Cooking with simplicity

[Morning Glory]

Increasingly, I find myself creating recipes which are simple and straightforward. I think it began when my health was so bad that I could barely stand long enough to cook anything. Although I'm a bit better now, I still find I'm drawn to cook in that way. There is something satisfying about creating complex flavours and attractive looking dishes from basic ingredients and methods.

What are your thoughts?

 

[msmofet]

I have also needed to make things easier. I have reworked a lot of my recipes. Instead of everything from scratch I use canned or prepared items to replace some of the ingredients.

 

[TastyReuben]

Good question! I definitely lean toward simpler things, and I think there’s something to be said for being able to craft a delicious meal out of five ingredients.

Too many things in a dish, the flavors compete with each other and the whole thing becomes muddled.

Also, most professionals chefs that I’ve read say over and over again that it’s not the complexity of a dish that makes it, it’s using the highest quality ingredients you can and just keeping it simple so those can shine.

 

[Barriehie]

Simpler is getting better for me. It means less of a lot of things like standing and washing.

 

[TastyReuben]

Tonight’s supper is very simple. I found some bits of rotisserie chicken in the freezer, a little jar of tomato-ricotta pesto in the cupboard, I’m boiling some spaghetti, they’ll all get tossed together topped with some bread crumbs I’m crisping up in a skillet.

***POOF!*** - posh restaurant dish for mere pennies!

 

[TastyReuben]

Simple!

 

[Barriehie]

Tonight’s supper is very simple. I found some bits of rotisserie chicken in the freezer, a little jar of tomato-ricotta pesto in the cupboard, I’m boiling some spaghetti, they’ll all get tossed together topped with some bread crumbs I’m crisping up in a skillet.

***POOF!*** - posh restaurant dish for mere pennies!

And only one dish to wash!!!

 

[badjak]

I do both
I prefer SE Asian food and it often uses spice pastes with quite a lot of ingredients. Sometimes I make them from scratch, sometimes I "doctor" bought stuff.
But I can also really enjoy simple dishes with just a few ingredients

Besides that, I like stews & curries. Just a big pot on the fire, add what you got then freeze some in portions
I would call it simple as timing is not really important and lots of choice in ingredients, size of cuts and whatever