What recipes do you have memorized?
Whipping up a batch of pancake batter this morning, I realized that I will probably always need to pull out my cookbook, turn to page 369, and read the recipe. I can't imagine not needing those words in front of me, prodding me along in my pre-caffeine haze.
The chocolate chip cookies I baked yesterday afternoon, however, were completely by memory. I've made them so many times over the years that the proportions are permanently etched somewhere in my brain. It's one of the few recipes I have memorized.
So that made me think - what recipes do other serious eaters have memorized? This may be directed more toward the baker than the cook; after all, I can always fix a nice pasta dish or piece of meat without resorting to the cookbook collection. But maybe others disagree! Curious...
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
27 Comments:
Sausage gray - so bad for you but tastes sooo good
Chicken Marsala
Chori Pollo
Chicken Ceaser pitas
ryan112ryan at 10:13AM on 11/09/08
Most of what I make is by memory, or by chance for that matter. Anytime I bake however, I need to consult a recipe. Too much of a chance to completely blow it.
bodaciousgirl at 10:54AM on 11/09/08
I've never really thought about it much before, but I have the recipes for pancakes and waffles pretty much memorized as I am a breakfast fiend. Most cooking I have "memorized" as well as the proportions there are much more forgiving than in baking.
Baking-wise, I also realize that I never consult recipes anymore for making piecrust.
jazzinx at 11:14AM on 11/09/08
I make most things by memory or experimentation. Any baking, (besides chocolate chip cookies and bread dough), requires a look at a recipe.
dhorst at 11:40AM on 11/09/08
Most cooking is done by whim, so often there's no real recipe. I often consult cookbooks for cooking times, though. Not so much because I need that to know when it's done, but to know how soon to put something in the oven so it's done at about the time I need it.
Bread baking doesn't require a recipe for my usual loaves, and measuring for that has gotten pretty loosey-goosey, too. The exception is if I'm trying a different type of bread, in which case I follow the instructions.
For some cooking, I think that going by taste instead of going by a strict recipe will give you a more consistent product, unless you always get your ingredients from the same source. A tomato-based pasta sauce, for example, will be much different depending on the tomatoes, and particularly if you're using fresh tomatoes. Same with measuring herbs. That sort of thing can vary a lot, but if you cook by taste, you can adjust to compensate for the strength of the herbs and acidity of the tomatoes.
This Thanksgiving, there's no recipe for the stuffing. Mom never used one, and it was one of the things I was always involved in from the time I was a little kid. The wetness and consistency of the stuffing is something you need to see and feel, since everything else can vary so much -- like how fresh or stale the bread is. If it feels right when it's raw, it will be right when it's cooked. Or that was her theory.
dbcurrie at 12:54PM on 11/09/08
Chicken stock or chicken soup, stuffing,
pjracz10 at 1:35PM on 11/09/08
my mom is the same way - she rarely follows recipes and often just creates things from memory. as i left home i keep asking for recipes but its harder as she doesnt really use them.
listener at 1:41PM on 11/09/08
@listener, I think the advantage to cooking the way your mom does is that it's easier to adapt if an ingredient is no longer available. Or if something else changes.
The downside is that it makes it hard to write down what the amounts are, if you're constantly tasting and adjusting.
Your best bet is to cook the dishes with your mom, and measure everything as she adds it. And at the same time, have her explain to her what it's supposed to look, feel, and taste like at each stage of the cooking process.
My mother never had a recipe for her spaghetti sauce, and ingredients changed based on what was available, but the end result was always just about the same. I learned how to make it by watching her, and tasting along the way, and I can make her sauce just the way she used to. But if you asked me to write down the recipe, I couldn't do it.
dbcurrie at 2:53PM on 11/09/08
Tomato sauce, gravy, pancake or waffle batter, basic bread dough, two kinds of cookies, a few variations on clafouti batter (mmmmm), crisp/cobbler toppings...
I guess most of the cooking and baking I do tends to be organic--in the sense that it's an evolutionary process that starts at A and could end up at W, X, or R. You think about what you feel like eating, what you have on hand, and then get to putting those two facts together. Often as not there's not a recipe that fits your needs, so you just have to use your intuition and skills.
Christina at 3:10PM on 11/09/08
Arroz con leche, chicken adobo, Alton Brown's coco brownies, chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, Spanish rice.
I usually come up with recipes in the middle of the night. Yes, thoughts of cooking keep me awake at night. I'll come up with new recipes, try them out for dinner the next day and then stick them in my recipe book. Funnily enough, despite having written and come up with the recipe myself, I'll still need to reference it later.
