[Disclaimer: I'm not sure if this is the ocrrect forum for this thread, but here goes 
]
Up to about a year ago I was constantly trying to create more and more complex dishes, combining all sorts of ingredients ending up with equally complex tastes that more often than not were no more than just "okay" tasting.
After watching Kitchen Chemistry on the Discovery channel last year (I've got an MSc in chemistry, so that show was right up my alley
) I started going the other way though. Combine as few ingredients as possible and try to create those simple dishes that "just work".
I've set myself a task of trying to collect as many recipes as I can with no more than 5 main ingredients (I'm not counting common "building blocks" here like milk, water, eggs and flour). One example of this is the norwegian lamb and cabbage pot I just posted here. Another is the Irish dish Colcannon.
What I'm trying to achieve with this is not just a collection of simple recipes that taste great, more importantly I'm trying to build a "library" or index if you like of sets of maybe two or three ingredients that work great together. This I'd like to use as cornerstone ingredients which can be put together in different ways with different seasoning to create variety but still retain that Just Works taste to it.
I don't know if I'm making much sense here, but if you've got any such simple recipes that tastes great with only a few ingredients, I'd be happy if you'd post them! (steak and fries can be skipped)
Tips on cookbooks with a similar approach to cooking are also much appreciated.
EDIT: I forgot to add that I'm already aware of the following books (I only own the first though):
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - Harold McGee
The Science of Cooking - Peter Barham
]Up to about a year ago I was constantly trying to create more and more complex dishes, combining all sorts of ingredients ending up with equally complex tastes that more often than not were no more than just "okay" tasting.
After watching Kitchen Chemistry on the Discovery channel last year (I've got an MSc in chemistry, so that show was right up my alley
) I started going the other way though. Combine as few ingredients as possible and try to create those simple dishes that "just work".I've set myself a task of trying to collect as many recipes as I can with no more than 5 main ingredients (I'm not counting common "building blocks" here like milk, water, eggs and flour). One example of this is the norwegian lamb and cabbage pot I just posted here. Another is the Irish dish Colcannon.
What I'm trying to achieve with this is not just a collection of simple recipes that taste great, more importantly I'm trying to build a "library" or index if you like of sets of maybe two or three ingredients that work great together. This I'd like to use as cornerstone ingredients which can be put together in different ways with different seasoning to create variety but still retain that Just Works taste to it.
I don't know if I'm making much sense here, but if you've got any such simple recipes that tastes great with only a few ingredients, I'd be happy if you'd post them! (steak and fries can be skipped
) Tips on cookbooks with a similar approach to cooking are also much appreciated.
EDIT: I forgot to add that I'm already aware of the following books (I only own the first though):
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - Harold McGee
The Science of Cooking - Peter Barham
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I higly recommend watching 
