On Monday I wanted to make a curry from Anjum Anand's book when went to the cupboard I realised I didn't have the necessary cardamom, cumin, tomatoes chillies or fresh ginger. So I improvised guessing quantities of of garam masala, tomato juice and hot chilli powder. It turned out rather well in the end.

I'm not always so lucky with winging it with recipes though, a few years ago, halfway through a cake an realising I had no baking powder I improvised with some bicarbonate of soda. It tasted like sucking on a brillo pad.

So how religiously do you follow recipes? And what have been your best and worst improvisations?

I'm afraid I never follow recipes to the letter, I just get ideas from recipes then make the rest up as I go along.

Which is why it is never any good asking me for a recipe for anything, nothing ever turns out the same twice!!!

The only exceptions are cake making, but even that proves a point for me as I rarely have any success baking cakes even when I follow the recipe.

For the first time, I'll follow the recipe to the letter. If I haven't got all the ingrediants I'll wait 'till I have.
After that I adjust to taste if need be.

well often on a recipe if i haven't got the specific item i have found substitutes for example the simnel loaf cake in the Good Food mag this month said sultana's i didn't have any but i had raisins and used those instead and the recipe turned out loverly curry mixes i do use the ready made pastes, and keep the jar in the fridge.

I am like Rosti and people who ask us kind of folk for a recipe think you are trying to keep a secret in case they copy you and it is not the case.

I am also the same with cakes, however, yesterday I tried a new recipe for banana muffins and as I had loads of overipe bananas, I trebled the quantities. The first batch didn't taste right and since they were fat free, I added a few glugs of sunflower oil and the rest were fantastic. Still had bananas left (no I do not have a plantation in my back garden) but did not want to waste them, so I mashed them added lemon juice, butter and icing sugar and it made a fantastic topping, decorated with grated chocolate (they were pretty healthy until then) and finished by eating the remainder of the chocolate for my hard work!!

Does anybody else have a really nice meal out and try to work out exactly how it has been made. I recently had a fab goats cheese tart and I am going to try and replicate this. Has anybody got a good recipe??

Mmm, goats cheese tart.

This is one I make quite often - although it may vary slightly depending on the mood/fridge/larder.

Ready rolled puff pastry cut to to the shape/size you require - no need to bother pricking it or anything else (I don't make it myself - life is too short and the ready made ones are good quality these days).

Red onions sliced and fried until softened and caramelised then add a good glug of balsamic. Allow to cool and then spread over the base of your pastry, leaving a 1 - 2cm gap around the edge for the "frame" to rise around your tart. Sprinkle over quite a bit of fresh thyme and then either lay a round of goats cheese (if you're using the rinded one) or if younger cheese then just crumble it over. I sometimes then add crumbled walnuts and a drizzle of the same nut oil (in this case walnut) and then in an oven at 180 for about 20 mins until the pastry is golden and the cheese is melted. Served with a nice side salad, warm, it is equally good when cold.

Enjoy.

Mrs Woof Woof - Thanks I will give it a try sounds delicious. The one I had was in short crust pastry and think it may have had a sort of 'quiche layer' with tomatoes and goats cheese on top. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It is also nice with the addition of some chopped up sundried tomatoes.

Not sure if these count as cheats or not, but I always make a scone base for home made pizzas rather than a bread dough. Adding cheese and herbs makes it tasty.

I also mainly use tinned pulses these days rather than soaking dried ones, the only dried I use are probably red lentils.

A good cheat when making a pasta dish that requires both a white sauce and a tomato sauce, is to add a tub of low fat fromage frais to the tomato sauce instead. It turns the tomato sauce creamy without all the bother of making the white sauce and is also a lot healthier!