PumpkinBear at 3:39PM on 11/09/08
i've made amanda hesser's peach tart so many dozens of times that i never consult the recipe anymore. ditto lemon squares, katharine hepburn's brownies, kaiserschmarren {a german pancake with apples} and challah.
i use recipes when i bake but never when i cook.
cybercita at 3:44PM on 11/09/08
i never use recipes while cooking, unless if it's something very different that i've never tried before. when baking, i try to follow a recipe as much as possible, but i seem to be constitutionally incapable of sticking to the letter - i'm always making adjustments based on what i have on hand. but early on i memorized the recipe for pound cake - i remember my mom reciting it to me when i was young, and it's so simple that it stuck.
billyburgwife at 5:27PM on 11/09/08
apple pie (and the crust), chicken w/olives, mushroom barely soup, Mom's meringue cookies, Challah, chili, baked Mac & Cheese.
for many other things, i need the recipe to know how long to bake or at what temps.
redhead at 6:11PM on 11/09/08
If I try something new that came to my attention while reading. I will use the recipe the first time. I generally never use recipes.
izatryt at 6:26PM on 11/09/08
For baking I use recipes, but I have pie crust and cornbread memorized.
producestories at 8:41PM on 11/09/08
I used to be very good at memorizing things as I'm a professional pianist and went to 2 music schools etc where I had to memorize. NOW at age 52 I find myself forgetting much of what I knew musically-I actually have to use the music- and that has carried over into my cooking. When trying to make something for dinner I find myself staring into the fridge or pantry and not seeing what is in there! Weird. I do have simple things down, like scrambled eggs, chicken paprika, chicken matza ball soup and others...soup is so forgiving. Kills me because I was an intuitive cook like the rest of you. However, once I make a recipe I can tinker with it the next time I do it, sometimes even while I'm looking at it. Baking is the same kind of thing for me.
I take French lessons for the fun of it and because it forces me to memorize. Does ginko biloba really work? ;-)
joannabar at 9:12PM on 11/09/08
My grandmother's meatball recipe, pasta puttanesca, gravy, baked ziti, stuffing.
Junie at 10:06AM on 11/10/08
Fried chicken, jambalaya, boneless smothered pork ribs, key lime pie, shepherd's pie, and numerous others.
1stmakearoux at 12:14PM on 11/10/08
For cooking, I don't follow recipies, I just use them to get a general idea of ingredients, method, timetables, etc. As for baking, I've been making bran muffins for many years, so I never use a recipie for those, and I adjust the batter according to which ingredients I happen to have on hand. The other thing I make from scratch is a big batch of pancake mix and keep it stored in the refrigerator awaiting to be added eggs and liquid.
SavtaShayna at 12:37PM on 11/10/08
Egg noodles, bread, pizza crust, bbq sauce, bachamel many others I'm sure. I'm busy and try to remember recipes so I don't have to waste time looking for them
Foody2 at 3:32PM on 11/10/08
I have memorized all the recipes I remember, and have to look up those I forget or never made.
Like most of you, I love to read recipes for ideas, but rarely follow one, except when baking something new. I also rarely make anything the exact same way every time - always looking to add a new ingredient, try a different spice, make a sauce thicker or thinner, incorporate wine or improve it in some way. Sometimes I have to dump the whole thing and then I wish I'd followed a recipe. That's when I'm grateful for cereal and milk.
PerkyMac at 3:42PM on 11/10/08
Apple crisp -- it's June's Apple Crisp from the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, but I make it so much that friends call it "my" apple crisp. I've made dozens of other recipes, but that one is still the best!
CookiePie at 3:48PM on 11/10/08
All the basics - chili, spaghetti sauce, roasts - I do by memory. And I primarily use recipes as the jumping-off point, and not follow them word for word. However, when it comes to baking, I am all about following the directions! Bad baked goods are just... BAD.
TheCheapChick at 4:11PM on 11/10/08
I don't usually work from a recipe or cookbook, unless it's the first time I'm making something. And even then, what I wind up doing is comparing the recipes from different cookbooks, and then adding/subtracting/replacing to better suit our tastes.
Of course, this method means that I always know to expect this questrion from my wife: "What's in it?" It's not that she isn't enjoying what she's eating, it's that each time there are flavor variations. This applies as much to my tomato sauce, which we make a couple of gallons @ a clip (the flavor variations @ my sauce come from variations in the ratio of ingredients, as from variations in the ingredient add-ins.), or a main dish, or a dessert.
Robbo at 10:14PM on 11/10/08
An apple oven pancake recipe that I have evolved over the years, quiche, stuffing, bread pudding... Apparently anything that involves eggs.
KTempesta at 10:33PM on 11/10/08
I am absolutely not ashamed to admit that no matter how many times I've made something I always go by the recipe. I don't know if it's that I don't have the confidence in my abilities yet or what (I've only been cooking seriously for about 3 yrs), but I would be terrified if I didn't have that page up on my stand. Maybe in a pinch I could go without... but I'd much rather have it there in front of me.
MML at 7:36AM on 11/11/08
It's funny, but the only things I've memorized are baking recipes. Other "recipes" seem just like variations on a theme to me, whereas in baking, proportion is the key to success.
For example, 1234 Cake - always works, no matter the amounts - just keep the proportions correct. Basic bread (but even this is more forgiving than cake).
Bakerloo Line at 8:41AM on 11/11/08