I remember when I first started fumbling my way through the kitchen, and the thought of cooking a recipe from memory was virtually incomprehensible. I didn’t think I could ever function without a cookbook splayed open for me to glance at every 6.7 milliseconds. But as I experimented more and my confidence grew, some of those “scary” techniques went from seemingly mythological to pure muscle memory. The very best of those efforts have become classics, recipes that I continue to make time and time again.
In instances of great stress or complete laziness, I often want a meal that is quick and familiar. One that requires no forethought or planning, but also no delivery. You know, a meal that tastes like “home.” I rely on a few standbys when those times arise—recipes that I can whip up anytime, anywhere. For me, it’s cottage cheese pancakes (a weekend staple), dixie caviar (of course), my mother’s turkey spaghetti (made with original Prego and sugar, her secret ingredient), Eric Wolitzky’s chocolate chip cookies (the very best), and my homemade vanilla ice cream (the perfect base for endless flavor possibilities). Sure there are others, but these are my no-fail, always guaranteed-to-please favorites.
So here’s a question for you as we head into the weekend: What recipes have you made so many times, over and over, that they live inside of you, in your very core? Which recipes do you know by heart?
Image souces: Delish, Martha Stewart, Williams Sonoma
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a grilled chicken recipe that I make pretty much every other week now. I know exactly how I like it seasoned and how long to cook it. I know what you mean about it being rather freeing to just cook without constantly referencing a recipe. I’ve been doing that more lately and I’m enjoying it!
My mom’s Chicken and dumplings and roast beef and then the tomato sauce with onion and butter from Smitten Kitchen.
I’ve been meaning to try that famous tomato sauce recipe. Soon, very soon.
Meat loaf – always served with mashed potatoes.
Everyone should know a meatloaf recipe by heart. Mine uses white bread soaked in milk…so good!
Giada’s Chicken Piccata and no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies. You have a great site!
@sanpshu – Thanks for the blog love. I’ll have to check out Giada’s chicken piccata; her chicken tetrazzini recipe is the best I’ve ever had!
I’ve got three – my mother’s easy version of spaghetti bolognese using jarred sauce, a brie and green apple panini from my cousin’s sandwich shop in NY, and an old Cooking Light recipe that I picked up when I was first learning to cook. It’s pounded chicken breasts breaded and rolled up with tomato-basil feta and baked for about 25 minutes. Even my steak-and-potato loving husband asks for it on a regular basis.
Some of the recipes I know by heart include my great grandmother’s vegetable beef soup as well as my other grandma’s “lazy day cobbler.” Our secret spaghetti sauce ingredient? Ketchup!
Hope all goes well with you friend!
Spaghetti is such a personal endeavor—somebody should write a book filled with hundreds of families’ different recipes for it. I’d buy it!!
My favorite marinara sauce. Yummy stuff.
I love this concept! Well, unless I’m developing recipes, I make most things on the fly, but the two I know by heart and tend to stick to is my pure chocolate pudding from my book {The Newlywed Cookbook}, and yes, the original toll-house chocolate chip cookie recipe that I learned when I was 12. It can be modified out the wazoo, but it’s a great jumping off point for times and temps when you need to make cookies without any reference.
Sarah, I can’t think of two better recipes to know by heart!!