Cooking Instinctively

How do you cook? Do you follow a recipe word for word; or are you more daring and wing it? Last week while I was preparing dinner – hubby asked if I had tasted what was in the pan before I proceeded to the next step; it first surprised me that he asked, and then I realized that I hadn’t. 

The reason was, I trusted that it would taste exactly how it should. Yet he was right I should taste it before I continue, it might need more salt or any of the spices that I had used. Therefore, I did have a small taste – and as I said earlier, it tasted exactly how I thought it would taste, no need to add anything to the dish it was delicious.

Normally, while I am cooking, I do have a taste of what I am preparing. However, I don’t overdo it, I check if I added enough salt, or if it needs something else. You see I trust my cooking, I trust my eyes, my sense of smell, and the aroma that permeates my kitchen.

So how do I cook? I believe that I cook instinctively. Many times I don’t have a recipe in front of me, that I am following word for word, in fact, what I do have are several recipes floating in my head for the same dish along with tips and techniques too.

I read and research recipes, I watch cooking shows, and food recipe videos (especially the “Tasty” Facebook videos) I have images of my mom, aunts, and Grandparents cooking while I sat in the kitchen watching. I also have memories of me cooking elaborate meals when I was twelve. I see myself making chicken parmesan, and baked ziti. I see me at twelve again, setting a tall wine glass that is half filled with unset jello; I am placing it in the refrigerator leaning it against the wall to have the jello set on an angle.

I actually have fragments of recipes in my head floating around; even so sometimes, I do need to refer to a recipe just to confirm if I can use garlic, or if I can pair an ingredient with a certain herb. On occasion, I just need to be reminded about oven temperature and even length of cooking time.

Consequently, even with the fragment recipes, and my ability to cook instinctively. I can honestly say that I am always a bit more daring, and winging it too. My certainty that I am sprinkling enough salt, chopping instead of slicing an onion and thinking it might need this… or questioning if a squeeze of lemon is needed, comes from me and a confidence that what I cook and place in front of my diners will always be delicious.

Therefore, last Sunday morning I made blueberry scones and for some unknown reason, I did not follow the recipe, I had on hand …moreover, I went against every baking rule that exists, and just dumped everything in a bowl; wet ingredients, dry ingredients, it didn’t matter it was going in. Somehow, I realized what I had done and sort of was able to remedy the slip-up.

Blueberry scones are scrumptious – the ones I made were scrumptious too, regardless of the technique.

What do you think? I think they look delectable….

Enjoy, the recipe is below, courtesy of Epicurious

[lt_recipe name=”Blueberry Scones With a Lemon Glaze” servings=”8-10″ prep_time=”10″ cook_time=”20-25″ total_time=”30-35″ difficulty=”Easy” summary=”Blueberry scones are scrumptious ” print=”yes” image=”http://www.mangiamangianotalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20170820_131401.jpg” ingredients=”Enjoy the recipe below, courtesy of Epicurious ;;2 cups flour;2 Tbsp. sugar;2 1/2 tbsp. baking powder;1/8 Tsp. salt;3/4 cups butter, melted;2 eggs, beaten;1/4 cups milk;2/3 cups blueberries;” ]PREPARATION; Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. In a small bowl, stir together butter, eggs, and milk. Pour into flour mixture, and mix until ingredients bind together. Stir in blueberries. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Pat out to a 9-inch circle and cut into eight wedges. Transfer with a spatula to a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Makes eight;[/lt_recipe]

[lt_recipe name=”Lemon Glaze” servings=”Enough for 8 Scones” prep_time=”10 MINUTES OR LESS” cook_time=”NONE” total_time=”10 MINUTES” difficulty=”Simple” summary=”Lemon Glaze – Drizzle On” print=”yes” image=”http://www.mangiamangianotalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20160612_111804-480×288.jpg” ingredients=”2/3 cup of confectioner sugar ;1 Tablespoon of milk ;Zest ½ of a lemon (1 teaspoon);The juice of ½ of a lemon ;1 or two drops of vanilla ;” ]Mix until smooth and drizzle on scones – allow scones to cool a bit before drizzling the icing.[/lt_recipe]

Mangia, Mangia…No Talk!!!