Using and Changing Recipes

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:03:28 -0800, The Joneses wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

I do make some nice pickles.

Yumma. I made some pickled red onions a few times that were to die
for, and then I mislaid the recipe (see? I do use recipes sometimes),
and haven't matched them since.

serene

serene said:

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:03:28 -0800, The Joneses wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

I do make some nice pickles.

Yumma. I made some pickled red onions a few times that were to die
for, and then I mislaid the recipe (see? I do use recipes sometimes),
and haven't matched them since.

serene

I made a batch of "English Pub Style Pickled Onions" made
with malt vinegar. I didn't like them. But then I've got Irish
blood 😉 What sort of flavors did it have? Check out The
Joy of Pickling by Linda Z~~~. She has a lot of good stuff.
But don't try the pickled pineapple. It tastes good, but
wierd. Mama said I shoulda been arrested for doing that
to a perfectly ripe pineapple.
Edrena

One time on Usenet 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?,

It depends on whether I've memorized the recipe yet.

Quoted message said:

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

I do -- I have a text file with all of my recipes in it, and I either
add a note or change the entire recipe, depending on how much I/we
liked the variation...

--
J.J. in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"You still haven't explained why the pool is
filled with elf blood." - Frylock, ATHF

Mad Dan said:

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?

Just depends on how one was taught to cook. It's not sinful or cheating,
but perhaps like consulting a driving manual before one gets into the
car each time. If it's necessary then go ahead; if it isn't why take the
time.

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
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.

Mad Dan said:

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.

I had not seen a cookbook when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's
although I did see recipes in woman's magazines or newspapers once in
awhile. But, ours was an orthodox South Indian, vegetarian family, we
made everything from scratch at home without recipes to consult from. To
this day, I can't cook from a recipe, I will skim cookbooks/articles for
ideas and then come up with my own recipe. And for Indian cooking I
don't even measure, I just go by feel. The thing I lack in my cooking is
consistency, I can make the dish a few times in a row and have it taste
different each time. My family says thats not a bad thing, because they
are never bored, but I do get disappointed sometimes. I do use recipes
for baking, but even those I usually have to alter (I keep notes here)
because we do not eat eggs.

Anyway, I guess, using or not using recipes is completely an individual
habit. I know wonderful cooks from the recipe-category to the
no-recipe-category to the in-between category. You just go by with
whatever suits you.

Kamala.

In article <[email hidden]>,

aem 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?,

Never. (Baking doesn't count -- I follow most baking recipes.)

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

Quoted message said:

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

Mentally. Writing it on paper would probably be more helpful, though.
But since I never look at a recipe it would be pointless.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sweet Potato Follies added 2/24/05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Mad

Dan said:

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

Quoted message said:

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

Hardly. ButI think that putting an edible dish on the table (even a
tasty edible dish) isn't generally as precise or complicated an activity
as, say, building a car; I don't need the blueprint in front of me for
everyday recipes (the OP's original question). The head chef at a
popular and well-known restaurant in the Twin Cities once said that
their success was based, in part, by his insistence that his cooks
follow the recipe. Consistent and reliable outcomes. Sort of like
McDonald's. "-)

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
I go along.

Oh, so you don't follow a recipe either. <8-)

Quoted message said:

This is because I prefer to get all the cutting/mixing of ingredients
done first,

Whatever works.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sweet Potato Follies added 2/24/05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

In article <[email hidden]>, Kamala Ganesh
<[email hidden]> wrote:
(snippage)

Quoted message said:

I had not seen a cookbook when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's
although I did see recipes in woman's magazines or newspapers once in
awhile. But, ours was an orthodox South Indian, vegetarian family, we
made everything from scratch at home without recipes to consult from. To
this day, I can't cook from a recipe, I will skim cookbooks/articles for
ideas and then come up with my own recipe. And for Indian cooking I
don't even measure, I just go by feel. The thing I lack in my cooking is
consistency, I can make the dish a few times in a row and have it taste
different each time. My family says thats not a bad thing, because they
are never bored, but I do get disappointed sometimes. I do use recipes
for baking, but even those I usually have to alter (I keep notes here)
because we do not eat eggs.

How do you typically substitute for eggs in baking, Kamala?

Quoted message said:

Anyway, I guess, using or not using recipes is completely an individual
habit. I know wonderful cooks from the recipe-category to the
no-recipe-category to the in-between category. You just go by with
whatever suits you.
Kamala.

Egg-zackly! "-)
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sweet Potato Follies added 2/24/05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

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?

If I am baking, I stick to the recipe. Generally, Once I have made
something once or twice I know the order and procedure, but I need to
check the amounts. When cooking meat dishes, I seldom follow recipes
closely. Seasons vary with the amount of meat and herbs vary with the
freshness or aroma. Sometimes I am missing an ingredient and throw in a
substitute. Maybe I should be making note of alterations, but I figure
that after more than 30 years of doing most of the cooking in this house I
should have a pretty good handle on things. Besides, sometimes the
experiments are better than the recipes.