Do you follow recipes when you cook?

Sometimes I use recipes however I pretty much always adapt them and add, subtract and substitute ingredients. The only problem is when someone asks for the recipe and I can't remember all the changes I made!

by Here and There

Sort of...and then I add a few more things here and a few more thing there and wa - la! ;)

by chipp

When baking I take a recipe and then adapt it to my own tastes, but if I'm cooking a meal then I totally do my own thing.

by Bryony Harrison

It's funny, but there are a few things, like biscuits, where I get out a cook book then completely ignore the recipe. Even though I don't look at it it feels weird not to get the book out.

I use recipes when I am cooking something new.

by Jennifer Muirhead

Sometimes I stick to a recipe but it is rare. I usually make some changes for health reasons or to suit my own taste. When I make cakes and biscuits I use the recipe as a guide to get the proportions right, don't want to end up with a sticky mess or something that is too dry. If I make a stew or similar it depends on what ingredients I have and my mood. Yes, it is a problem when someone asks for the recipe. My grandma made lovely cake without a recipe. When she said she didn't have a recipe a friend thought she just didn't want to share it.

by Marie Vonow

Yes always. But I do make few changes here and there.

by Smita

I want to, but every recipe I try to follow has an obscure ingredient or something that I don't have in the cupboard, or even a kitchen utensil that I don't have, so I generally have to play by ear which might be why I don't cook as often as I should!

by May Hyde

Only Cakes :)

by jonaja

Only when cooking something new - I think everyone is like that. Dishes you've made time and time again never need a recipe book.

by Jamie0liversgirl

Unfortunately I do. I have been told it is the mark of a good cook if you know what goes with what foods, and can improvise and not use a recipe.
Sadly, I am not one of these people as am probably rather anal in my cooking habits, having to follow each recipe to the "T".
My friends laugh at me as I will go out to buy chives for example, if the recipe asks for it, despite my having Garlic Chives growing in my garden.

So, the answer is yes, I definitely have to follow a recipe for almost anything I make, though I have to admit, I love making new dishes. Perhaps if I stuck to tried and true ones, I would remember them?

by Finy

Yes I do follow the recipe.

by Radhika

After many years of experience, I can adlib according to ingredients available, but I do like trying out new recipes, and sometimes follow them strictly.

by grann

Yes I always follow the recipe. Especially if it a family recipe I wouldn't change anything as I want to create the exact taste every time. I change the recipe if I am trying a new one.

by Arosh

Their are one or two recipes that i follow to the letter because they are very good and really tasty.
Then there are some recipes that I start with the basics and add other stuff but most of the time I cook without a recipe.
As I'm intolerant to some foods i have to be clever and make my own stuff up. I cook from scratch every single day unless my husband is cooking then he cooks from scratch.
We own over 100 cook books and some times we will have a week were we look for new recipes and only cook from cook books opening the books randomly to choose something to cook. Other times we only cook with ingredients from the garden so have to make it all up as we go along

by butterfly lady

No, I don't need to follow the recipe. If you're just logical in ciiking one can never go wrong.And simple mistakes can always be rectified without causing any uproar.
Shane

by shane

I do, but I have to adjust them to make them gluten free. I also take out the things me or my husband don't like, and sometimes add a few extras if I think of something that will go well with it (like adding extra vegetables or spices). I guess you could say I use the recipe as a starting point, and go from there.

by Kerri

If it's a savoury dish, I taste test along the way and adapt it to suit me. I was raised in the food industry and taught that this was the way to cook as quantities always changed.. To me a recipe is a guide of what ingredients can go well together. If I'm baking though, I'll stick to the quantities of the basic ingredients such as sugar, butter and flour but I'll alter some of the others

by Kathy

I do follow recipes but i often think there is too much off one thing or to less of another so i add my own stuff. i would call my cooking half - half. :)

by Sharm Jay

Since my life is so busy, I usually just cook a few favourite recipes...ones I know I can make very quickly, not using a cookbook. However, when I have more time I like to be a bit creative and try something new. At those times I'll use a cookbook.

by Carolyn Hopping

I diligently follow recipes when I make desserts.For others , its an orchestra in harmony :)

by Sasha

It depends on what I'm cooking, but yes I do look at recipes and improvise along the way in terms of seasoning and taste. I follow dessert recipes more closely.

by Antoinette Tan

As a chef i suggest you learn techniques and just follow the ingredient list. Don't be a slave to any recipe.

by Gia

I never used to that much, but since going gluten free and finding that most gluten free baking is an exact science, I do now.

by Tracie Louise

The first time I make a dish I often follow the recipe, then I completely change it the second time around so that it's my own creation.

by DamienR

Both. Sometimes I follow a recipe if some of the ingredients I am not very familiar with using. Once I get a recipe down I often change it a bit to taste and to my preference of ingredients. I love to cook and do a lot of it!

by Aleigha

I try to substitute healthier options such as coconut sugar for cane sugar, gluten free flour for wheat. make up your own mix of gluten free flour makes this a whole lot more successful.

by lh.mc

Originally, yes, to the nth degree!
But as the years' passed, I tweaked various recipes, more to MY liking!

Have cooked some so often, I know them off by heart!

When entertaining much, back in the day, I started trawling through my many Recipe Books, at minus one month, to prepare a Dinner Menu. I just LOVED looking through those books!

I kept a book with Guests' Names, Date of Dinner, Menu, & what Wines were served, & any food dislikes, or Dietary requirements of attendees'. That way, as usually had same friends' to Dinner, many times, they were NEVER served the same Menu items!

by donjo

As I use a recipe 9 times out of 10, I always date the recipe in pencil, so i don’t make it more than once a year. I’ve now started doing that with my online recipes I use, keeping a record of the name of the recipe in ‘drafts.

by miro_

Sometimes yes, sometimes I combine two or three different recipes together to create a new dish.

by sns