March 8, 2010
Challenge: A Week Without Recipes
Are all these cookbooks a help or a hindrance? Photograph by Lisa Bramen
Most home cooks consult recipes at least some of the time, whether for inspiration or instruction. Others seem to be able to look at the ingredients in their pantries and conjure a delicious and innovative meal without so much as cracking a cookbook.
I fit squarely within the former category. Other than a handful of simple dishes that I have learned how to make by memory, I almost always look to recipes both for ideas of what to cook and for an explanation of how to prepare it. Part of the reason is that I am relatively new to cooking: until a few years ago I usually lived alone, so it rarely seemed worthwhile to make anything more complicated than some pasta, a salad or a stir-fry. I consider my collection of cookbooks (and great online resources, like Epicurious, Chow and myrecipes) a low-budget cooking school.
But a few months ago I moved to a house in the country, where the supermarket is a 25-minute drive away. This means I can go shopping only once a week, so I have to plan out the menu in advance—a time-consuming task since I seem to feel compelled to look at 1,000 recipes to come up with the five or six I want to make that week. It also means I can’t be spontaneous. I get frustrated when my partner decides he wants to go out for a beer and wings on a Sunday, when I have planned to make a soup that would take too long to make on a weeknight, and which I had intended to take leftovers of for lunches during the work week.
Even though I am trying new recipes all the time, I feel like I’m in a rut, overly reliant on recipes. I’m a creative person in other areas of my life; why don’t I trust myself to be creative in the kitchen?
I wasn’t always so timid about striking out on my own in the kitchen. I remember rifling through the cupboards as a child, taste-testing—apple cider vinegar and unsweetened chocolate were shocking disappointments—and occasionally concocting recipes from them. OK, chocolate “mousse”—made from Cool Whip and Nestle Quik chocolate powder (before it became Nesquik)—may not have been haute cuisine, but the peanut butter muffins I devised from various ingredients I had seen my mother use came out surprisingly muffin-like, considering I had no idea how much of each ingredient to use. Surely, with a little more experience under my belt, I could improve on these early experiments.
Therefore, I have challenged myself to forgo recipes for a week, with the goal of being more creative, more spontaneous and free from hours of planning. I went to the market Friday without a list, which was liberating in itself. I’m hoping I bought the right amount of food, since I spent $20-40 less than usual. I’ll report back on Friday about how it went.
Does anyone have suggestions for how I should proceed?
UPDATE: The Results
Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week.
I definitely view using a recipe as the exception rather than the rule. Recipes are important if you’re baking, but they’re really not needed for most cooking. I just like what I like and if you just trust your taste buds, it’s not hard to figure out what that is.
I would suggest trying to make a dish that you’ve made from a recipe before. Just resist the temptation to actually view the recipe. If you forget to put in that teaspoon of marjoram or use half as much black pepper as the recipe calls for – no sweat! Just trust your taste buds.
I guess what I’m saying is that I think you’ve sort of set this up as a false dilemma – either you’re a slave to a recipe or you’re trying to whip up an original creation. There is tons of middle ground between those two extremes. Just try to make something you’ve made before, figure out what the core ingredients and flavors are, and leave the rest to chance and your tast buds.
I find that cooking is usually much more satisfying (not to mention much faster!) when you’re not poring over a book the whole time.
Good luck!
I have some thoughts for you.
Menu planning, like everything else, gets easier with practice. Sounds like right now you’re in the ugly learning curve stage; stick with it, it’ll get easier. Also? If you’re planning something elaborate, consider planning it for Saturday. That way if you don’t do it on Saturday you can do it on Sunday.
If you’re still newish to cooking, the learning curve is going to be steeper.
Recipes: I have the research habit so when I try something new, I tend to look at a half dozen different recipes. Then I follow none of them. I find that if I blindly follow recipes all I learn is how to follow a recipe. If I look at several then *think* about the basic structure I actually learn how to make that dish.
About a decade ago there was a fad for cookbooks that teach you the underlying structure of the dish, rather than just a book of recipes. The title that stuck in my mind is “How To Cook Without A Book” but I can’t tell you if it’s any good. Alton Brown is also a big fan of the methodology.
Good luck. I look forward to hearing how it works out for you.
When I moved three years ago I misplaced my cookbooks so I’ve been winging it ever since. I always keep on hand a list of certain items and rarely have a cooking crisis. I plan around several different cultures: Italian, Mexican, Thai, American, Indian, or French. To accomplish this, I always make sure I keep on hand: premixed curry powder, red pepper oil, peanut butter, vegetable oil, parmagean cheese, chili powder, fresh garlic, corn starch, rice, rice noodles, Taco mix packet, Fried rice packet, soy sauce, cooking sherry, spaghetti noodles and sauce, fresh green peppers, fresh onion and butter.
The point is all I have to do is chose a culture for the evening and see what I have on hand in the fridge to whip it up with. I try to keep on hand some chicken, ground beef, tofu or US caught shrimp. If I’m out of the meat it’s not as big a hassle to dive into the store to pick that up with some fresh bread, knowing I have everything else.
Good for you spending less money. I always try to strive to do the opposite and actually come up with a recipe plan for the week. This always ends up saving me 20-30% of what I would normally spend. Although I too live 30 minutes from town, I work in town daily, so it is easy to stop by the grocery and pick up whatever I feel like making that night.
Lisa, what a fun challenge! I think that the best way to cook for a week without recipes is to buy lots of veggies with multiple purposes (like carrots, broccoli, onions) that can be used in many different foods. Also, having a whole chicken around is always a great plans. That way, you could make chicken stir fry the one day with the broccoli, simple pasta with veggies, lemon and nuts the next, and then simmer the chicken frame to make a rich stock and throw all the leftovers and unused veggies from the week in for the next day. Having a bottle of capers or olives and some parsley can always make anything taste great. Basically, it’s about simple ingredients that have multiple uses. The other thing to realize is that you really can’t screw up. If it tastes bland, it probably just needs some acid or some salt. Good luck, and I know you’ll be great!
I like your challenge. I could go without the recipes but NOT without a shopping list–I always forget something I’ll want later in the hour/day/week! You can still plan menus without using recipes, you know. Good luck!
Suggest Michael Ruhlmann’s book Ratio. It give amounts of dry to wet ingredients in cakes, bread, mousses, sauces and much, much more.
This acts as an easy guide for do it yourself recipes. Creativity flows! As far as other recipes – buy proteins, freeze them or bake, roast, grill ahead. Add a veg, a starch and you’re set for the week! Or make a stew and freeze portions. Variety is the spice of life.
Lastly – grow your own! The most fun and easy. Tomatoes can be pureed and frozen for winter. Chickens for eggs? Also, perhaps there are farms nearby. Or farmers markets. Check on internet.
Have fun, I am sure you will.
Andrea (@andreabakes)
Thanks for the great ideas and advice, everyone! So far so good. I’ll let you know how it all shook out on Friday.