plug for Felicity Cloake’s “how to cook the perfect” recipes in the guardian. she makes multiple versions of common recipes talking about the effects of the different ingredients and methods before giving her take on it. you learn about how the recipe works and are able to make substitutions/ changes much more easily. of course you can always skip to the last section where she gives her version concisely and with note a word about her grandmother.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/series/how-to-cook-the-perf...