Unit 3 ~ Reading & Adjusting Recipes

Reading Recipe Information and Assignment

Recipes are designed to be quickly read while you are working in the kitchen. This means that they use many abbreviations and other short cuts. You should ALWAYS read recipes all the way through before you start. If you don’t know something it is better to find out before you are in the middle of making the food!

Put a heading on your paper and title it "Reading Recipes."

Problem 1.
Copy the following terms that are used for amounts in recipes and figure out what they stand for.

Problem 2.
Copy this list and find definitions for "how" to do this word when cooking.

In your head you always need to have the "big picture" in mind as you are reading each individual step so you can plan ahead. Some recipes are written in steps and others are all one paragraph. Either way, you need to make sense of the sequence so you get it right.

Problem 3.
Find a recipe that has each step listed separately. Copy just the steps or type it out. Then REWRITE it in your own words using paragraphs. (Think about how you’d explain it out loud to someone who hasn’t read it.)

Problem 4.
Find a recipe that is written in paragraph form. Copy just the steps or type it out. Then REWRITE it, listing each task as its own step. You can number or bullet the list of steps.

Problem 5.
Sometimes you won’t have something a recipe calls for. There are many substitutions that can be made. A good cookbook will list these for you. See if you can find one on the Internet or in a cookbook.

Problem 6.
Since recipes taste best when we use the exact ingredient called for, it is important to know the differences between closely related items. For each group below — make a diagram using all the words on one page. Write their definitions and make special note of how they are different!

Group 1: SUGARS

Group 2: SALTS

powered sugar rock salt
confectioners sugar coarse salt
brown sugar table salt
turbiando sugar canning salt
  salt w/iodine

Adjusting Recipe Information and Assignment

Often times you will be able to find a yummy recipe, but when you check the number of servings you will see that it makes WAY too much for just yourself or not enough if you are planning to use it for a party. Simple math will help you adjust the recipe to make what you need.

Let’s try an easy one:

A recipe makes 20 somethings and you only want 5 so you don’t get fat!

You want 5/20 of the recipe (see where those numbers came from?)

You reduce that fraction to 1/4..

Now you know that you need 1/4 of all the ingredients so you will only make 1/4 of the total recipe!

So, look at each ingredient and do some math. Multiplying each of them by 1/4 (.25) or dividing each of them by 4 is the SAME THING!

Original Recipe

Adjusted Recipe

Math notes…

4 eggs

1 egg

4 ÷ 4 = 1

2 cups of flour

1/4 cup of flour

2 ÷ 4 = 2/4 = 1/2

2/3 cup milk

1/6 cup milk

2/3 x 1/4 = 2/12 = 1/6

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/8 tsp salt

1 1/2= 3/2 so 3/2 x 1/4 = 3/8

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 ÷ 4 = 1/4or 1 x 1/4 = 1/4

2 cans of tomato paste

1/2can of tomato paste

2 ÷ 4 = 2/4 = 1/2 or 2 x 1/4= 2/4 = 1/2

Now you do a practice one…

Put a heading on your paper and title it "Adjusting Recipes"

This is Problem #1.
Write it out like the example table. SHOW YOUR MATH.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Yield: one dozen

2 C flour
2 heaping tsp of baking powder
_ tsp baking soda
_ tsp salt
_ C butter
1 C buttermilk

You only want to make 6 biscuits (and you KNOW these ones are yummier than the ones in the can at the grocery store!)

Problem #2
You want to make about 6 mini-pizzas.

Mini-Pizzas
Serves: 18 to 24

1 large can Spam
1 can tomato soup
1 small onion, grated
1 green pepper, grated
1 tsp Italian seasoning
8 oz grated medium cheddar cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
2 packages of English muffins

Problem #3
You want to make 6 brownies — and eat them all in one sitting.

Brownies
Makes about 12

1 C margarine or butter (stick)
1/3 C cocoa
2 C sugar
4 eggs
2 C flour
1 C walnuts
2 tsp vanilla
1 package of miniature marshmellows

 

* GOOD WORK. And don’t forget that you will want to USE this skill when you are picking recipes to try in the cooking and baking labs. Whenever you adjust one, WRITE it down and keep it for your portfolio. It will be evidence that you know how to use the skill when you need it, not just on an assignment.