Using and Changing Recipes

aem said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

-aem

I keep a half size fat spiral notebook in the kitchen. When
I'm preserving, I note how much in pounds, how much it
made prepped, final yield, altitude adjustments, sometimes
how much I paid for the produce & where, etc. Final great
recipes go to Mastercook. I also record when I planted
herbs & harvest dates. For dinner type foods, I keep
calender planner sheets where I planned meals and notes
on that until I throw them away in a few months. I made
beef stroganoff last week too and was not impressed. Part
was that I did not brown the meat, but managed to boil it.
Changes whole taste. I think I forgot the worcestershire
sauce altogether. Would have been nice with lots of pico
de gallo, but Mama doesn't like hot food.
Edrena, having blond moments

aem said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato.

LOL.

The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In

Quoted message said:

everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often

do

Quoted message said:

you consult a recipe?,

If there's any complexity, perhaps something with over 3 ingredients, I
almost always consult the recipe. Not that I necessarily follow it,
tho, as after refreshing my memory I may decide to do it differently.

and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you

Quoted message said:

make a note of it, and if so, how?

I do now. Recipes are on 5x7 file cards on which I enter notes of
chgs. I usually make notes of chgs as I go along on a piece of paper
and later annotate the card, along with a brief evaluation of the final
result.

I didn't keep notes for quite a while, until the time I didn't have the
final recipe for a goulash I made. I started off following a recipe,
then added this and that, varied amounts, and produced a goulash that
won rave reviews and several requests for the recipe. I couldn't
remember everything I added and in what amount. After that I was more
organized and kept a record of what I did.

Mac

[email hidden] wrote:
[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

I do now. Recipes are on 5x7 file cards on which I enter notes of
chgs. I usually make notes of chgs as I go along on a piece of paper
and later annotate the card, along with a brief evaluation of the
final result.

Part of my problem is that the recipes I have used are all over the
place. Some from many cookbooks, some from newspaper or magazine
clippings, some from files from rfc, etc. So when I start to make
something that is somewhat familiar it would take me a while to figure
out where to look for the original recipe. I don't, and then if I make
a variant I can't annotate the recipe because it's not in front of me.
Transferring everything to file cards would be a helluva project, I
fear.

Quoted message said:

I didn't keep notes for quite a while, until the time I didn't have
the final recipe for a goulash I made. I started off following a
recipe, then added this and that, varied amounts, and produced a
goulash that won rave reviews and several requests for the recipe.
I couldn't remember everything I added and in what amount. After
that I was more organized and kept a record of what I did.

I've had that experience but unfortunately didn't learn the lesson you
did from it. I'm hoping someone will have a practical (meaning do-able
by a fairly lazy person) suggestion.

-aem

aem said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

For most of the old familiars I've never had recipes. I learned to make
them by watching and helping my parents, long ago.

For things I didn't learn at my parents' knees, I will scribble in the
margins of the recipe, if I remember to. Of course the ones I forget to
write down are always the more successful enhancements!

Priscilla

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

-aem

I rarely make anything from a recipe...I might kinda follow one to start
out or I might read 8-10 similar recipes and kinda pick the ingredients I
would like to use. Most of my work week cooking is simple stuff done by
rote, to save time.

How I make note of a winner...well I have recipe software...I can add the
whole recipe or just the title, book and page number plus notes on the
changes I liked. MasterCook and Now Your Cooking software will allow
that, I imagine any recipe software would.

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic 1AC 5.6mmol or 101mg/dl
Continuing to be Manitoban

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?,

Depends on what I am cooking -

Savory almost never unless I need to have a "special dish" like Pantry cole
slaw.

For sweets and baked goods almost always as it usually is a chemical
formulae.

and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you

Quoted message said:

make a note of it, and if so, how?

Seldom.

Well almost never. Why bother - see # 1.

Dimitri

Dimitri said:

Depends on what I am cooking -

Savory almost never unless I need to have a "special dish" like
Pantry cole slaw.

For sweets and baked goods almost always as it usually is a chemical
formulae.

and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you

Quoted message said:

make a note of it, and if so, how?

