[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #71CCD5;”] O[/dropcap]ne of my biggest super powers is the ability to simplify recipes.
It’s so fun to find ways to make recipes more streamline.
While keeping them delicious.
And healthy.
I’ve been simplifying recipes for over 20 years now.
Which means it’s second nature to me.
But you don’t need to wait 2 decades to get to this place.
Today I’m going to share my secrets.
Although that being said, if you’re not really interested in simplifying other peoples complicated recipes, there’s an even easier solution…
Stick to Stonesoup recipes that are already simplified for you 🙂
Your choice.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY:
- 4 Ways to Simplify Any Recipe
4 Ways to Simplify Any Recipe
1. Look for ‘duplicate’ ingredients.
This is by far the easiest way to simplify.
Does your recipe have 2 types of leafy herbs, like mint and cilantro (coriander)? Just choose one and adjust the quantity accordingly.
It’s all about looking for any ingredients that have ‘duplicate’ or the same function and reducing it to just one ingredient to fulfill that function.
For example you may have onion, garlic and chives all in the one recipe. The function of all of these is to provide background (oniony) flavour. So skip the garlic and onion and just use the chives, or vice versa.
2. Look for the ‘critical’ ingredients.
Once I’ve removed any easy duplicates, then I approach the simplification from the other end.
I ask myself, ‘what are the critical ingredients that must be included?’
The first place I look is the title, if it’s ‘lemongrass chicken’ then you want to keep lemongrass and chicken in there.
But the other ingredients are up for negotiation.
Take baby steps.
Use your best judgement.
It’s one of those things that gets easier with practice.
3. ‘Cheat’ or substitute in ready made or ‘compound’ ingredients.
Look for opportunities to ‘cheat’ as much as possible.
There aren’t any prizes for cooking everything from scratch every time.
Examples include using curry powder or spice blends instead of individual spices.
I also love ingredients like curry pastes, pesto, hummus, stock, olive tapenades, grilled veg from the deli..
4. Remember Clancy’s Law of Cooking.
‘If you think it’s going to work then it probably will’.
Trust your judgement.
It’s usually right.
SUMMARY:
Here’s what we’ve covered:
- If you aren’t going to start with a simple recipe (like all the Stonesoup ones here at your fingertips!) the best place to start is to look for duplicate ingredients.
- Substituting in ready made commercial ingredients is also helpful.
- Remember to trust your judgement and follow Clancy’s Law of Cooking.
ACTIVITY
You totally don’t need to do this. But if you’d like a challenge, choose one of your favourite more complex recipes.
Try reducing the number of ingredients and see how it goes.
Remember if it isn’t as good you can always return to cooking it the complex way.
AND if you’d like some help, just post a comment below.
I’d love to help you. Simplifying recipes is one of my all time favourite things!
LEARN MORE
See the short training on How to Simplify Any Recipe, including worked examples.
Keep it super simple this week!
With love,
Jules x
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