When you cook, do you follow the recipe or do you improvise ?

I don't know to cook much either .But I improvise on whatever I know.I can cook noodles with 6 different flavours and sauce .Moreover,when I cook the omlette for me everyday as breakfast,I try out new things so that it remains as my taste.I use sometimes tomato stuffed omlete or sometimes onion stuffed or sometimes plain one with coriander leaves garnishing.So this is way I do.

Hi ibuemma, I love cooking! I follow a recipe when I first come across it and try it out. If I feel that it can be made better I try to improvise on the original recipe. I have done that with many recipes and come out with better results. I like to experiment with different combination of vegetables and spices. Many times when I cook the same dish it may not taste the same as before lol because I would have brought in some change or the other. But as long as no one coplains it is alright. There are some dishes like Biriyani,Prawn masala , fish curry and Saambhar which I leave alone, just stick to my original recipe - all the best and have a great weekend

I never follow a recipe to the exacts. I look over the recipe for more so ideas and then I do it, without measurements or any of that stuff. I change a lot of the original recipe, so you would not think it even came from that recipe. I cannot say that I have ever made a disaster by doing that. I am lucky that my food turns out either great, or fantastic haha. My friends love it when I cook, so each time I do something without a recipe it just builds my cooking confidence and skill up, it is so much fun. When it comes to baking though and doing desserts, you really do not want to go off the recipe too much, or that can be potentially bad. Making a recipe your own though is great fun and good for learning.

I improvise all the time I cook at this stage of my life. My cooking has to do a lot on what I have in the fridge and what I want to eat. Only when I want to try something new, I check in recipes to give me ideas ( not to follow the recipe either). Yesterday, for instance, I had lots of leftovers. I live alone so leftovers are really bits of food. But my daughter had come for lunch the day before and then I had been invited to a friend´s house. They had to be cooked right then! At thosr times, an omelette or a tortilla is the answer. Two eggs, some cooked rice, leftover cooked veggies (minced), raw sweet pepper and chives Minced), salt and pepper. I put cheese to melt on top and put a pot´s top over the skillet as I wasn´t goint to be able to turn it. I cooked slowly while I played at my computer. I served it with a leftover greek salad I had made that was not in it´s prime but still edible. It came out wonderful and nourishing.

i follow the recipe's procedures only, but most of the time, i improvise on the ingredients used. you see, its quite difficult to find all the ingredients needed for a foreign recipe here in the philippines, so i have to substitute others. sometimes, i make a dish from scratch, meaning i just remember how the food looked and tasted then i try to make the same dish by guessing what goes in. so far, i haven't messed up real bad. all the food i cook turn out edible, though a little different from the actual dish i'm trying to make.

depending on what you cook. if it is like something that is similar to what i have cooked before i would improvise so that it would be adjusted to my taste buds. i too tried cooking using a recipe book. half of the recipes turned out ok but the rest was a disaster. what can i say cooking just is not my thing. then i turned to my grandma who i spent my holidays with. she taught me that recipes are meant to be broken(i think she meant rules). i spent my summer holidays with her learning how to cook. and now thanks to her i can cook a 5 course meal at ease

I usually try to stick to the recipe if I'm cooking the meal for the first time. If I've made it before and I think it could use something extra then I will add to the recipe. But I'm scared to change it when it's a new recipe that I'm making.

I'll quite often modify it to suit my own needs and tastes and since I'm only cooking for myself, it's not a huge disaster if my modifications don't quite work out!

I've been cooking for 45 years and I have it down pretty good if I find a new recipe I look it over and get the jist of it and I use the temp. and time, but I will change seasonings if I don't like what they are using! Other than that I know my favs. by heart and never use a cookbook! tdemex

I usually cook with prescription pickup, I rarely open a recipe, except to make bread

When i cook i just use the recipe as a guide, i usually never follow it to the letter. I add or subtract ingredients that i feel will make it better. I usually get a lot of good compliments on my cooking. and things usually turn out good. But over the years their are things that have turned out terrible (not very often) But i never give up trying out new things, just so we are not eating the same old thing everyday.

It depends on what I am going to be cooking. Like a cassarole, mine never taste the same twice...lol Always get good comments and then they ask for the recipe. All I can do is give the basic recipe and let them know you can work with it and make several changes to make it your own. Now I have several recipes I follow for the most part because that is what makes the dish what it is. Cheesecake anyone... Just depends on whats on the agenda to cook for the meal..

I have tons of recipe books at home and study them all the time for ideas about food combinations and flavours that work together and then i like to experiment! Sometimes it is successful and other times not so much! If I am having people over for dinner I will tend to stick to a recipe that i know works to avoid disaster!

I always improvise. Actually I can't remember the last time I used a recipe. I guess I use the recipes my grandmother gave me. Since they are a bit unorthedox I just change them to my likings. It turns out pretty good. But they could be a bit strange for people outside my country. When ever I have guests I tell them what's in the food after they try it. They never believe me... Cheers!

When I cook, I most often do have my own recipe .. If there is a recipe to be follwed, I don't stick to the recipe, I do it according to my own taste. . . i usually follow the ingredients but not the measurements because it most often do not fit my taste. ..

Sometimes i follow the recipe, like cookies, cakes, pastas, and other, i use to follow it, to experience the taste of food that i follow on recipe, and it is so perfect in taste, if i am cooking for the ordinary food i use not to follow recipe, what on my mind i just create and cook it.

sometimes i cook during the weekend. i never follow any recipe when come to cook, i just follow my feeling. The results are always good, means the dishes are eat-able. I think i can cook well because last time i always observe how my mom cook and also learned some from Jamie Oliver.

I am not a good cook, so, I thinkkk... I will follow the recipe hehe... However, if I try to cook something and short of one or two ingredients, I might skip the ingredients or just use something to replace it. The result, hmmm... still edible hahaha...

When i cook.I do both.First i will follow the recipe and if i dont like the result i will improvise to meet my desired taste.

I dun cook much..but my mom does a lot. Though i have never seen her go with the recipe, always improvising on what is written on the book, many i times it produced a nice new meal, but majority was a failure. But she was never demoralized, as i would see her experimenting everyday with the same courage and passion for creating something new from the old recipies