Seldom.

Well almost never. Why bother - see # 1.

Okay. I'm not gonna go for recipe software and a lot of (or
consistent) work, so I need to just make notes of good and bad
variations, or I need to improve my memory. Anybody have any foods
that improve memory?

-aem

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

-aem

I always follow a recipe unless I am making it up on the fly. I may vary the
ingredients or process, in which case I try to write it down --- I say try
because I often forget to do it. If I am making Beef Stroganoff I would
certainly follow the recipe as exactly as possible because it is a very
specific dish. I don't cook real Beef Stroganoff as I prefer my
stroganoff-like dish. So.....the first time I follow the recipe exactly. Any
changes I make following that, I note on the recipe (if I remember <sigh>😉.
I always follow a recipe, either as found or as adjusted by me. I don't even
make Kraft macaroni and cheese without reading the recipe on the box! I have
a tendency toward air-headedness and find it better to check each step as I
go.

Charlie

aem said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

-aem

Rarely consult a recipe for every day cooking. Even just made chocolate
cupcakes without looking up a recipe. Turned out very nice.

No don't normally make a note of variations from a recipe when I do use
one. Not much point, as the next time it will vary in some other aspect
anyway LOL! Plus living at high altitude makes nonsense of many recipes.

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dimitri wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Well almost never. Why bother - see # 1.

Okay. I'm not gonna go for recipe software and a lot of (or
consistent) work, so I need to just make notes of good and bad
variations, or I need to improve my memory. Anybody have any foods
that improve memory?

-aem

I don't think it is a matter of memory I think it is a matter of knowledge
or food/ingredients and just how they work.

As example the use of a small amount of tomato paste is added for some
sweetness but mostly for color as the red becomes brown when cooked. I think
the flavor of Rice(wine) vinegar is essential to a Chinese chicken salad. I
think for the most part it's just a matter of experience and making the
mistakes which are common and learning from them.

Dimitri

Seems there's a lot of resistance round here to consulting recipes - or
at least pride in NOT consulting recipes.

What's with that? Is consulting a recipe sinful and cheating and
somehow "not proper" cooking then?

Me, when I use a recipe for the first time, I not only consult the
original recipe, but write down my own method of WHAT I ACTUALLY DO as
I go along.

This is because I prefer to get all the cutting/mixing of ingredients
done first, but recipes don't always write it that way. Also, I
sometimes need to adjust quantities. On subsequent occasions, the
recipe I wrote down is the one I consult.

Some things I can cook from memory, but many of them (eg, curries,
chillis) are so similar (in ingredients) I always have to check "Is
this the one that DOES or DOESN'T use garlic?" etc.

Quoted message said:

How I make note of a winner...well I have recipe software...I can add the
whole recipe or just the title, book and page number plus notes on the
changes I liked.

That's really smart. I'm gonna do that too.

Ginny

Mad Dan said:

Seems there's a lot of resistance round here to consulting recipes -

or

Quoted message said:

at least pride in NOT consulting recipes.

What's with that? Is consulting a recipe sinful and cheating and
somehow "not proper" cooking then?

I'm an infrequent poster, but wanted to respond to this. I don't think
following recipes is shameful in any way, but after doing it nearly
every night for several years (when I used to cook dinner for my family
in high school, not because I was required to but because I wanted to),
I now prefer not to use them the vast majority of the time (baking is
an exception). I find it easier (and generally cheaper) to just buy a
lot of foods that I like and throw them together as it strikes me than
to have to choose what recipes I'll want to use ahead of time, then
make an exact shopping list and stick to it. I generally end up using
everything I buy, and I can always make a trip back to the store if I
decide I really want to make something that I don't have a specific
ingredient for. However, I've seen and used enough recipes to know what
substitutions work for me, so that's rarely necessary.

