These basics will serve you well in almost any case.
Almost any bread dough follows this general ratio.
From there, the skys the limit on the flavor or jot down of bread you want to make.
Pie Dough is always 3:2:1, flour to fat to water.
Just remember to keep your fat as cold as possible.
Pasta is always 3:2, flour to egg.
Assume one egg per person when you craft your ratios, and again, weigh everything.
3:2 tells you how much everything should weigh, not how many eggs to use.
Cookies are 3:2:1, flour to fat to sugar.
Still, this is a good jumping off point for any cookie recipe.
Pancakes are usually 2:2:1:1/2, flour to liquid to egg to fat (butter).
Crepes are always 1:1:1/2, liquid to egg to flour.
Its just milk, egg, and flour.
Heres what we mean:
Vinaigrettes are always 3:1, oil to vinegar.
Mix up some balsamic with a nice olive oil and youre done.
Mayonnaise is 20:1, oil to liquid (plus yolk).
Homemade mayo is a bit of a tricky one, since that liquid is usually water and/or lemon juice.
The egg yolk plays a significant role toousually about one yolk for a solid cup of mayonnaise.
Like we said, the ratio is the baseline and the only limit is your tastes.
Brines are usually 20:1, water to salt.
This ratio will give you a simple brine, no matter what you want to put into it.
If youre brining a turkey, itll do the job.
A few pork chops or a chicken you plan to roast?
Im a big fan ofBon Appetits Simple Brine, which is a riff onAlton Browns classic brine recipe.
All of them however, follow this simple rule.
Stocks are, generally, 3:2, water to bones.
Want to make your own chicken or beef stock?
That alone will get you a simple stock.
These are just the tip of the iceberg, too.
