How to Create A Recipe

Lots of times when I am cooking something by just throwing in whatever is on hand, I do not write down what the ingredients are and the amounts.  If CH says it is a "keeper" I cannot replicate it for the life of me.  I may be creating a recipe but it goes the way of a lot of my thoughts - out and away from my mind.   This happened the other night when I threw together chicken and some spices.  CH asked if I could make it again and I said, "Probably not."

This prompted me to think about how I would go about formally creating a recipe.  Here is what I came up with.


     Decide what type of dish it will be and the particular cuisine.
       Selection of meat, vegetable, grain or pasta that will serve as the basis for the dish.
     Selection of secondary ingredients.  This would always depend on what is in the fridge or pantry - unless I do some preplanning and get a specific ingredient that I do not always have or use.
     Selection of spices and flavorings that I know are compatible with the main ingredients.  Spice jars have suggestions on when and how to use spices with other ingredients.  This where some great experimentation can take place.  Yeah!

Having everything in front of me should provide inspiration and spur on my creativity - right!   Besides the actual cooking of the dish, the most important part of creating a recipe is to record it.  This will, of course, mean using common measurements - not dash and pinch. These measurements cannot always be accurately replicated.

Using small amounts of ingredients in the beginning of the recipe and increasing the amounts to achieve the desired taste, is the safest way to proceed. 

The dish is complete.  Although tasting has happened through the cooking, I think it would be best to have someone else taste the finished product and make comments.  More adjustments could be made at this time or noted and done the next time.

Does this all make sense or have I overthought the process?  I will find out soon enough and let you know the result.


Meanwhile .... keep it simple and make it real.

Jeanne