Not using recipes doesn't mean I'm always making very basic stuff. Back
when I used recipes all the time, I tried at least four different curry
recipes. Now if I want to make a curry, I use the curry ingredients I
know from experience I like (such as fresh ginger and cilantro, extra
cumin, some tomato, etc.) and make use of whatever I happen to have in
the kitchen. If I see a new recipe that differs in some way from what I
usually make, I can work the new thing in without having to follow the
new recipe exactly. I'm not that interested in reproducing exactly the
best curry I've ever made, as long as it's always good. I tend to enjoy
the natural variations. So I don't worry about making notations. If
something is exceptionally good or bad, I'll remember what I did.

I think I do take some pride in being capable enough to cook a range of
dishes without recipes, on the fly. (I'm 25 and most people I know
operate under a very limited repertoire, if they cook at all.) But this
is not to say that I look upon those who use recipes with scorn.

Quoted message said:

Me, when I use a recipe for the first time, I not only consult the
original recipe, but write down my own method of WHAT I ACTUALLY DO

as

Quoted message said:

I go along.

This is because I prefer to get all the cutting/mixing of ingredients
done first, but recipes don't always write it that way. Also, I
sometimes need to adjust quantities. On subsequent occasions, the
recipe I wrote down is the one I consult.

Some things I can cook from memory, but many of them (eg, curries,
chillis) are so similar (in ingredients) I always have to check "Is
this the one that DOES or DOESN'T use garlic?" etc.

For a curry or chili, I always add garlic, so I don't care what the
recipe says. I have certain rules that I almost always follow, e.g.,
add a pinch of sugar to tomato-based dishes. Once you build up enough
of those rules, recipes become somewhat superfluous--at least for
everyday cooking, which I like to be quick and improvisational ('au
pif' is the French term for it). If I want to attempt a dish I don't
feel I can fake on a first attempt, then I'll always choose and follow
a recipe.

On 16 Mar 2005 09:31:09 -0800, "aem" <[email hidden]> connected
the dots and wrote:

~Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
~doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
~worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
~to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
~sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
~hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
~stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
~everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often
do
~you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
~make a note of it, and if so, how?
~
~-aem

Depends. If it's something baked, I am slavish about following the
recipe (except for spices and other flavorings, and maybe subbing
applesauce for some of the oil, etc.). If it's dinner, I'll consult
or scan the recipe beforehand, and then do what I want after that.

Sometimes I'll note down what I varied, but most of the time it's one
of those "whatever was on hand to sub for what wasn't" kind of things.

maxine in ri

"Mad Dan" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

DOESN'T use garlic?" etc.

Garlic never gets not used in this house...One of the reasons I add my
own stuff. Roasted Garlic Pound Cake anyone?

After watching hours and hours of foodtv...reading many cook
books...Different chef's ideas get incorperated into many of my recipes.
An example that comes to mind is N. Lawson use of brandy to soak raisins
for a banana bread concept might turn up in my dried apricot stuffing for
a standing rib pork roast. The Apricot stuffing recipe came from a
magazine article read eons ago and is also used with some of my cornish
hen recipes. So I might get an Idea from leafing thru a magazine that I
want to make something...but 90% of the time I modify it in ways I like
as well as techniques taken from other cooks. Another example for years I
used lemon grass in chicken soup without bruising it before use...You get
loads more flavour if you pre bruise the lemon grass. So now a days
whether or not the recipe says, I bruise the lemon grass. I think I
learned that from a Paula Anderson Soup cooking book. Another example is
I liked the idea of roasting cauliflower, but I didn't like the spices
used in the various recipes I read over, so I replaced them with spices
I'd prefer. Went with penzeys taco seasoning over the chili powder,
cumin, crushed red peppers mix sugested. It was a keeper and simple,
Bonus!

Some modifications require additional work. Example there was a thread a
while ago here about using cream cheese with cabbage...After about 6
tries I got it the way I like. It took 6 tries to get the cream cheese to
make a thick enough sauce for my liking...tried less or no liquids, no
salt and various other combos...finally resorted to using 2 pkgs of cream
cheese got another keeper, kinda chinese-mexican fusion tasting. Works
well with cubed pork steak too.

