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Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pianogal
WOW! Wish I could do that! My brother does...and creates awesome, flavorful dishes out of the most unique ingredients.
You Can!
It's a pretty safe bet that YOU know what tastes good to YOU better than anyone else in the world
I'll sometimes see a recipe that presents an interesting combination of ingredients I never though of but from there it's usually to taste. Seeing how I'm usually cooking just for myself I figure I may as well at least try and make it to my tastes.
Recipes are guidelines or suggestions for the most part
I like recipes. They give me ideas. If something is fairly new to me I will generally try the idea as written, but I don't always let it tie by hands. Once I have made the dish, I realize what could be done to enhance it or make it work with ingredients I have on hand. I have a pretty good idea how I want something to turn out, so I usually only use a recipe as a guideline or suggestion. I would consider myself flexible in the kitchen so I don't use strict measurements all the time. I cook by feel, taste, and intuition. I tend to be a little stricter when baking sensitive foods or baking artisan breads. Sauce making often takes some finesse, but with things like gravy it is all by touch. Biscuits and other quick breads are intuitive...I don't measure strictly because I generally know when it is right by past experience. Meats and poultry are all free-style for the most part; I season them based on what I have. I am generally good on substitutions and creative use of ingredients.
If I am making something new, I will follow the recipe.The next time I make it, I will take out what I don't like and add something new that sounds good.
Some of my best recipes are ones that I just make up because the combination of something will sound good. I have made some dishes that I thought would be great and have flopped too.
yes i measure when baking--because it's an exact science, and i can never remember the exact recipe, so i do need to read it each time.
as for cooking, if i am trying a new recipe i try to measure, but usually just eyeball. most times when i am cooking, i just wing it.
Just curious how many follow recipes, use recipes as a guide, or just "wing'it".
Also, do you measure or "guesstimate".
I used to follow recipes, now I use them as a guide or I just "wing'it". Haven't use a measuring cup/spoon for quite a while.
PS - I don't bake, most everything I make is on a smoker or meat of some kind.
Just wonder'n.
Baked some carrots in the oven the other day. Chopped them into strips, coated them with oil, a little balsamic vinegar, garlic, and basil. Popped them in a 350 oven and checked them after 30 minutes. They needed more time, so I gave them a little more.
Sometimes I'll know what kind of ingredients I'm in the mood for and just wing something, other times I'll look it up in a recipe book.
Find when I want to bake or cook something unusual now, ignore the cookbooks and go to the internet and look up different recipe sites, then do a conglomeration of a few that suit my fancy.
I know what flavors I like and what I am in the mood for... don't always have all the ingredients for specific recipes or the taste for that food that day... I usually wing it...
I too use recipes as a guide, but mostly just throw things together. I grow a lot of herbs and freeze them for winter. I keep lots of sauces, Oyster, Soy etc., different vinegars and oils and chicken broth as staples. I experiment first and then tweak the recipe to my taste, then it becomes a keeper.
Find when I want to bake or cook something unusual now, ignore the cookbooks and go to the internet and look up different recipe sites, then do a conglomeration of a few that suit my fancy.
I do that alot, too. Kinda "merge" two into one as you can see the common ingredients and add/subtract what you want.
My problem is that I really need to write things down, flop or not. But it is hard to make the same thing twice, gotta experiment.
I definitely prefer following a recipe, and the reason is that if something is really good, I want a guarantee that it's going to be pretty much the same next time I make it.
The only way I stretch outside my comfort zone in the kitchen is when I'm having company or taking a dish to a party and try a recipe for the very first time rather than a tried and true one.
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Recipes are guidelines or suggestions for the most part
