No Recipe Recipes
Everyone has at least one recipe that isn’t really a “recipe” in the true sense of the word. You know how to make the dish but at no point in time are there measurements, steps or even ingredients written down for you to follow. It’s in your mind and many times the measurements are “by feel” or based on some obscure event that happens during the cooking process.
Last year my husband decided it was time for our youngest to learn how to scramble an egg. Pretty straight forward right? Eggs, milk, salt/pepper. As I sat back and listened to him explain the process, I was quite surprised to learn that his “recipe” had an interesting twist. He had been taught to measure the milk to egg ratio based on the largest side of the cracked eggshell! “Now, fill the biggest side of the eggshell with milk and add it to the egg – if you are cooking two eggs fill the largest shell twice,” he said to our son. Who knew? Well, maybe my great-grandmother who taught my mom to roll egg noodles using the largest half of the eggshell twice to measure the needed milk!
Now I could be quick to judge such “scientific” practices but I too have no-recipe recipes that have been passed down from my great grandmother/grandmother/mom that consist of sounds, touches and tastes:
Chicken Pot Pie – is there is enough liquid in the pot pie sauce to keep it that just right consistency? Mom’s recipe asks you to listen to the noise it makes when you stir it!
Homemade Rolled Noodles – are they ready to be stored/cooked? Great Grandma decided by the touch of the dough!
Thanksgiving Sage & Sausage Dressing – no consistent measurements for sage/poultry seasoning/salt. Mom/Sister/I taste as we go along. Mixing all of the ingredients together sometimes we use a little of an ingredient, other times we use a lot!
I think that’s one of the things about cooking that I love so much. You can make it your own – you don’t have to be precise – recipes are merely a guide. When you cook with your heart and by feel, you are letting something bigger than absolute measurements and ingredients drive the end product. You are the captain of where and what the dish will end up being. Yes, it takes time and it takes practice and you may not always nail Grandma’s fried chicken (ya know the one you cook until you tap the crust and it makes that just right sound) first time out of the gate but the learning is part of the process that embeds that “no-recipe recipe” on the cookbook pages in your heart.