Writing Recipes Well

[TBA]

Why don't recipe writers include the amounts in the directions?

Like:

1 cup water
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt


Directions:
Combine salt (1 tsp) with flour (2 cups) and then add water (1 cup) ....


I hate the back and forth. Read directions and then look up to the ingredients to see the amount. I've made mistakes because of this. Over the weekend I was trying out a Greek Lemon Chicken Soup recipe and forgot the garlic.

Please recipe writers! Such a simple thing to add the amounts to the directions!

[LOL Lib]

1. +1

[dem in texas]

2. yes, i have a way that I like to write recipes

First is the oven temperature (if it is going to cooked in the oven) or that a large soup pot, skillet etc will be needed.

Then list all the ingredients in the order that they will be used

Then list the instructions bringing in the ingredients that have been outlined above, with all the steps involved the recipe listed in consecutive order.

Then cooking times, instructions on serving, how many servings in the recipe.

[WhiteTara]

5. Great tips!

I'm working on a cook book with my Buddhism teacher and these are some great tips for me to create a great book!

[WhiteTara]

3. Thanks for that suggestion.

I'm working on a cook book right now and I'd like to know...would you list the ingredients and then repeat the measurement in the body?

[TBA]

7. I would still list the ingredients and amounts.

I admit I often cook off of my phone.

So I am in the grocery store, I use the list if ingredients to buy the appropriate amount. Then when cooking, I'm reading through the directions. On a phone it scroll up scroll down scroll up scroll down because the amount are not embedded in the directions.

I can't be the only person who cooks this way.

I think every recipe should be phone friendly but maybe its just me.

[Hortensis]

12. Yes! This is a great idea. My #1 mistake

in recipes is forgetting or missing that ingredients listed are to be split. Most directions can be edited shorter without losing a thing, leaving plenty of room for the "add grated lemon peel (1/2 tbsp)." In addition to the initial list for shopping/mis en place.

[procon]

4. Having published two cookbooks, I can tell you that no editor would

allow that kind of duplication because it would drive up printing costs for the publishing company. The profit margins are very small for cookbooks so every every penny counts when even a few extra pages makes the book more expensive to the consumer. Duplicating ingredients could also create confusion and some people would actually double the amounts called for.

Recipes generally follow a standard format and in magazines such as Taste of Home vs Epicurius, they vary in the skills set required, with most falling in the intermediate range, somewhere in between beginner and advanced. Even for beginning cooks, one of the best practices to learn from the start is "Mise en Place". Yeah, its French, but those folks really know how to cook, and it just means to get all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. It also confirms that you have all the ingredients called for in your recipe. Everything is measured and set out in order, ready to be added at the time the recipe calls for each ingredient, all your tools and equipment are ready, the stove is preheating. If you use mise en place then you won't ever forget to add key ingredients.

[WhiteTara]

6. Great information here too!

Thanks for your experience

[TBA]

8. I knew someone would mention this - "Mise en Place" !

You are right of course. I "should" prep everything before hand. I guess I'm a bit disorganized.

[procon]

9. Try it and you'll never go back.

Mise en Place really makes the work of cooking hassle free and much faster, plus it removes most of those
"OMG!" moments. I feel really empowered when all the recipe ingredients are lined up in little dishes and everything flows smoothly like a production line.

If you have kids, they love helping pass you the next ingredient in line. They also get to learn about measuring and the different ingredients, and acquire new skills that will help them throughout life.

[dem in texas]

10. You don't repeat the ingredients in the exact same way

In your ingredient list, you might say, medium size onion, finely chopped,or 1 1/2 cups flour, sifted

Then when you are explaining how to construct the recipe, you will not totally repeat your ingredients, but make sure you mention them all such as : Add the onion or stir the flour into the butter mixture. In the step above this, you will have stated to cream the butter with sugar and stir in the eggs, one at a time, this becomes your butter mixture as you go on with the steps in the recipe. I always make sure that I somehow mention how each ingredient from the ingredient list is used.

I have had five cookbooks published and the editors can drive you crazy, especially if they do not know how to cook. I have had recipes published in magazines, but I usually just send the recipe to the magazine editors and they reword the recipe to meet their formats.

[becca da bakkah]

11. And Another Thing That Bothers Me.....

....Long time cook & baker here. Don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but please, please, list the ingredients in the order that they will be used. That makes it so much easier to do a mental check list and make sure you have put everything in the recipe, rather than discover you needed to add, say, baking powder, but it wasn't listed until the bottom of the recipe.

In order, people!

[Cairycat]

13. Onions. Potatoes.

This drives me nuts in recipes. What's a medium sized onion to you might be a large one for me. There are some recipes where you can just tell they're using much larger or smaller onions that are normal for you.

Especially if the onions are to be chopped, how hard is it to say, 1 cup chopped onion?

And "2 lbs. potatoes." How many potatoes is that? Just say! Again, if chopped, give an amount!

I'm an intuitive cook and know my family's tastes very well, but it's really frustrating for those who haven't been cooking for decades.

[Phentex]

14. Oh yes!

I attended a hobby cooking school for many years and people would ask the instructor, "How many carrots is that? Are those regular carrots or baby carrots? How many onions?" and she'd always say "I have no idea how big your carrots or onions are so just use 1 cup chopped like the recipes says."