Fun and Creative Way to Cook

Memorize a generic recipe (p. 625) Basically, the idea is that if you memorize the framework of a very basic recipe, you can reuse it with variations forever. The sample here is a casserole recipe that has infinite variations:

1 cup main ingredient
1 cup second ingredient
1-2 cups starchy ingredient
1 1/2 cups binder
1/4 cup “goodie”
seasoning
topping
Main ingredient: tuna, cubed chicken, turkey, ham, seafood, etc.
Second ingredient: thinly sliced celery, mushrooms, peas, chopped hard-boiled eggs, etc.
Starchy ingredient: thinly sliced potatoes, cooked noodles, cooked rice, etc.
Binder: cream sauce, sour cream, can of soup, etc.
“Goodie”: pimiento, olives, almonds, water chestnuts, etc.
Topping: cheese, bread crumbs, etc.

Using this, you can just buy whatever’s on sale to fit each slot. I’ll say that the chicken + mushrooms + rice + cream of chicken soup + cheese combo (no goodie) is fantastic, for instance.