too many ingredients in AK recipes?

angelbabies · #1 (**permalink**) 30-01-10, 09:17

hi is it just me and my cooking skills but does anyone else find some recipes in the AK books and on here have a list of ingredients as long as your arm. it kind of puts me off and so i go looking for a "smaller recipe" and then feel uneasy not really making a substantial/healthy meal.

will search smaller recipe (i'm sure someone will have posted a recipe here) and will serve additional veg along side - just asking out of curiousity really - see cottage pie recipe for example.

think i may be just having a wobbly cooking wise.

DrP · #2 (**permalink**) 30-01-10, 10:43

I don't find that they do. I must admit thought that I'm a bit fan of getting as much into one dish as I can, especially where stews and the like are concerned as I don't always have time to be preparing seperate side dishes of veggies. Even when I do I still like to put shed loads into the main dish anyway.

My own cottage pie recipe has no end of stuff in it - meat, onions, three or more other veg, seasonings (which may or may not include brown sauce, other sauces etc) and then the potato with milk and cheese and butter and seasonings and I reckon my list of ingredients is probably a lot longer than the AK one.

There is nothing wrong with recipes that contain less ingredients though. As long as you eat balanced meals at the end of the day it really doesn't matter how you cook it. Go with what you are most comfortable with yourself.

Janebug · #3 (**permalink**) 30-01-10, 10:57

I think the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food is a good one to have a look at. Less ingredients, I think.

How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three ... - Unless You Count the Garlic Crusher...: Amazon.co.uk: Gill Holcombe: Books

The above book has got really simple recipes in and is excellent. Bit more family orientated than AK being child orientated.

snowqueen · #4 (**permalink**) 05-02-10, 16:17

It doesn't bother me that there's more ingredients but it can add to the preparation time quite significantly. I can spend more time peeling and chopping that it does to actually cook the meal itself.

The other thing I found from making a couple of the recipes is length of time it can take to put the dish together, for instance the Salmon with Tagliatelle - my god was that a chore. There were so many things going on in different saucepans I ended up reducing the cheese sauce too much and it ended up in a gooey mess that my baby wasn't interested in. I added some water to it to make it more easy for him to chew but by then he'd lost interest. Also, chopping up the Tagliatelle, nightmare. Next time I'm going to make it with shorter pasta to begin with, much easier.

On the whole, I love the AK books but they need to have those little icons or comments at the start of each recipe which states preparation and cooking time so you can be more prepared.

angelbabies · #5 (**permalink**) 05-02-10, 16:25

agree snowqueen. i find some recipes time consuming to put together and the long list of ingredients means a lot of prep before can start cooking. and having more than 2 pans at the most on the go is a nightmare for me. now i just stick to the AK's simpler recipes and still adapt to simplfy cooking process. i aim for a simple life.

cathyg · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-10, 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelbabies

agree snowqueen. i find some recipes time consuming to put together and the long list of ingredients means a lot of prep before can start cooking. and having more than 2 pans at the most on the go is a nightmare for me. now i just stick to the AK's simpler recipes and still adapt to simplfy cooking process. i aim for a simple life.

i usually leave out the ingredients i can't be bothered with. like some of the herbs, garlic, onions etc. i just use what i've got. EG, say cottage pie, i would prob only use, mince, onion & maybe peas. & the mash. still a cottage pie, just my simple version. xx

iwantone · #7 (**permalink**) 10-02-10, 13:39

I hear ya! Sometimes I am only looking for a simple recipe & I have found a few of AK ones have loads of ingredients & you are doing lots of things at the same time. Plus I only have quite a small kitchen so that doesn't help. I made cupcakes the other week and the beside the actual making of them requiring every piece of equipment I have the kitchen took forever to clean up. x

angelbabies · #8 (**permalink**) 10-02-10, 14:25

very true - you look at your masterpiece/scrummy creation with admiration and congratulate yourself on being a good mummy for making home made food .... then you turn round and see the cooker covered in pans and drops of food, the sink overflowing with dishes, laddles, spoons etc, the worktops covered in peelings etc and definitely a grotty kitchen floor and of course the splattered tiles from all that pureeing! i try to keep one side nice and tidy and keep my back to the other side