Online recipes

[jp1]

The Pocket app randomly served up this article for me which was remarkably appropriate since I regularly look for new recipes online:

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-f...=pocket-newtab

The very short TLDR version of the article is that food bloggers often spend more time doing SEO than making sure their recipes are actually good which, while understandable if that's how they make a living, is disappointing for someone trying out new recipes.

The tips aren't really that dramatic, but hopefully actually work. I'll be trying them out over the next few weeks. They boil down to a few key ingredients :

-be more specific in your search terms. such as use words to make clear that you want quick or authentic.

-read the comments

-find good food bloggers and then bookmark them to see if they've made whatever dish you now want to make

-look for clues that the blogger has actually made the recipe (are there photos of the recipe midway through, etc)

The article reminded me of SO's and my search for the perfect rice waffles. All the recipes we found were so similar and then what actually made them work (adding an egg) had not been suggested by any of them. Maybe SO needs to start a food blog! But not until he finishes our front porch project of removing the annoying koi pond and replacing it with pavers. (maybe he also needs to start a DIY home renovation blog...)

[catherine]

Yeah, I always wonder about those average recipes that get super high 5 star ratings.

My method of researching a recipe is to google generally what I'm looking for and look for the 2-3 recipes that match my skill level, my interest in the specific ingredients, and then a certain intangible--a general sense that "this looks good." I check out comments but rarely take any seriously unless that match my own instincts.

I mix and match the elements of the 2-3 recipes to make it fit what I have on hand, or ingredients that are super-enticing. If I like the result I upload the recipe to my plantoeat.com recipe file, including my modifications.

[happystuff]

I am always looking for a good recipe online and have also noticed that so many of them are "almost" identical. I tend to do as it said in the article and I search for recipes by ingredient and process shots, technique and substitution tips, precise measurements and cooking times.

While I have found some useful recipes online, for most repeat things I go to my handful of tried-and-true cookbooks.

[Rogar]

Being mostly vegan, I'm always looking for new menus to add variety to my diet. There are two or three on line recipe providers that I have confidence that they have probably tried the recipe and adjusted it. I've tried random recipes that have been such total failures that I strongly suspect they haven't been tested, but copied or made up. I reference the NYT cooking section recipes and they are typically more complicated that I am interested in, but fairly reliable.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I mostly use cookbooks, there are basic books like Joy of Cooking, and then I have a lot of Mediterranean books, vegetable books etc.. If you find an author you are in the same page with in cooking style with reliable good recipes it works. This is hard to find.

BTW, it's now a running joke we have about chat GPT putting quinoa in everything, especially if you say "healthy", apparently "healthy" and "has quinoa" is synonymous. I have not actually made chat GPT recipes.

[JaneV2.0]

I've mentioned before that my favorite on-line recipe creator is Marion Grasby of Marion's Kitchen. Her enthusiasm is infectious and her (pan-Asian) food is a favorite genre of mine. https://www.marionskitchen.com/

I've never eaten quinoa. I'm at the stage where anything touted as "healthy" is a major turnoff for me, because it's all just marketing, and mostly anything but, IMO.

[happystuff]

I actually like quinoa for the taste of quinoa, not necessarily because it is touted as "healthy". I think it's a good change from rice every now and then.

[rosarugosa]

I like quinoa too, even though it is supposed to be good for me, lol.