Follow the recipe or experiment?

[cefmac]

One of my favourite things about cooking is that I can experiment with the same basic recipe over and over again, adding new flavours and playing around with combinations of ingredients until I find my favourite way to cook that dish. It's useful because it means I can use whatever I've got lying around and food isn't going to waste, but it also adds a new element of creativity into my cooking. I really like adding superfood ingredients like spinach and kale to my recipes to boost their health properties.

Do you always follow a recipe or do you like to do things your own way?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I will always follow a recipe the first time I make something, then I adapt it to our tastes. A classic example is last night's evening meal. My OH wanted to know what of the original ingredients I had actually used - it turned out that I had used all of them, but the quantities were nowhere near what the recipe stated and there were around 5 extra spices added to the mix. I know our tastes and have adapted the recipe, but have yet to add the adaptations to the recipe book, so when he makes it, it does not even taste vaguely similar to the meal he is expecting.

 

[True2marie]

I experiment with recipes. For example, if I am making a cake, I might add more oil than required in the recipe to ensure it's moist. Also, I might add a different type of onion or seasoning. This process makes whatever I cook my own.

 

[Akiyama]

Usually when I'm trying something new, I'll follow the recipe exactly as stated, just to see how it's supposed to taste.

From there I'll let my taste buds guide me when I decide to experiment. Usually I make some pretty neat creations by doing it like this.

Akiyama

 

[Sandra Piddock]

If I'm using expensive ingredients, I follow the recipe to the letter. For example, the first time I cooked goose for Christmas, I used Delia Smith's recipe - she never fails to please. However, once I've cooked something once, I'll adapt recipes to our tastes, or to what I have available. That's the beauty of most cooking - it's an art, not a science.

 

[Christina C]

I stick to the recipe as I have tried to experiment and it didn't work out for me. It never works out for me.

 

[MyDigitalpoint]

I was the kind of person who used to stick to the recipe, but overtime experience let you experiment with a minimal risk to fail, and you may not even follow a recipe at all, in example, for baking simple bread or cook a soup.

It's all about inspiration and the know-how that let you perceive when an experiment recipe is lacking of something or that you have exceeded, but can also be fixed most of the times.

 

[crimsonghost747]

Always experiment. Usually if I check out a recipe I'll do a simplified version the first time and then add what I feel like adding when trying it the next time.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Whenever I encountered a new recipe I will try to experiment doing it. But if for me It does not taste good for me I always innovate and made some changes with the measurements and sometimes used for my ingredients a good quality brand and will continue to innovate until I reached my desired taste for the recipe.