Imagine for a minute you need a recipe for a meal, say baby back ribs. You search the internet for various recipes and find one that claims it’s the best ribs ever. As you dig into the recipe you find one ingredient you don’t have. Now what? If you’re experienced with cooking, you can find an alternative. If you’re ignorant like me, you find another recipe. Then, you find another ingredient you’re missing.
LLM (Large Language Models) are very impressive. Most media will use “Artificial Intelligence” to describe them since people are attracted to certain headlines and not what they are. Various use cases such as using them to help shop for cheap airline tickets make LLMs appear as artificially intelligent. Still, it’s realistically just statistics: what is the most likely next word given the prompt I have based on all the knowledge I’ve been fed?
This leads me to recipes. There are hundreds – maybe thousands – of recipe websites and we’re all probably sick of looking for a recipe and finding several paragraphs of useless background on the recipe. The reason for that is simple: Google likes it. Then we scroll for 30 seconds to find the recipe. Advantage point to LLMs that have already digested the background of every recipe. The irony that I also have an introduction doesn’t escape me. Here is what I asked Claude, by Anthropic:
Pretend you are a chef. I want to cook a rack of babyback ribs in an InstantPot. Can you give me a good recipe for the water mix in the instantpot?
Me
Claude’s response:
As a chef, I'd be happy to provide you with a flavorful recipe for cooking babyback ribs in an InstantPot. Here's a good mixture for the liquid base:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until the brown sugar dissolves.
2. Pour this mixture into the InstantPot.
3. Place the rack of ribs on the trivet inside the pot, meat side facing up.
4. Cook on high pressure for about 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of your rack), followed by a 10-minute natural release.
This liquid mixture will infuse your ribs with a tangy, savory flavor while keeping them moist during the pressure cooking process. After cooking, you can brush the ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce and broil them for a few minutes to caramelize if desired.
Would you like any additional tips for preparing the ribs or adjusting the flavors?
Problem: I don’t have brown sugar, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, or smoked paprika. Solution: tell Claude.
I don’t have apple juice, apple cider, or brown sugar. I have rice vineger and wine vineger. I also have white sugar.
Me
Of course, I can adjust the recipe to use white sugar and rice vinegar. Here's the modified version:
Ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth or water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons white sugar (slightly less than the brown sugar, as white is sweeter)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey (to add some depth that brown sugar would have provided)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
In a bowl, mix all ingredients until the sugar and honey are fully dissolved.
Pour this mixture into the InstantPot.
Place the rack of ribs on the trivet inside the pot, meat side up.
Cook on high pressure for 25-30 minutes (adjust based on the size of your rack), followed by a 10-minute natural release.
For the sauce:
After cooking, remove the ribs and switch to Sauté mode. Simmer the liquid for 10-15 minutes to reduce. If you want to thicken it further, you can still use the cornstarch slurry method mentioned earlier.
Note: Rice vinegar is milder than apple cider vinegar, so the overall flavor will be less tangy. The white sugar will provide sweetness but lacks the molasses notes of brown sugar. The honey helps compensate for this, but the flavor profile will be slightly different – a bit cleaner and less complex.
Would you like any suggestions on how to adjust the seasonings to complement these changes?
As I’m putting the ingredients together, I start to realize something after a while:
I don’t have paprika, but I do have five spice powder, seven spice powder, cayenne, and curry
Me
Claude responds:
Interesting combination of spices! Let's adapt the recipe using what you have available. I'd suggest using a mix of these spices to create a unique and flavorful profile for your ribs. Here's an adjusted version:
Ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth or water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon seven spice powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to your heat preference)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until the sugar and honey are fully dissolved.
Pour the mixture into the InstantPot.
Place the rack of ribs on the trivet inside the pot, meat side up.
Cook on high pressure for 25-30 minutes, followed by a 10-minute natural release.
For the sauce:
After cooking, remove the ribs and switch to Sauté mode. Simmer the liquid for 10-15 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavors.
This spice combination will give your ribs a complex, aromatic flavor with a hint of heat from the cayenne. The five spice powder will provide some warmth and depth, while the seven spice and curry powders add interesting layers of flavor.
Keep in mind that this flavor profile will be quite different from traditional BBQ ribs - it will have more of an Asian-fusion flair. If you find the sauce too spicy or strong after reducing, you can balance it by adding a bit more sugar or honey.
Would you like any suggestions on how to adjust the spice levels or balance the flavors?
Great. I have all the ingredients now. The amazing thing is that I didn’t have to give up in the middle of a recipe because I was missing an ingredient when I wasn’t paying attention to everything. I assumed I had paprika, but I didn’t. Claude didn’t care; it determined the next logical replacement given all the recipes online. However, I was bothered by the 30 minutes high pressure since I was going away for the day.
i want to slow cook the ribs for 10 hours
Me
Claude responds:
Certainly! Slow cooking ribs for 10 hours will make them incredibly tender. We'll need to adjust the recipe for a slow cooker method. Here's how you can adapt the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth or water
1/4 cup rice vinegar (reduced amount as it will concentrate over long cooking)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon seven spice powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small onion, roughly chopped
Instructions:
Mix all liquid ingredients and spices in a bowl.
Place the chopped onion in the bottom of your slow cooker.
If your rack of ribs is too large, cut it into smaller portions that will fit in your slow cooker.
Place the ribs in the slow cooker, meat side up.
Pour the mixed liquid over the ribs.
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.
After cooking:
Carefully remove the ribs from the slow cooker - they'll be very tender and may fall apart easily.
Pour the liquid from the slow cooker into a saucepan.
Simmer the liquid on the stovetop to reduce and thicken it into a sauce, about 15-20 minutes.
Optional: Strain the sauce if you want to remove the onion pieces.
Brush the sauce over the ribs.
If desired, place the sauced ribs under the broiler for a few minutes to caramelize the surface.
This method will result in extremely tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs. The flavors will be more mellow and integrated due to the long cooking time. Remember to check your slow cooker's manual for any specific instructions or safety guidelines for long cooking times.
Would you like any tips on how to serve or pair these slow-cooked ribs?
I ignored its questions. Don’t hate me, Claude. In any case, the result I had was amazing ribs with a tangy sauce with a slight spice aftertaste. Honestly, it was the best ribs I’ve had except when my wife makes them because she’s a magician in the kitchen. Below are pictures:
Yes, I put the ribs over rice. It’s something we do in Chinese cuisine.
I also used Claude for waffles. When it gave me the initial recipe, it said it could feed about four people. For this particular situation, I only needed it for two. So, it was able to adjust the ingredients. Below is the resulting recipe:
Amazing waffles for two!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
In another small bowl, beat the egg and then add the milk, vegetable oil (or melted butter), and vanilla extract. Mix well.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don't overmix; some small lumps are okay.
Preheat your waffle iron according to its instructions.
Pour half of the batter onto the preheated waffle iron (amount may vary depending on your waffle iron's size).
Cook until the waffle is golden brown and crispy on the outside.
Repeat with the remaining batter to make the second waffle.
Serve immediately with your favorite toppings such as butter, maple syrup, fresh fruits, or whipped cream.
Enjoy your amazing waffles!
Tips:
This recipe makes approximately two medium-sized waffles. Adjust slightly if needed based on your specific waffle iron.
If you have any leftover batter, you can refrigerate it for up to 24 hours.
For extra fluffiness, you can still separate the egg, mix the yolk with the wet ingredients, and beat the white until stiff peaks form. Fold the white into the batter as the last step before cooking.
What will you cook with AI as your chef?