How do you come up with recipes?

I'm curious how you come up with new recipes for a book.

Do you intentionally try to develop recipes for a book ("I need to come up with another rib recipe!") or do the recipes naturally develop out of a sense of exploration and then one day you discover that, hey, there are enough unique ideas here for a new book!

Also ... and if this is in your book, I apologize ... what is your preference in charcoal? Like many (most?) I only use Kingsford, but some I know swear by various brands of lump.

P.S. - This is such a cool opportunity for us. Thank you for sharing your time!

Dennis,

For me, recipes happen in a number of ways. Mostly they come to life naturally. I go to the store looking for something to cook for dinner. If I see some pork chops or scallops that look like they need to be grilled, I figure out on the spot how to treat them. Maybe they need a little help from the produce section. Maybe I've got enough in my pantry at home to bring some pizzazz to the party. I fire up the grill and get down to business. Rarely do I nail a recipe perfectly the first time, but I take careful notes and next time, maybe a few days later, I try a slight variation. When I am happy with the results, I put the recipe in my inventory. When it’s time to write a book, I review what I have in my inventory and start thinking of how well I’m covering the topic. I always want to have a wide range of recipes that span the various international influences, levels of difficulty, and of course a good proportion of beef, pork, chicken, seafood, and vegetable recipes. I like to get out on the road and talk to other chefs/cooks about what’s new and interesting. On forums like this one I often get new ideas for recipes that provide balance for what I’ve already developed. Sometimes I feature other people’s recipes in the books.

Then I get the help of recipe testers. I ask people to try the recipes and grade them. That way I can identify the clunkers and get rid of them. I also identify the winners that way. Those are the ones I feature in classes and demos.

I hope that answers your question. Thanks for asking.

Jamie

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Then I get the help of recipe testers. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Anyone have an emoticon for someone energetically waving their hand?!

Jamie ... I really enjoyed reading your description of how you develop recipes. Very interesting.