Posted on: Wednesday, April 20, 2005

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Plugging the holes in that recipe

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

One of the reasons it's so difficult to replicate a recipe is that properly recording a recipe is a particular skill — and many of us don't have it.

It's a very precise business. Recreating a dish requires that all the factors are reproduced exactly. For example, I traveled in England a lot in the '70s and '80s, where I was particularly fond of meat-filled raised pies. However, even though I followed the recipes in English cookbooks, I couldn't quite reproduce these because of differences in the flour and the cuts of meat and bacon available to me in the United States and the lack of a proper raised pie dish.

This is a rather exaggerated case, but it points out how important it is to include every detail when you're sharing a recipe. Frequently, the recipes I get from readers lack such important information as amounts of ingredients, pan sizes and sizes of various packaged, bottled or canned products that go into the dish, and number of servings the dish makes.

Even in old community cookbooks, where the recipes are written up by contributors and untested, it's common to find instructions such as "cook until done." Help! Cook how? Boil, bake, simmer, poach? And what does "done" look, taste and feel like?

When you're reviewing a recipe before passing it on to someone else, consider these issues: Specific amounts of every ingredient, including commercial products. Proper descriptions of cooking techniques, temperatures. Size, shape, type of cooking utensils, baking pans, casseroles, cookie sheets, etc. Solid measures of cooking times (or marinating times, etc.).

If you're trying to record a recipe of someone else's, the best thing to do is to talk them into making the dish while you watch and take detailed notes, forcing them to measure everything before they throw it in, and timing every step. This is very important if you are trying to capture grandma's specialties before she's gone. I didn't do this with my own Grandma and I've always regretted it.

Speaking of tried-and-true recipes, Bev Pace wrote in answer to a request for baked spaghetti. This is one of her family's favorite recipes, which she has been preparing since the 1970s. She uses canned mushrooms and packaged spaghetti sauce, but you could use fresh mushrooms and bottled sauce if you prefer; you'll need 2 1/2 cups of sauce and, if you use fresh mushrooms, you'll need to add a bit more liquid.

Baked spaghetti: Cook three-quarters of a package of spaghetti; drain. Brown 1 pound hamburger; drain and return to pan. Add half a chopped onion, 2 cloves of chopped garlic and simmer until onion is limp and translucent. Add 1 15-ounce can mushrooms, with liquid. Add 1 package spaghetti sauce (prepared according to package directions). Add 1 large can tomato sauce and spices to suit your taste (garlic powder, parsley, oregano). Simmer until tastes are blended. Stir cooked spaghetti into sauce. Spoon into buttered 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Top with 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

• Per serving: 450 calories, 16 g total fat, 7 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 600 mg sodium, 59 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 18 g sugar, 21 g protein.