and how often do you "wing it"!Most of the time when I'm cooking dinner I just do it especially for basics like spag bol, shepherd's pie, etc. and make it up as I go along unless it's something I haven't attempted before.I have loads of recipe books but they are more for inspiration than following a recipe.
bill241,
May 23, 1:27am
I wing it for everything except baking, I use recipes as starting points sometimes though.
purplegoanna,
May 23, 1:47am
THE FIRST TIME I FOLLOW A RECIPE AND FROM THEN ON I FOLLOW IT AND WING IT AT THE SAME TIME.EXCEPT FOR BAKING THEN I MOST OFTEN THEN NOT STICK TO THE RECIPE.
davidt4,
May 23, 2:30am
On the rare occasions that I make cakes I follow recipes exactly.I also follow recipes if I'm making something intricate like a Thai or Indian curry but I balance the flavours by tasting at the end.
Otherwise I don't usually follow recipes but call on my decades of past cooking experience when I learned to cook by following detailed instructions from books by Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, Julia Child, Claudia Roden and Madhur Jaffrey .
I read lots of cookery books for inspiration.
cgvl,
May 23, 2:58am
nowadays 80% of the time I 'wing' it, the other 20% I follow the recipe but usually only for the first few times, unless its something I'm not sure about or am unfamiliar with. I can wing the baking now as most biscuits and cakes follow the same general rule of thumb or at least mine do, except for stuff that needs unusal ingredients ie not the basic flour, sugar, eggs, butter mix.
bookshelves,
May 23, 4:50am
I haven't used a recipe for a savoury dish for years, OH wait, I did get one for an authentic "madras" curry of the net and used it once, now I just mix and make up my own spices. Also herbs . I never use packets any more for things like beef stroganoff . now I use paprika etc. I even bake cakes/sponges without a recipe as you kind of get to know the basics of baking and add to it. If it was something completely different and intricate I would search out a recipe.
shop-a-holic,
May 23, 5:17am
Just threw in the oven Jo Seagars apple cake recipe from the other thread. Realised I didn't add any baking powder - so now I'm winging it. LOL
bill241,
May 23, 5:30am
Hello shop-a-holic, how are you! Did you ever get those beautiful knives you told me about! The scales are still going strong
maximus44,
May 23, 6:49am
I very rarely use a recipe for dinner type meals but always for baking.
lyl_guy,
May 23, 7:32am
Yep, baking I use the recipe, cooking I ad lib.Tonight I'm using a combo of a Delia smith, Destitute gourmet, and lyl guy frittata recipe.
elliehen,
May 23, 8:13am
I'm not creative enough in the cooking department to wing it, so I follow recipes to the letter the first time and then do some tweaking subsequently.
The few times I have decided to do free form have resulted in free fall ;)
samanya,
May 23, 8:20am
I wing ita lot, but after making a tried & true favourites, that I've made for a long time & discovering at the end that I've forgotten a vital ingredient, I usually have the recipe close by .just for a final check up , of course !
How many times do you wing it & it's a fantastic success & next time you can't remember exactly what herbs/spices/flavourings you used!
cgvl,
May 23, 8:25am
its not the winging it thats the problem. Its the person who asks me for the recipe I used. I have been caught a couple of times with this happening, now if I wing something and it is really nice, I write down the ingredients just in case lol.
elliehen,
May 23, 8:29am
I always write down which baking pans I used too and precise oven temperatures and cooking times that worked, so I'm less likely to fail second time around.
knowsley,
May 23, 8:34am
You sound as lot like me, Ellie. I have around 400 cookbooks, and faithfully follow them to the letter too. I discovered I am not alone after I read The Pedant In The Kitchen - very accurately describes me.http://www.julianbarnes.com/bib/pedant.html
shop-a-holic,
May 23, 11:59am
I can't tell you how beautiful the knives are.You'll need to come to my place to have a play with them. You are always welcome. xox
alewis,
May 23, 1:29pm
I always throw everything in, I have got to the stage with my ginger crunch and chocolate coconut slice that I just know by the look and feel what it's going to be like. I also throw everything in on cooking dinner the problem I now faceis after sinus surgury late last year (because of infection and loss of smell and taste!) I am now in the same boat no smell or taste so I cook and then get one of the kids to taste it for me, it's hard with food in e fridge is the ham 3 days old and going off! I holler to whomever is available to check taste my biggest problem is I am on memory so will always put a slice of caramel slice in my mouth when I could be eating sawdust - one could loose so much weight if the brain was in the same place!
gardie,
May 23, 6:19pm
Many, many times and sadly, we never have the same meal again!The last time I made something we really liked,I actually wrote it down in my recipe book.I always use a recipe for baking although I hold many in my head and so it may appear that I don't, everything is done pretty much to the original recipe.
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