Other People's Recipes

Culinary inspiration simply hasn't been my forté of late.  There are times when I dream of flavor combinations, of spices that are unfamiliar, of gloriously fresh seasonal ingredients in new and different equations.  Recently, well...not so much.

Like most home cooks, I use both tried-and-true  recipes and enjoy the act of creating something new from time to time.    Over the past three weeks, however, as I've leapt from one crisis to another, my mind has been less on the invention of edible delights and more on getting from Moment Now to Moment Next.   

Saturday night's family party for 12 relied on other people's recipes:  Nigella's parma ham bundles once again (which despite their deliciousness resemble nothing so much as hairless newborn baby mice), Nigella's Moroccan Roast Lamb, and Suzanne Goin's Romesco potatoes  (recently brought to my attention by Luisa's lovely post).  My lifesaving brother and SIL brought a poached salmon, roasted asparagus and a perfect green salad.   Dessert was David Lebovitz's recipe for German Chocolate Cake, made into cupcakes along with more cupcakes from a  Cook's Illustrated yellow cake recipe and several different frostings and fillings, thereby yielding a bouquet of many different kinds of cupcakes: the standard German chocolate with coconut-pecan icing, German chocolate with ganache frosting, yellow with ganache frosting, and lemon-curd-filled/lemon-iced yellow cupcakes for the non-chocolate lovers in the room.  There were few of those.  The crowd's one true lemon-lover took lots of cupcakes home. 

Even when I'm cooking from other people's recipes, I simply can't help monkeying around.  I find that Nigella's Moroccan roast lamb, loaded with garlic, cilantro and raz-el-hanout, benefits immensely from the addition of a dose of Penzey's Turkish Seasoning, a spicy cumin blend that enhances the rest of the meat rub.  Dessert got played with too, a little bit.   The German chocolate cake received a slight chocolate boost -- six ounces of chocolate in the cake rather than four, which gave it a bit more chocolate intesity, but didn't interfere with the gorgeous velvety texture of the cake.  And much as I loved the idea of the Romesco potatoes, crushed, fried and tumbled with the spicy sauce, I knew that there would be both elderly and youthful as well as finicky eaters in the crowd,  so instead I simply roasted the potatoes with herbs and garlic per the recipe, and served the sauce (pictured above) on the side for the brave tasters -- of which there were a good number, fortunately.   I modified Suzanne Goin's Romesco sauce as well -- although I was doubling all the other quantities,  I actually halved the amount of olive oil and used a splash of good Spanish sherry vinegar and some water to emulsify the sauce.  I couldn't quite bring myself to use 1 1/2 cups of olive oil for a recipe serving six, which would  have meant three cups of oil (!) for a recipe serving twelve -- particularly because in this case, it was part of a large rich meal anyway.  However modified, it is still lovely stuff, that Romesco -- good on fish, asparagus, and a host of other things as well. 

The act of cooking good food for people you love is never without some modicum of creativity --  but when it's crunch time, I'm always immensely thankful for other people's recipes. 

Comments

[Luisa]

Julie - I'm so glad that one of "my" recipes had a place at your table. Your modifications sounded just as delicious (and healthier). And good for you for making David's German Chocolate Cake. I must must must try it soon.

[Cathy]

Honestly, I don't get creative in the kitchen all that often myself and I am too timid to do it when company is coming! Thank goodness for other people's recipes!

[Joe C]

To we who enjoy your cooking so often, it always tastes like your particular creation...and it is, as the post above proves. Mom habitually "doctored" recipes (and pre-made foods of all kinds) to suit her tastes and ours, and it was not until well into adulthood that I learned some people follow recipes to the letter. (Some of them are very good cooks by th way, like our friend James, who is meticulous.) We're still enjoying that leftover Romesco, by the way...and those amazing lemon cupcakes.

[Ivonne]

Julie ... that's what we're all here for ... inspiration. Great post!

[Julie]

Luisa, you and your beautifully written blog are a constant source of inspiration to me.

Cathy, it's so true. Thank goodness for the culinary genius of others. Can't wait to see you -- soon!

Brother dear, thanks for your constant support and encouragement -- so glad you're still enjoying the leftovers.

Ivonne -- you too are a great source of inspiration. You've been blogrolled, btw -- something I've been meaning to do for a while.