Have you ever noticed some unwritten rules that are missing from recipes because at one time unwritten rules..

.....were commonly understood?



The other day while looking at recipes for Victoria sponge cake, I found a recipe that called for beaten eggs in the list of ingredients and then in the directions you are instructed to put 6 tablespoons of water for the 4 eggs.



Then sometimes in a Chinese recipe you will find that the writer has instructed you to blanch the broccoli first ..... and nobody else has remembered to tell you .... because you are expected to know that ?



And, other times you are told to put salt on your eggplant or zucchini .... when in fact, maybe that is not what you want. Maybe your eggplant is not bitter.....





Do you have any stories to share like these .... I think they are fun ... especially when someone has a clue that holds a key to

a whole concept - like blanching the basil for pesto or for herb butters --









Cheers!Have you ever noticed some unwritten rules that are missing from recipes because at one time unwritten rules..
I'm a "savoury" not "sweet" person, but I know you have to be very precise with baking. Since I'm savoury, I don't really follow recipes. As for eggplant, depends on the eggplant %26amp; what you're going to do with it. I like the little ones; they're sweet %26amp; tender %26amp; grill beautifully; you don't have to "draw out" bitterness w/salt. Oh yes, blanching broccoli! I've seen this on Food Network, I think they call it an "ice bath," %26amp; it keeps veggies green, (but what if you want to serve them warm??)Well. I hope people have some neat things to share with you!
ya so true all the timeHave you ever noticed some unwritten rules that are missing from recipes because at one time unwritten rules..
When making a cream pie, you are instructed to "blind bake" the pie crust.



When making ice cream or other custards, you often have to add hot milk to beaten eggs. The recipe may not tell you exactly HOW to do this w/o scrambling the eggs.



Many popover recipes do not specify to prehate the pan, or to not open the oven door during coking.



Many angel food cake recipes do not specify to avoid greasing the pan. (Greasing the pan keeps it from rising to its highest potential.)



Also, adding nuts to cakes and batters is much more tasty when they are toasted first, but you rarely see recipes calling for toasted nuts.
that is perfectly normal recipe's ithink you can only mix water with flour.HAPPY COOKINGHave you ever noticed some unwritten rules that are missing from recipes because at one time unwritten rules..
Another unwritten rule I was told as a kid was to only use medium eggs for a 6oz mixture for Victoria sponge.



I was later given a tip which is: you can use whatever size eggs you like (be it large, medium, extra large) but weigh them (with shells on)!! 3 Medium eggs weigh 6oz which is why all the other ingredients are in 6oz increments too... If the 3 eggs weigh 6.5 oz, use 6.5oz of all the other ingredients (makes a perfect cake!!)



Sorry for the imperial measurements... I don't know the cake ingredients in metric!!



Sal x