More abstract recipes please

May 25, 2009 8:44 PM

I'm looking for more abstract recipes like this.

Some people would call these base recipes: recipes that are created from what what is on hand with common spices and ingredients, a theory of a dish - not the specifics in every ingredient. What I really enjoy about the linked recipes is he gives reasons for each ingredient so that you can vary things based on judgement.

posted by bigmusic to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

I love this loose step-by-step approach to roasted vegetable soup, which really opened up my eyes to the idea that I didn't need a separate recipe for each variety of vegetable I might want to use in a soup. (I love roasted red pepper soup, in particular.)
posted by adiabat at 9:01 PM on May 25, 2009

You might look at Ruhlman's new book, "Ratio" (example pdf)
posted by milkrate at 9:02 PM on May 25, 2009

Flexible Casserole fits the bill.
posted by Orchestra at 9:18 PM on May 25, 2009

Scott Nearing's wife Helen wrote a fun meandering "cook book" called Simple Food for the Good Life. Lots of vague vegetarian recipes and practical philosophizing about food.
posted by bubukaba at 9:30 PM on May 25, 2009

From a previous askme, this is my recipe for "pasta with whatever vegetable is plentiful at the farmers' market this week."

From another previous askme, this is my recipe for "roasted whatever vegetable is plentiful at the farmers' market this week (except maybe lettuce)."

Is that the sort of thing you're after? If so, you might also want to check out both The New Best Recipe (from the Cooks Illustrated folks) and The Art of Simple Food from Alice Waters. They both tend to give master recipes followed by flavor variations that allow you to improvise variations.
posted by dersins at 9:32 PM on May 25, 2009

The Tassajara Bread Book might be just what you are looking for. I don't know "The Tassajara Recipe Book" or "Tassajara Cooking" but I would check them out too.
posted by pointilist at 9:39 PM on May 25, 2009

Also, The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider has a lot of recipes like this, that give you the basic idea and let you take it wherever you want.
posted by exceptinsects at 11:20 PM on May 25, 2009

Chef Todd Mohr's entire cooking show is based on abstraction, he teaches the method and the reason behind it, not a recipe. I'm sure you will find value in his videos.
posted by Meagan at 3:06 AM on May 26, 2009

I find that MeFi fav Alton Brown does this alot in his Good Eats show. He tends to focus on a particular ingredient or a class of recipe, and in every case he gives you a clear idea of what the defining characteristics of the dish is before cooking one particular example. He also explains the food science behind it, which is really useful for teaching you how to successfully improvise in the kitchen.
posted by LMGM at 3:23 AM on May 26, 2009

Not a book or site per se, but a technique to try: when I set out to make a new dish, I google up five or more different recipes for it and compare them for similarities and differences and then just go give it a shot.
(That tomato curry recipe is okay, but turmeric is not optional and he doesn't even mention garam masala, which is very key.)

And another vote for Alton Brown's show.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:16 AM on May 26, 2009

Not a book or site per se, but a technique to try

Although suggestions for books are welcome that have this kind of focus, I was aiming for recipes that are available online.
posted by bigmusic at 5:28 AM on May 26, 2009

You would probably like John Thorne's books. (First off: His website is Outlaw Cook.) They are full of essays about what a dish means (the cultural and historical context), with several variations and recipes along the way. For example, Pot on the Fire (my favorite) has an essay about how kedgeree, a simple lentil/onion/rice dish, varies between India, Egypt, and beyond. There's a couple chapters in Outlaw Cook about sourdough, and his attempts to build a stone oven. Etc.

Simple Cooking is his oldest, and also the name of the (roughly) quarterly newsletter which ultimately gets collected into the books. Serious Pig is about the food of New England (esp. Maine) and the South (esp. Louisiana). Mouth Wide Open, his newest, is worth it for the chapter on marmalade alone, IMHO. (Also: Outlaw Cook is out of print, and high up on Alton Brown's recommended reading list, so it's pricier than the others.)
posted by silentbicycle at 5:37 AM on May 26, 2009

The Blue Stawberrry Cookbook
posted by caddis at 8:05 AM on May 26, 2009

It's a book, but the old classic, The Joy of Cooking, mixes this approach ("here's what makes the difference between good muffins and bad muffins") with some more detailed recipes.
posted by salvia at 8:15 AM on May 26, 2009

You might want to pick up Ruhlman's latest book, Ratio.
posted by Citrus at 10:12 AM on May 26, 2009

The book How to Cook Without a Book is written around such abstract techniques. For example, the typical pan sauce is made by deglazing the pan with a measure of liquid, reducing it by half, and then adding a bit of fat. The specific liquid and fat varies according to the food with which it will be prepared, and the book also enumerates a variety of examples.
posted by ijoshua at 12:28 PM on May 26, 2009

I highly suggest the multi-part article "Creating Your Own Foolproof Chinese Stir Fry" from the website Tigers and Strawberries. I think it's exactly what you're looking for - a flexible basic technique for creating a stir fry with whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Intro

Main Ingredient

Aromatics

Condiments

Supporting Ingredients

This is a separate post on stir-fry technique. Highly recommended!
posted by insectosaurus at 6:38 PM on May 26, 2009

This is a good thread, very many, very many, good links. Bigmusic, I thank you. Cooking on the fly, well that is just the way to go. Recipes are starting points, ideas, you, the cook, you make your own way with the ingredients that you have at your disposal at the time. I used to thing that you could just do sautes etc. on the fl without a recipe, not cakes, cookies whatever, but then when you kind of get the ratios down, even these things are a handful here, a pinch there, etc. but you know my pinch of a teaspoon is within 10% of the real thing, and I am a rookie at this. You don't need no stinkin' cookbook.
posted by caddis at 6:58 PM on May 26, 2009

N-thing Ruhlman's Ratio, also Flavor Bible
posted by sanko at 8:24 PM on May 26, 2009

In the same vein as the previously mentioned How to Cook Without a Book there is the relatively new book Cooking Beyond Measure: How to Eat Well without Formal Recipes.
posted by symbollocks at 11:54 AM on May 27, 2009

I was just down the street at the bookshop and picked up Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone can learn to cook in 24 hours by Jamie Oliver. It had a number of these sorts of recipes - a stew/casserole recipe (base needs onions, carrots, celery etc), then variations. Also a salad recipe page that showed different options to select from: a crunchy lettuce, a soft lettuce, something herby, etc etc.

It is probably not highly theoretical, but as the title suggests, good for those who are new to cooking (or not!) and looking for general rules of thumb for cooking.
posted by AnnaRat at 8:28 PM on May 31, 2009

Greg Nog - that is a wonderful resource! thanks!
posted by bigmusic at 1:02 PM on July 22, 2009