Spinoff to cooking show thread - Do you create meals without a recipe?

[wishesuponastar]

My brain would hurt if I tried to make a dish without a recipe. I'm not creative to make something on my own. The closest I come to is make rice, add black beans, garlic powder and salt LOL

I even need the recipe out for some of my regular dishes. I don't remember what goes in them.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Yes, I do. DW does it a lot, with varying results. Last night's potato & smoked sausage combo was a miss. But, most of our favorite recipes are ones we concocted or at the very least altered from the original recipe.

 

[caitlinsmom]

All the time. I sometimes use a recipe as a guide but unless I'm baking I never follow recipes exactly

 

[CdnCarrie]

We're fairly meat and potatoes types of meals here - fish and rice, steak and potatoes, sausage and perogies, hamburgers and fries.
Once in a while I'll see a receipe and give it a try. We make lasagna and stuff like that but you don't really need a recipe.

 

[rastahomie]

Excluding a couple of things that Mrs. Homie and I just sort of figured out on our own, I generally cook everything by the recipe, and follow the recipe to the letter. I'm not skilled enough in the kitchen to wing it.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Yes, all the time. I will say, it takes experience and confidence--and I don't bat 1000! What helps is knowing a few basic recipes that you can change up. I'm Italian, so we have pasta 2-3 times a week. I throw in what I have, or make a sauce/topping based on what's available. Ditto for soup--great way to use up a little of this, a little of that.

If you're interested in learning to do this better, I would start with a couple favorite recipes, then make a couple of substitutions. I don't generally make substitutions for baking--it isn't as forgiving--but one time, I was making oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies, and found out I didn't have enough oatmeal. I substituted flaked coconut, and came out with better tasting cookies than the original recipe!

 

[aprilchem]

Yes. I never follow a recipe. It annoys my mother to no end because she won't even try something if she doesn't have a recipe, and she gets frustrated when she eats something she likes at my house and I told her I just winged it.

Occasionally I'll take a spell and want something that I don't know how to cook, so I'll look up a recipe. Even then, I usually don't follow it exactly.

 

[Mirielle]

Only time I use a recipe is if I'm making an ethnic dish that has unfamiliar ingredients. Otherwise, I like experimenting on my own.

 

[focusondisney]

I usually make simple meals that don't need recipies. But I have occasionally made something up or "winged it", usually with pretty good results. We do group lunches at work once in awhile. I made baked beans a few months ago that everyone raved about. I just laughed because I couldn't tell anyone what I did. I started with Bush's beans & doctored them up, apparently quite well! Probably will never make them the same again.

 

[prprincess]

Rarely. If I use a recipe to make something once, I can usually remember what went in it to reproduce.

But to look in the fridge/cabinets and just throw something together--I'm so not creative! The best I can do is breakfast for dinner!

 

[powellrj]

I do it all the time. My dh teases me that dinner is always an adventure!

 

[Hikergirl]

Yes, and like the pp some are hits and some are misses.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Yes, and I agree that there are some hits and some misses.

I will also find a great recipe and make it once or twice before I start tweaking things here and there, and before you know it, it's my own dish. Happens a lot when I think I have the ingredients and end up not. Then I just throw stuff in that is similar. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't so much, lol

The easiest "go to" for me is chicken. There pretty much isn't a spice or herb out there that can't be put on chicken and either pan-fried or baked or grilled. Add veggies and a baked potato on the side or over some pasta with really any kind of sauce that belongs with the spice you used on the chicken (or to make it even easier and it will go with anything, just use salt and pepper and pan-fry or grill), and voila`- dinner served!

If I am making chicken breast, I cut them in half through the middle, sprinkle with whatever spices I feel like and pan-fry, if it is bone-in chicken pieces or dark meat, I sear in the pan first, add cut up carrots and potatoes, then cover with foil and throw the whole cast iron skillet in the oven for 30 minutes. Super easy and versatile. And all "recipe free!"

 

[Squirlz]

My Wife does all the time. Only problem is sometimes when she makes something really good she doesn't remember how she did it!

 

[RedAngie]

Sure, I'm experienced enough to wing it with mostly good results.

Or I'll see a recipe and tweak it a bit.

But there have been more than a few failures over the years. Plan B-"we're going out to eat."

 

[Gumbo4x4]

This just reminded me, my grandpa used to make the BEST chili ... until he started tweaking it. He'd bring a pot & my mom was so thrilled. And he'd say, "I think you'll really like this. I tried something new!".

Rats

 

[Deb]

all the time. even if I'm using a recipe, chances are I'm tweaking it somehow

 

[PollyannaMom]

I am notorious for experimenting and not measuring when I cook! (Learned from my Grandma.)

Yes. I never follow a recipe. It annoys my mother to no end because she won't even try something if she doesn't have a recipe, and she gets frustrated when she eats something she likes at my house and I told her I just winged it.

My MIL, too. She's a good sport about it, but when she asks, and I say "well, I mixed ____ and ____ until it was the right color," she just gets really quiet for a minute. I think she's praying for patience.

I usually make simple meals that don't need recipies. But I have occasionally made something up or "winged it", usually with pretty good results. We do group lunches at work once in awhile. I made baked beans a few months ago that everyone raved about. I just laughed because I couldn't tell anyone what I did. I started with Bush's beans & doctored them up, apparently quite well! Probably will never make them the same again.

My Mom used to do the same thing with Grandma Brown's brand, and everyone always asked for them!

My Wife does all the time. Only problem is sometimes when she makes something really good she doesn't remember how she did it!

Yeah, I've started to at least try to jot down an ingredient list if everyone loves something - even without the amounts - while it's still fresh in my head.


I think the keys to cooking this way are:
confidence,
a family that doesn't judge, and
the willingness to just order pizza if it doesn't work!

 

[wenrob]

Oh sure, all the time. It's rare that I follow any recipe (other than baking) 100%. I'll read recipes to get ideas and pull things that I like, discard things I don't and make them my own. I was on a roll this winter with soups and created several keepers. Most in my family have always cooked this way. For instance we all make my stepmother's Beef Stroganoff with our own twist. I think my sister's is the best but my brother would argue mine is though he makes his slightly different. Only two "base" recipes have ever been lost, my great grandmother's fruit cake and a dish my stepmother called "I don't know." My sister asked her what she was making one night and that's what she said, lol. Basically it was leftovers tossed together, protein, veggies, pasta, sauce. It's the sauce I can't seem to recreate anymore. None of us quite remember. I log all my recipes into MFP so anything new I've made are right there. I've also started adding them to the Paprika app so they don't get lost.

I think anyone can do it if they have a basic knowledge of cooking and are willing to be adventurous. Yummly is a great app to use to get ideas. Have a look at what you have on hand, put it in there and all sorts of recipes will come up. Take what you like from a couple and create your own dish.

 

[kimblebee]

I'll use a recipe when trying something new, but even as we're eating it for the first time I'm tweaking it in my head for next time.