Kitchen Basics - Tips on how to read a recipe correctly

FIVE STRATEGIES FOR RECIPE READING--AND COOKING SUCCESS!

1. First, read the whole thing! Always carefully read through the entire recipe before preparing anything, so you aren't scrambling to retrieve the pepper mill from an overhead cabinet while your stir-fry comes dangerously close to burning. Remember: The order in which the ingredients are listed is usually the order in which they are used. Also, if a recipe says that a particular ingredient (for example, 1/2 cup olive oil) is "divided", that means that it won't be used all at once - so read the recipe and take note of when to add which amount.


2. Take note of measurement notes. 1/4 cup melted butter" is different from "1/4 cup butter, melted". The former means that you melt enough butter to make 1/4 cup, measured in a liquid measuring cup. The latter, on the other hand, means that you simply take 1/4 cup butter in its solid state and melt it. The difference between the two is especially important to understand if you're baking, as the ingredients and instructions tend to be more precise in such recipes.


3. Take note of measurement notes again. Just as "melted butter" and  "butter, melted" mean different things, "1/2 cup button mushrooms, sliced" and "1/2 cup sliced button mushroom" are not the same as well. If the manner in which the ingredient should be prepared comes after it (e.g., sliced), that usually means that you measure the ingredient (in this case, the mushrooms) before prepping them as instructed.


4. Observe how food looks as it cooks. You'll often find instructions in recipes that tell you to cook something until it's translucent (onions), or fragrant (garlic), or brown (beef). Since every stove and pan is different, instructions that rely on your own senses are oftentimes more useful than telling you to cook something for a certain amount of time. This can be daunting for first-timers or novices, but don't be nervous: All it requires for you is to be present in the moment. Simply pay attention to what you're doing and you'll be fine.


5. Polish your seasoning skills. Seasoning to taste means that you season the food as you go along, tasting it and adjusting as needed. Properly tasting the food is essential - how will you know if what you're making is good if you don't try it before serving it? It's better to add salt in increments, little by little, and then add more when required, for the simple reason that it's considerably easier to fix food that is under-seasoned than food that is overly salty.

Taken from Yummy 2011| by Liezl Yap

Foodnotes:
> If you are working in a fast paced kitchen environment, you could make your own recipe cheat sheet just to make sure you've taken note of everything (especially if there are slight changes with the recipe), and of course for convenience: (1) Use a 3" x 5" index card (2) Write the ingredients in order of which they are used in the left hand portion (3) Then, put a sequence number, and execution method per ingredient on the other side.