# Modern Recipes That Are Barely Recipes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 6, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544 "2024-03-06T16:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/21 "2024-03-06T19:16:46Z")
[This is all you need.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_of_Cooking) A modern edition will have “newer” recipes. An older edition will have cool stuff like how to skin a rabbit and the best way to cook squirrel. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/22 "2024-03-06T19:24:28Z")
If the recipes look good, I print them and put them in clear binder sleeves. I have a clip above where i work to hold the recipe. If it works, it goes into a binder, if not…recycle! If they are really good, I’ll retype them in large print, in a usable format, and print those. No one should have to squint to read a recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/23 "2024-03-06T19:43:03Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Add ‘cooked.wiki/’ to the beginning of any recipe page (minus quotemarks), and it will produce a nicely formatted version of _ **just the recipe** _. Hmm, I can’t get this to work. You enter it in the address bar (before the address)? I usually do CTRL-F and type in “print” to find the recipe. mmm ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/24 "2024-03-06T19:50:17Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Hmm, I can’t get this to work. You enter it in the address bar (before the address)? Yeah, try this (copy whole thing and put in address bar): cooked.wiki/https:// [Ultimate Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa (the best!) - The Chunky Chef](http://www.thechunkychef.com/ultimate-instant-pot-beef-barbacoa/) Wait, that doesn’t work because discourse is changing the URL to a description, sorry ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/25 "2024-03-06T20:00:38Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But have I got a hack for you for online recipes, and for anyone else annoyed with this! I just found this online a couple weeks ago, and it works like a charm: While I, like @Just_Asking_Questions will often print a copy to work from (and thus don’t care if I spill on it, unlike my tablet or the like), if I want the option to work from my tablet (to look something else up) I’ll go the recipe, select print, and prit it to a PDF file. That way I have just that portion in an easily accessible but still tablet readable form that doesn’t require the internet connection to read, which as pointed out, can reload, crash due to excessive adds, or suddenly start playing some obnoxious “how to” or other linked audio/visual. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/26 "2024-03-06T20:07:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If the recipes look good, I print them and put them in clear binder sleeves. I have a clip above where i work to hold the recipe. If it works, it goes into a binder, if not…recycle! I do this too. I’ve got two big binders full of stuff by now. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/27 "2024-03-06T20:20:08Z")
Back in the early '70s in Central Illinois (when the closest chinese resteraunt was in Chicago) my mom got a recipe out of the paper for sweet and sour pork. She absolutely nailed it. It’s a hell of a lot of work, so she only made it about once a year. I consider myself a good and experimental cook, but I just can’t recreate it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/28 "2024-03-06T20:28:49Z")
I love narrative and explanatory cookbooks that give you the history and philosophy of a dish. I remember the first such cookbooks I encountered: Zarela Martinez’s _Food From My Heart_ and Laurie Colwin’s _Home Cooking_. I read them somewhere in the late 90s and it’s left such an impression on me. I love to hear stories around the food and the meaning of the food. With Zarela’s book, it was an insight in Mexican culture and various regional cuisines within. Laurie’s book was more memoir than cookbook, but I still remember the recipes from it. Another book I have, David Thompson’s _Thai Food_ spends the first about two hundred pages talking about the history and nuances of Thai cookery, and then the next 200 pages or so are recipes. The book is such a joy, but the two half’s are separate, so if you want to just jump into the recipes, you can. On websites, it is annoying if there’s no “jump to recipe” on top. When I’m scouring food websites, I’m generally comparing many different recipes, so I want quick access to them and I’m not as interested in the text. Luckily, I have a Chrome Extension that automatically pops out the recipe if it detects one in the page I’m visiting. I’m not at my computer right now, but I think it’s called recipe filter or something. But, no, except for all purpose cookbooks like Mark Bittman’s work or Joy of Cooking, I don’t simply want recipes. I want the recipes to be clear and accessible, but when I buy cookbooks, I want narrative or in-depth explanation in addition to nice recipes. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/29 "2024-03-06T20:33:36Z")
When we COMPLETELY (moved walls and stuff) redid our kitchen about 10 years ago, I left one upper cabinet without a door. It’s where the cookbooks go. It’s even nice to look at and adds a bit of dare I say charm? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/30 "2024-03-06T20:40:03Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Yeah, try this (copy whole thing and put in address bar): Ahh, got it. Nice, thanks! I also print out and save recipes I’ve made and like. I also bookmark them and place them in a folder titled “Recipes Made” and indicate in the title when I’ve made them. For example: _White Castle Stuffing, made Thanksgiving 2018_ mmm ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/31 "2024-03-06T21:02:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Modern recipe books - that is, actual published books - can be just as bad. I feel like there’s a happy medium between books that are 2/3 background/supplemental material and 1/3 recipes, and books that are 95% recipes, and 5% background/supplemental material. I mean, I like knowing the genesis/origin of a recipe, what makes it go, etc… but I don’t need a digression about their grandmother, what it was like to eat at their Thanksgiving meal, and so forth. As for the recipe blog bloat, I don’t really have an answer. I mostly hate it, and hate video recipes even more for the same reason- most of the time, I want the recipes, and maybe a paragraph about the background and gotchas, but I don’t need 32 pictures showing how to crack an egg, or what a quarter-cup of soy sauce looks like, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/32 "2024-03-06T21:12:26Z")
