Christine @ Good & PlatedMaybe it seems strange for a food blog to include a post about how to cook from a recipe. It does seem rather obvious right? How do you cook a recipe? Well, you just read it and do what it says, of course!
But something I have learned talking with less experienced home cooks is that for someone just starting out in the kitchen, a recipe can be kind of confusing. If you are an experienced home cook, there are probably things about reading and preparing a recipe you take for granted. How do I know? Because I’ve watched my husband in the kitchen.
My dear husband is great at so many things, but when it comes to cooking, he’s still getting his footing. Truthfully, it’s not his fault. I’m the main cook in the house so he really doesn’t get much experience. But recently he decided he wanted to get better at cooking so he set out to prepare some recipes on his own. The result was. . .interesting.
In observing where he ran into trouble, I realized that there were some things I did before and during the recipe making process that helped set me up for success. But they aren’t things explicitly listed in the recipe itself.
How to Cook from a Recipe: Five Rules for Success
Rule #1: Understand how recipes are structured
In the culinary industry there are general guidelines that everyone follows when writing recipes. This ensures that everyone making the recipe will get the same result. With this in mind, these “standardized” recipes should include:
- How long it will take to prepare the recipe, both prep work and active cooking time.
- How much food the recipe will yield and how many servings it makes, along with the serving size.
- Any important tools you might need (usually this is calling out speciality tools like a food processor or blender).
- The ingredients, along with their quantities and how they should be prepped before cooking. Properly written recipes will always list the ingredients in the order in which they are used in the recipe.
- The detailed steps for preparing the recipe, including any cooking temperatures and times.
- Notes on serving and storing the final product.
Rule #2: Read the recipe all the way through before you start cooking
For a more experienced cook, this might feel obvious. However, those just starting out in the kitchen might not think to read the recipe from start to finish BEFORE they start cooking.
Cooking is an active process. Once you start it, it’s hard to pause in the middle if you get confused. The last thing you want to do while something is actively cooking on the stove is to have to step away to try and understand what the heck you should be doing.
When you read the recipe all the way through before you begin, you ensure that:
1) You understand what is involved in the recipe (including looking up any confusing or unfamiliar terms or processes) and,
2) You mentally prepare for the activity to come, which will make the experience easier.
Rule #3: Confirm you have everything you need before you start
Similar to Rule #2 (read the recipe all the way through before cooking), it’s also important to make sure you have everything you need before you start cooking. And I don’t mean 5 minutes before you start.
No. Earlier that day (maybe even the day before), as you review the recipe, double check that you have all the ingredients and tools you will need on hand. Do you need to defrost something? Maybe you have some of an ingredient but not enough for the recipe. Uh oh, is the blender is dirty? Don’t get caught off guard while you are in the middle of cooking – plan ahead.
Rule #4: Prep all the ingredients before you start cooking
Now even this one I am guilty of not following from time to time. But I know that when I do follow it, the cooking process is easier.
The act of confirming you have everything you need (Rule #3) and preparing the ingredients before you start cooking is so important there is actually a term for it: mis-en-place.
One of the first lessons students learn in culinary school, this French term translates to “put in place.” When you complete mis-en-place, it means that ingredients are prepped, tools are gathered, and everything is organized before cooking begins.
Taking a few minutes to wash and cut your produce, or measure out spices before you begin means that when you start cooking all you have to worry about is cooking.
Rule #5: The cooking times included in a recipe are guidelines. Always confirm the expected result yourself.
I never would have thought to include this rule if it wasn’t for my husband. Several times while cooking from a recipe, he would see guidance like “cook X for X minutes until tender” and assume that after X minutes it would in fact be tender. But more experienced cooks know that’s not always the case.
While recipes are developed and written so that in theory anyone can make it and get the same result, sometimes there are things that can throw the recipe off. Maybe your sweet potato is larger than the one the recipe developer used? Or maybe you’re not great at chopping just yet so your onion doesn’t cook evenly and some parts are golden after 5 minutes but others aren’t.
All this to say: cooking times in a recipe are guidelines – always double check for the desired end result (tender, golden, softened, cooked through etc.) yourself. For new cooks, this might be easier said than done. But know that the more experience you get in the kitchen the more intuition you will develop around knowing when something looks or tastes right.
So there you go! Five rules that should help ensure you’re successful cooking from a recipe, whether you are a new home cook or a seasoned pro. Let me know if you think there are any other important rules that I might have missed in the comments below.