Recipe:
1 head cabbage chopped
1 to 1.5 lbs hamburger
2 cloves garlic give or take.
1 medium onion chopped
1 largish green pepper chopped
handful of mushrooms sliced
a good splash of red wine vinegar
a heaping tbsp of chicken stock granules
loads of fresh ground black pepper
several drops hot sauce
2 pkgs cream cheese, cubed
1 pkg taco seasoning [approx 2 tbsp penzeys (or to taste)].

Preheat the oven to 350F
In a dutch oven over medium heat fry up the Hamburger, and reserve it.
Cook the mushrooms, pepper and onion till soft re-add the hamburger and
add the cabbage. Mix well add everthing else. Put the lid on and Bake at
350F for about 1 hour or so. Stir once again to help the cream cheese
turn into a nice thickish sauce and serve. This is the first time I've
written this recipe down and I haven't cooked it for about 3 weeks.

serves 4 with rice (or me twice without rice).

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic 1AC 5.6mmol or 101mg/dl
Continuing to be Manitoban

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 09:31:09 -0800, aem wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?

Occasionally. Just to check proportions.

Quoted message said:

, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

I have a food blog; if I make something I like, I post it to the
blog, but I almost always do that from memory. (I don't post recipes
that other people have written; only stuff I make up.)

serene
http://www.reluctantvegan.com

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 10:02:05 -0800, The Joneses wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

I keep a half size fat spiral notebook in the kitchen. When
I'm preserving, I note how much in pounds, how much it
made prepped, final yield, altitude adjustments, sometimes
how much I paid for the produce & where, etc. Final great
recipes go to Mastercook. I also record when I planted
herbs & harvest dates. For dinner type foods, I keep
calender planner sheets where I planned meals and notes
on that until I throw them away in a few months.

Marry me?

serene

serene said:

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 10:02:05 -0800, The Joneses wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

I keep a half size fat spiral notebook in the kitchen. When
I'm preserving, I note how much in pounds, how much it
made prepped, final yield, altitude adjustments, sometimes
how much I paid for the produce & where, etc. Final great
recipes go to Mastercook. I also record when I planted
herbs & harvest dates. For dinner type foods, I keep
calender planner sheets where I planned meals and notes
on that until I throw them away in a few months.

Marry me?
serene

Thanks, but I'm real expensive to keep and my cooking is
plebian at best with a few good routines thrown in. But I'm
learning. When I had a real job, both Ol'Whiskerface &
I thought we needed a wife, but I'm just a domestic diva
now. I do make some nice pickles.
Edrena

"Charles Gifford" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Made beef stroganoff last night, without consulting a recipe. After
doing onions, the beef, mushrooms, a bit of broth and a splash of
worcestershire, I remembered that I had once added some tomato paste
to it, so I squeezed a bit of that from a tube before stirring in the
sour cream. Eventually we ate, and I then also remembered that I
hadn't *liked* the addition of tomato. Anyway, details about
stroganoff don't matter. The questions I am getting to are, 1.) In
everday cooking when making something you've made before, how often do
you consult a recipe?, and 2.) When you vary from a recipe, do you
make a note of it, and if so, how?

-aem

I always follow a recipe unless I am making it up on the fly. I may vary the
ingredients or process, in which case I try to write it down --- I say try
because I often forget to do it. If I am making Beef Stroganoff I would
certainly follow the recipe as exactly as possible because it is a very
specific dish. I don't cook real Beef Stroganoff as I prefer my
stroganoff-like dish. So.....the first time I follow the recipe exactly. Any
changes I make following that, I note on the recipe (if I remember <sigh>😉.
I always follow a recipe, either as found or as adjusted by me. I don't even
make Kraft macaroni and cheese without reading the recipe on the box! I have
a tendency toward air-headedness and find it better to check each step as I
go.

Charlie

I'm like you Charlie. First time through, I follow the recipe (which I've
printed). If we like it, I move it from my Mastercook "try" cookbook to my
"winners" cookbook and make appropriate notes. Next time I make it, I've got
all the info I need. I've been cooking for 40+ years and still can't remember
even our most favorite recipes. I guess you could call it air-headedness but I
prefer to think I've got better use for my memory than memorizing recipes.

Gigi