There’s some shady folks out there. Sometimes I’ll click on a link and it goes something like this: Fluff ad fluff ad fluff ad fluff ad and bottom with no recipe. It’s basically just a sham to get you to scroll through all the ads. It’s beyond infuriating. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/33 "2024-03-06T21:14:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If the recipes look good, I print them and put them in clear binder sleeves. I have a clip above where i work to hold the recipe. If it works, it goes into a binder, if not…recycle! I used to do this, and still have the book, but almost never use it. Instead, I use this app on my Android tablet (available for iOS, too): > **[My Recipe Box : RecetteTek](https://www.recettetek.com/en/)** > > Store all your recipes in one application. My Recipe Box allows you to create your recipe library and manage them easily.You can gather all your favorite recipes in one application. When you find an online recipe you like, click on share, then select the app, which automatically imports and formats just the recipe details, none of the dreck. (You can edit and modify it as you wish.) The app lets you create categories and tags, and search, select, and sort using them. It will import a picture from your source or you can add your own. The free version has unobtrusive ads at the bottom of the screen, or you can remove remove them, and get a few other upgrades, for a one-time payment of $11. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/34 "2024-03-06T21:24:23Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Instead, I use this app on my Android tablet (available for iOS, too): That sounds useful! Still, when I look through my binders, I like feeling like I’m Jim Phelps, looking through my big Impossible Dinner Force portfolio, picking the perfect team. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/35 "2024-03-06T21:24:31Z")
> [@bump](#): > > feel like there’s a happy medium between books that are 2/3 background/supplemental material and 1/3 recipes, and books that are 95% recipes, and 5% background/supplemental material. I think there’s also a difference depending on the quality of the writer. It’s another of those happy medium issues - I’ve seen books and websites where they’re pretty good authors, but lacking as chefs / uninspired as chefs, and absolutely the reverse. The few times I’ve bought cookbooks that were in the 50/50 range of text vs cooking ideas it was from one of the Chefs who I love to listen too/hear their thoughts on subjects: Anthony Bourdain. Reading the snark and anecdotes was as much fun as trying to recreate some of his dishes. Probably more, because I’m far too cheap to buy the quality of ingredients to do his dishes full justice most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Allthegood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Allthegood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allthegood)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/36 "2024-03-06T22:35:41Z")
Pork cubes, canned pineapple, sliced green bell pepper and a sweet-sour sauce made with vinegar and brown sugar? My mom used to make that and I think I have the recipe somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/37 "2024-03-06T22:47:21Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But have I got a hack for you for online recipes, and for anyone else annoyed with this! I just found this online a couple weeks ago, and it works like a charm: > > Add ‘ **cooked.wiki/** ’ to the beginning of any recipe page (minus quotemarks), and it will produce a nicely formatted version of _ **just the recipe** _ . This was awesome – thank you! To demonstrate to others how to use this – for demonstration purposes, the links below are intentionally broken with a space character immediately after the first slash in “ **https://** ” : **Original URL** https:/ /thebigmansworld.com/air-fryer-chicken-drumsticks/ **Cooked.Wiki URL** https:/ /cooked.wiki/thebigmansworld.com/air-fryer-chicken-drumsticks/ _which, in my browser, turns automatically into_ https:/ /cooked.wiki/new?url=http%3A%2F%[2Fthebigmansworld.com](http://2Fthebigmansworld.com)%2Fair-fryer-chicken-drumsticks%2F ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/38 "2024-03-06T23:08:46Z")
It’s not a recipe thing; it’s an information thing. Everything online is needlessly padded. If I’m looking for help on how to use a feature in some program, the top five results will all be ten-minute videos, when the answer is just “Click on edit \> recombobulate”. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/39 "2024-03-06T23:26:03Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Who’s buying a book just for recipes? I [just did](https://www.amazon.com/Official-Stardew-Valley-Cookbook/dp/1984862057/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FWDV4HMLV2IY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.X6R_pqLOA3NnDROknMDmD4mu6GVaRrQjlBrS6QwATrLE5AmAE_7LTAe4DDXh2oxkzJVLUmSvjSqWbDtaEVfZp1s_HKzBrz-eQosLyB7xPpD993J70Lt_yQFL72oJXtDsK2Z0masZBmNm8MQiumwSa9RByJUEE2G4xxZsbbV76_j90F-xxx7nP9pf0fSSpjtvFjpr9eCw8SaVsTsSpbJPxf19A_YvGpJUv5J77cIqH7Y.33XO7Qi2-kt30OaxSYU3Mqes8vyS_hh1xhL2iQrNjMo&dib_tag=se&keywords=stardew+valley&qid=1709767500&s=books&sprefix=stardew+valley%2Cstripbooks%2C133&sr=1-1) this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/40 "2024-03-06T23:31:07Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Still, when I look through my binders, I like feeling like I’m Jim Phelps, looking through my big Impossible Dinner Force portfolio, picking the perfect team. 🙂 I love the mental image of marinara sauce, lo mein, chili, and brownies teaming up to smuggle a defector out of some Eastern European country with lots of umlauts. And can you all guess what I’ve been cooking lately? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544.md?page=3)