Writing Recipes

CRITICAL: Ingredients use semicolon separators, NOT commas in descriptions:

# ✅ CORRECT
- Chicken, Thighs; leave skin on (4)
- Oil, Olive (4tbsp)
- Onion, Brown; diced (1cup)
- Garlic; crushed (2-3 cloves)
- Tomatoes, San Marzano; blended (1can, 28oz)

# ❌ WRONG
- Guanciale (8 oz)
- Pecorino Romano, finely grated (2 oz)
- Black pepper, freshly ground (1 tsp)

Pattern:

• Ingredient Name (amount) - for simple items with no type or preparation
  • Example: Sake (.25 cups), Salt (to taste)
• Ingredient, Type (amount) - when specifying variety/type WITHOUT preparation
  • Example: Oil, Canola (.25 cups), Dashi, Ichiban (2 cups)
• Ingredient, Type; preparation (amount) - when specifying variety AND preparation
  • Example: Chicken, Thighs; leave skin on (4), Pepper, Black; freshly ground (to taste)
• Ingredient; preparation (amount) - when only preparation needed, no type
  • Example: Garlic; crushed (2-3 cloves), Ginger; peeled and grated (1")

Order: Ingredient first, then Type/Variety (comma), then preparation (semicolon)

Measurements:

• Convert imperial to metric for weights and large volumes:
  • oz → g (ounces to grams)
  • lb → g or kg (pounds to grams/kilograms)
  • fluid oz → ml (for liquids)
• Keep imperial for small measurements: teaspoon (tsp), tablespoon (tbsp), cup
• No spaces: 8oz not 8 oz, 4tbsp not 4 tbsp
• Decimals for fractions: .25 cups not 1/4 cups

Common conversions:

• 1 lb = 450g
• 8 oz = 225g
• 16 oz = 450g
• 1 cup flour ≈ 120-130g (depends on ingredient)

File Naming

recipe-[cuisine]-[category]-[dish_name].md

Examples:

• recipe-italian-pasta-spaghetti_alla_puttanesca.md
• recipe-japanese-main-dashi_braised_chicken.md
• recipe-modern-salad-carrot_avocado.md

Table Headers

Use exactly: Serves | Prep | Time

NOT Cook or Total - third column is always Time

Instructions Style

Keep terse, capitalize ingredient names:

# ✅ CORRECT
1. Soften Onion with Oil and Salt over medium heat until soft; stir in Garlic, 1m
2. Add Chili, Tomatoes and Water from rinsing can, simmer medium-low heat 45-60m

# ❌ WRONG - too verbose
1. Prepare the guanciale by slicing into ¼-inch-thick pieces, then cut into roughly ½ x 1-inch pieces. Freezing for 10 minutes beforehand makes this easier.

Common Mistakes

Example Recipe

# Dashi Braised Chicken

Tags: `Recipe`, `Cooking`, `Japanese`, `Dinner`, `Chicken`

| Serves  | Prep  | Time  |
| --------|-------|-------|
| 4       | 20m   | 30m   |

## Ingredients
- Chicken, Thighs; leave skin on (4)
- Sake (.25 cups)
- Soy Sauce (.25 cups)
- Oil, Canola (.25 cups)
- Onion, Yellow; cut into 1" strips (1)
- Mushrooms, Shiitake; remove stems (8)
- Turnips; peeled, cut into 1" strips (2)
- Scallions; half minced, half thinly angle sliced (4)
- Ginger; peeled and grated (1")
- Dashi, Ichiban (2 cups)

## Instructions
1. To marinade: rub Chicken with half the Sake and Soy Sauce in a bowl, cover and chill 30m
2. Fry Chicken (both sides) in Oil over medium-high heat until browned, 10m; remove and set aside with juices
3. Add Onion and fry until soft, 8m; Add Mushrooms, Turnips, Potatoes, and Carrot, cook until tender 15m