Recipe Standardization: Reflection
It is important for us to learn how to standardize, prepare, and evaluate a recipe because this a skill that we will use in the future if we work as dietitians or in an institutional food service. For example, if we were to plan meal for a school lunch program or a hospital but wanted to use a homemade recipe that was written for only a serving of 6, we will need to know how to accurately scale up the recipe so that it can make 50 or even a couple hundred servings. Learning how to standardize a recipe also takes time because you learn how to improve and adjust the recipe according to how it turns out when it is doubled and then eventually scaled up larger, in our case it was to 50 servings. Adjusting the recipe such as adding or removing certain ingredients is part of the normal process when practicing scaling up and standardizing a recipe.
My partner, Riley, and I made a vegan carrot soup with caramelized onions and it will be served as a starter or side soup for our family and friends. We found the recipe on a website called “The Tomato Tart” which features homemade and gluten-free recipes. (All the recipes are linked above.) We thought that this would be a good recipe to serve to a large crowd because people who are vegan, vegetarian, or have gluten-intolerances would be able to enjoy it as well! We made the first batch following the how the recipe was originally written except we adjusted what herbs we used. The recipe called for lemon thyme and piment d’espelette, but instead we added parsley and turmeric. Also, after reading through the instructions, we knew that it would take the most time to caramelize the onions, so we focused on getting all the onions chopped and sautéing first and then going back to finish chopping the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Our mise en place consisted of the already chopped vegetables, the measured out vegetable broth, the measured out spices and herbs, and all of the pans and pots on the stove. We also had the immersion blender ready for when the boiled vegetables were ready to be blended into the final soup product.
The first batch made about 7 ½ servings that we sampled out to the class. After getting their feedback, we decided to add garlic and more salt to the next doubled batch to give it more flavor. The class feedback from the doubled recipe was very positive and an improvement from the first batch so we will stick to the adjustments in ingredients that we made. When we doubled our recipe, we were sure to weigh out all the ingredients in pounds and ounces, and the smaller ingredients in teaspoons, which made it possible to calculate how much of each ingredient we will need when we make 50 servings of the soup. We will make our final 50 serving recipe this weekend for our family and friends.
My partner, Riley, and I made a vegan carrot soup with caramelized onions and it will be served as a starter or side soup for our family and friends. We found the recipe on a website called “The Tomato Tart” which features homemade and gluten-free recipes. (All the recipes are linked above.) We thought that this would be a good recipe to serve to a large crowd because people who are vegan, vegetarian, or have gluten-intolerances would be able to enjoy it as well! We made the first batch following the how the recipe was originally written except we adjusted what herbs we used. The recipe called for lemon thyme and piment d’espelette, but instead we added parsley and turmeric. Also, after reading through the instructions, we knew that it would take the most time to caramelize the onions, so we focused on getting all the onions chopped and sautéing first and then going back to finish chopping the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Our mise en place consisted of the already chopped vegetables, the measured out vegetable broth, the measured out spices and herbs, and all of the pans and pots on the stove. We also had the immersion blender ready for when the boiled vegetables were ready to be blended into the final soup product.
The first batch made about 7 ½ servings that we sampled out to the class. After getting their feedback, we decided to add garlic and more salt to the next doubled batch to give it more flavor. The class feedback from the doubled recipe was very positive and an improvement from the first batch so we will stick to the adjustments in ingredients that we made. When we doubled our recipe, we were sure to weigh out all the ingredients in pounds and ounces, and the smaller ingredients in teaspoons, which made it possible to calculate how much of each ingredient we will need when we make 50 servings of the soup. We will make our final 50 serving recipe this weekend for our family and friends.
Comments