Guidelines may help you avoid disaster when cooking a new dish
How can you tell if a recipe is good? It’s a real leap of faith to select a recipe, buy all the ingredients and then set about making the dish – oftentimes for company – just hoping that the end result will be as good as the glossy picture. This is a particularly important question for an inexperienced cook because, without a body of knowledge acquired over years in the kitchen, you really do rely on what’s printed on the page.
A few guidelines can tell you whether it’s a good risk to make that Provencal stuffed leg of lamb for company without a dress rehearsal.
To help ensure best results, consider the following criteria when picking a recipe.
• Red flags include ingredients listed out of order or missing from directions.
Look for logic – be sure the ingredients are listed in the order they’re used. Ingredients listed out of sequence are distracting; you can’t follow the recipe because you’re too busy looking through a confusing list and thus are more likely to forget a step or an ingredient. To find out if the ingredients are listed in order, you have to read the directions. Reject any recipe that calls for ingredients that are not used in the directions.
• Look for complete, concise writing.
When a recipe says “cook until thick,” it should tell you how thick. Thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon? As thick as ketchup?
A good recipe should also describe time elements in two ways when appropriate, such as, “Cook about 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.” Suppose you cooked the sauce about 10 minutes, and it was still as thin as chicken broth? Or as thick as jam? Cooking times are approximate; it’s important to know what the dish should look like. The time can vary depending on the heat from your burner or the size of the pan.
The same applies with baking. Oven temperatures vary, so a description that says “30 to 35 minutes or until dish is golden brown” helps you decide when your recipe is done.
Descriptions also should include pan and bowl sizes when applicable. If the cake is supposed to be baked in a 9-inch pan with 2-inch sides and you bake it in a 9-inch springform with 3-inch sides, the cooking time will probably be longer and the top may not get as brown.
Sometimes giving bowl sizes isn’t absolutely necessary, such as when creaming butter and sugar. However, in other situations, such as when whipping egg whites or cream, you’ll need to use a large bowl to accommodate the increase in volume.
• One size doesn’t fit all.
A good recipe should tell you how many people it will serve. Most of the time, quantities are averages. Some people eat more, some less. If a recipe doesn’t give servings, it should give an amount, such as 2 cups of salsa.
• Listen to your gut, and use common sense.
Look for obvious errors. You know a recipe can’t possibly work if it calls for 1/2 cup baking soda; more likely it should have been 1/2 teaspoon. A recipe that calls for very small amounts of certain ingredients may also be wrong. For example, 1/4 teaspoon ketchup is likely to be an error. If you aren’t sure about something, look for a similar recipe in another cookbook.
• Consider time and mileage.
Other factors to consider are your time and budget. Not everyone will want to trek to three different stores looking for an exotic item.
Although some people enjoy adding new foods to their pantry, others may not want to buy several new spices or herbs – especially if they are unlikely to use them regularly.
• Who has a sous chef?
Preparation time is another consideration. Most of us don’t have assistants who will slice, dice, reduce sauces and wash up every item that gets dirty. Read a recipe thoroughly so you know how long it will take to make and how many bowls or pans it will use.