blake wrote on Sun, 7 Mar 2010 09:46:33 -0500:
>> I seem to have a gift. I never thought of it as a gift until
>> I came to understand that most cooks of even moderate
>> experience can't tell a good recipe from a bad one, or
>> realize the outcome of following the recipe as written.
>>
>> I often wonder how some of these recipes manage to get
>> promoted and/or published. Obviously the editors are even
>> more clueless than the submitters and the decisions are made
>> by forces unknown. Take the case of the magazine that told
>> subscribers to bring a mixture of equal parts cooking oil and
>> water to boil. I think it was Southern Living Dangerously
>> magazine, but I can't find it now. It was discussed here,
>> whoever it was.
>>
>> Poorly written recipes are a good sign that no faith should
>> be granted to the writer in regards to their sense of taste.
>> They may have TIAD, or maybe they just have poor writing
>> skills. Flip a coin and give them the benefit of the doubt.
>> Or you can look further into your culinary crystal ball and
>> tell when a recipe may be worth trying (maybe with
>> modifications), or when to simply pass it by.
>>
>> <http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/re....dyn?action=di
>> splayRecipe&recipe_id=1694228>
>>
>> This recipe failed both tests for me. The outcome was
>> verified by asking my mother, "you actually made this?".
>>
>> I'm not criticizing my mother in particular. It seems lots
>> of people eat this shit up (or at least buy the ingredients
>> and make it). It's the sole reason for FoodTV's existence in
>> recent years.
>>
>> Despite the obvious procedural/efficiency errors in the
>> instructions (do you spot them at first glance?), does this
>> recipe sound worth the trouble? Can you imagine the outcome?
>>
> i don't know what the end result would be like, but the
> instructions didn't seem to be all that poorly written. i
> must be missing something.
Even on these apparently reliable collections like recipezaar (or
something like that) or Epicurious.com, I tend to avoid those that
include things like "2 tablespoons Stroganoff seasoning."
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not