Perfect" for me(there are very, very, very rare occasions) which pushes me more. Cooking is full of compromises, just like life. Fortunately others eat, like, and will pay for for my fare ;). And tomorrow is another day to try to get it "perfect".

danny

[Ovenfrenzy]

This happens to me a lot, because I seldom use recipes. I think perhaps you just need to make your lasagna or whatever it may be and say "This is perfect, this time, for this batch." Culinarily, you'll never step in the same stream twice. Not a bad thing!

[woodburner]

There is no such animal, called bad Lasagna.

woodburner

[Mudpuppie]

There is no such animal, called bad Lasagna.

woodburner

I would like to introduce you to my ex.

You have no idea how deep are the depths of bad lasagna.

Unlike revenge, it is a dish best served in the trash can.

[Toasted]

There is no such animal, called bad Lasagna.

woodburner

Oh, yes, my friend, there is such an animal and it lives in a big-ass

tray in my refrigerator.

[Katherine]

There are an infinite number of perfect lasagnas that can be made. If you've made one, you can make another. Different, but also perfect.

My mother used to have a skillet dish my father called "conglomeration". Basically, it was whatever meat and vegetables we had, diced, cooked, with pan gravy. He used to say, "we'll never have this again." Because there was no recipe, it couldn't be duplicated. But it was always a soul-satisfying dish.

The lasagna I made that could never be duplicated had as its main ingredient a mushroom I cut off a stump in my neighbor's yard, then put through the meat grinder before sauteeing into the sauce. It can't be duplicated because he removed the stump the next year. Kind of earthy.

[Oreganought]

Exactly danny,no such thing as perfect. Consistancy on the other hand is a little

easier to achieve with good work habits and repetition.Of course this doesn't

guarantee it will be good tasting for everyone,but if that particular cook feels

they hit the mark on that occation,then that's all that matters,isn't it?

Constant change is my nemesis.My mood does effect the outcome of the food I prepare,as does the ingredients that are never the same 2 days in a row,not

to mention climatic change in humidity if you bake.Gawd it's hard enough

just searing off two pieces of fish and have exactly the same results.So I wouldn't

worry too much if some dishes don't meet your expectaions of that one

time that you got it right.

Personally when I've achieved nirvana in a dish I think of it as a gift.

EDIT: spelling

Edited February 7, 2004 by Oreganought (log)

[marie-louise]

... As usual, I didn't write down the exact measurements... Has this ever happened to anyone else?

It WOULD happen to me if I did not keep detailed notes. I don't have the kind of mind that stores facts and trivia-I have enough trouble remembering my passwords. So, I have a personal cookbook-four binders worth- that contains my own recipes. I probably have 500 recipes in it, the vast majority which are combinations of many different recipes for the same dish, tweaked and tweaked some more. I'm always fine-tuning them, but since they are Word documents, it isn't hard to keep up. (I just scribble on the page as I'm cooking, then edit it later.) I also keep a lot of information in my cookbook-what type of apples are best for what, a chart about substituting one type of fish for another-that sort of thing.

Edited because I cannot type this morning...

Edited February 7, 2004 by marie-louise (log)