After a triumphant half hour in the kitchen making a chilled rice salad without a recipe, I have to ask...

Do you ever traipse into the kitchen and just make something up as you go along? Cobble ideas together into something that somehow just seems to work? How did you do it, you amazing culinary god(des

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

Answers

It's when I traipse into the kitchen and start doing improv, that I get into trouble. Oh the cooking disasters I've had from doing that!

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2001

I do, and most of the time they turn out edible, though I usually have to alter a new recipe a couple of times before it's really, really good. But, I don't exactly make it up as I go along. I base it on some earlier, tested recipe - like, I might have a recipe for white bread to which I add some nuts (which don't affect the risingness - that's not a technical term - of the yeast) and change the water to orange juice and then add some extra sugar to balance the acidity of the juice. But I didn't make up the recipe from scratch. And then I see how the bread turns out, and maybe next time I add some more sugar or decide to use molasses and powdered milk.

I've made some really horrible, inedible messes this way, but most things turn out okay, because I alter recipes a little bit at a time to figure out how I'm affecting their kitchen chemistry.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2001

I was talking with some other people on line about how much I hate sauteed onions - the smell makes me nauseated - and one of them said that when she can't think of what to cook, she goes in the kitchen and fries up some onions and gets inspired by that. I can't imagine either cooking like that OR enjoying fried onions.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2001

Honestly, that's what I usually do, and it tends to work out better for me than following a recipe. I think that's because I don't get very adventurous when I make things up.

Things we eat all the time -- tacos, enchiladas, spaghetti, various types of baked chicken, miscellaneous rice and vegetable meals -- are always made up on the fly. They're usually pretty good.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2001

Lately I've been getting good with Thai food on the fly. Mainly because those new "thai kitchen" products (new to my grocery stores anyway) makes it convenient to pick up things like red curry paste and coconut milk on a routine shopping trip. I can whip up some jasmine rice with chicken curry in no time flat. I used to follow the recipes on the cans and bottles, but now I can throw in various thai ingredients that sound like they would be good together and not even use any measurements. That's a big deal for me, because I am usually a stick to the recipe kinda cook. I haven't been as successful with Pad Thai though. It never tastes quite right no matter how I play with various recipes I've tried...

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2001

My most consistent meals are: "something with chicken in it," "something with hamburger in it," and "something wrapped in a tortilla." So yes, I guess I do make up things on the fly. I'm not as good at it as my son is. He can take a jar of peanut butter, some pickles, a dried up piece of meat, and a wilted lettuce leaf and somehow create a gourmet treat. My 'on the fly' cooking is pretty plain. But I didn't get to be this size by not cooking well.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2001

Start the water boiling for ramen, then look in the fridge for things to put on it. A pot with a steamer insert is a big win here. Toss some vegies in to steam while the ramen cooks, then drizzle some sauce over it. Total time: 10 minutes.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2001

Want to know what happens when I cook on the fly? Go look on the cooking disasters thread. I'm the one with the Muffins from Hell.

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2001

Cooking on the fly helped me to make my cream of chicken tortellini which is tortellini, cream of chicken soup, veggies, and spices. It also inspired me to create my stovetop tuna casserole dinner. I love cooking on the fly as long as i have staples like cream of whatever soup and pasta or rice.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2001

Sometimes cooking on the fly results in later problems. I always make tacos on the fly using whatever is around, but then sometimes I forget something crucial or put in too much of something else, so we have a tragic disappointment like last night. Alas.

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2001

My cooking on the fly tragedies seem to involve not having something that i must have for the meal. This isn't so much when i'm inventing recipes, but more when i decide at the last second to try something.

For instance, last night i wanted to make meatloaf totally out of the blue. I had *just* enough bread crumbs, so i poured them into the measuring cup. i thawed the meat, mushed it up with the egg, and poured the bread crumbs on top. Sadly i had failed to notice that these bread crumbs were on the old side and had a small collection of, um, bug thingies. Besides being revolted, and shuddering, and squealing, i wasted a perfectly good pack of beef that i could have used for something else.

I really should plan my meals better. Had i known i would make meatloaf, i could have stopped at the grocery store and bought a new container of seasoned bread crumbs.

Bugs in your food. Ick.

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2001