tuesday tidbit - substitutions

Did you know that marjoram is essentially oregano? Or that sour milk works just as well as buttermilk? Did you know that you can fudge baking soda, switching it out for a higher amount of baking powder? That in some recipes you can get away with one egg instead of two, or substitute ground flax for the eggs?

Cooking, and to an even greater degree, baking, are chemistry experiments. That means they follow rules, even though it doesn't mean a cook must have aced college chemistry. It may seem contradictory for Yours Truly to follow chemistry rules when I openly admit to not even following recipes.

HOWEVER. The rules of chemistry are exactly what allow me to play with recipes I find or to create my own. They give me the absolute freedom to toy with ingredients confidently, being able to predict my results. If you're a bit shy when it comes to improv, here are a couple tips to get you started:



*Check your "staple" cookbook for a list of substitutions, or peruse the web for a list. Have it available to reference when you're looking at a recipe but don't have all the ingredients.

*Think about the properties of any ingredient you don't have/don't like: is it a fluffer, like egg? Is it purely for flavor, like nutmeg? Is it for volume, like broth? Is it for color, like parsley? Is it for texture, like cabbage?

*Use the properties of ingredients to guide you in substituting: if you need lemon zest & juice, but you only have orange, would that still work? Or do you have store-bought lemon juice in the fridge, and could you skip the zest? If you need buttermilk but don't want to buy it, could you use milk + some sort of vinegar or lemon juice?

*Keep an entire dinner on hand in the pantry (spaghetti & pasta sauce, for instance) for the "oooops" nights when substituting and experimenting doesn't go quite so well - it'll boost your confidence & lower the risk.

The more you experiment, the more comfortable you'll grow with the rules of chemistry that guide your cooking and baking. Before you know it, you'll find yourself making your own perfect muffin recipe out of oat flour, wheat flour, flax, applesauce, and berries - or something like that. Happy Substituting!