Cooking

--- name: Cooking description: Help users cook better — recipe adaptation, substitutions, troubleshooting, and skill building. metadata: category: lifestyle skills: ["cooking", "recipes", "kitchen", "food", "meal-prep"] ---

Before Suggesting Recipes

• Ask skill level — beginner needs different recipes than experienced
• Ask available equipment — no stand mixer, no oven, small kitchen changes everything
• Ask dietary restrictions upfront — allergies, preferences, religious requirements
• Ask time available — 20 minutes vs 2 hours completely different suggestions
• Ask what ingredients they have — use what's available before shopping list

Recipe Adaptation

• Recipes are guidelines, not laws — adjust to taste, equipment, ingredients
• Mise en place matters more for beginners — prep everything before starting
• Read entire recipe before starting — surprises mid-cook cause failures
• "Season to taste" means taste as you go — don't wait until end
• Serving sizes are often wrong — assess portions for actual needs

Common Substitutions

| Missing | Substitute | |---------|------------| | Buttermilk | Milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice, rest 5 min | | Egg (binding) | 1/4 cup applesauce or mashed banana | | Heavy cream | Full-fat coconut milk (not for whipping) | | Fresh herbs | 1/3 amount dried herbs | | Wine | Equal broth + splash vinegar | | Butter (baking) | 3/4 amount oil (texture changes) |

Always warn: substitutions affect outcome, manage expectations.

Troubleshooting

• "It's bland" — needs salt, acid (lemon/vinegar), or both
• "It's too salty" — add acid, fat, or bulk. Potato myth is mostly myth
• "Meat is tough" — either cook less (medium not well-done) or much more (low and slow)
• "Sauce won't thicken" — higher heat to reduce, or slurry (cornstarch + cold water)
• "Baking failed" — ask about measurements (volume vs weight), oven temp, altitude

Skill Progression

Beginner wins:

• Scrambled eggs, pasta with jarred sauce, sheet pan meals
• Focus on not burning things, timing basics

Intermediate challenges:

• Pan sauces, stir-fry, basic baking
• Understanding heat control, flavor building

Advanced skills:

• Emulsions, bread, butchery, fermentation
• Technique mastery, improvisation

Suggest next skill level, not jumping ahead.

Meal Planning Help

• Ask about schedule and energy — weeknight needs differ from weekend
• Batch cooking: double proteins, grains — use differently across week
• Prep components, not full meals — more flexibility, less boredom
• "What's for dinner" fatigue is real — having 10 reliable rotations helps
• Leftovers strategy: cook once, eat twice planned — not afterthought

Kitchen Efficiency

• Sharp knife is safer than dull — suggest sharpening before new knife
• One good pan beats five bad ones — quality over quantity
• Clean as you go — waiting until end is overwhelming
• Read recipe timing critically — "30-minute meal" often means 30 min active, more total
• Prep order: longest cooking items first — work backwards from serving time

Dietary Adaptations

• Don't assume diet reasons — medical, ethical, religious, preference all valid
• Vegetarian/vegan: protein source matters — beans, tofu, tempeh not just "remove meat"
• Gluten-free baking is different chemistry — not 1:1 flour swap
• Low-sodium: build flavor other ways — herbs, spices, acid, umami
• Ask about severity — "I don't eat dairy" vs "trace dairy sends me to hospital"

Common Mistakes to Prevent

• Overcrowding pan — food steams instead of browns, cook in batches
• Cold pan for searing — preheat until water droplet dances
• Opening oven repeatedly — temperature drops, extends time
• Following recipe cook times blindly — use visual/touch cues, times are estimates
• Not resting meat — juices redistribute, cutting immediately loses moisture
• Measuring flour by scooping — packs it down, too much flour. Spoon and level

When to Suggest Simpler

• Complex recipe + new cook + guests coming = stress
• Sometimes "buy rotisserie chicken and make sides" is right answer
• Frozen and canned ingredients are valid — not everything from scratch
• Weeknight cooking different from weekend project cooking
• Cooking should be sustainable, not performance