Thanks to the Twitter procrastination pipe and Ed Charles, I recently became aware of the 4 Ingredients cookbook and associated television show. After the unshakable rage and bewilderment had subsided on my first viewing, I realised that it should be me profiting from people’s inability to not only cook but select appropriate means of learning to do so, rather than a pair of nasal blondes from the Sunshine Coast.
Their recipes seem thoroughly random; the sort of thing that a 6 year old would concoct to impress a parent on their birthday, picking ingredients from what was at hand in the average middle class fridge and combining with gay abandon. Yoghurt, cornflakes and chicken, together at last.
How could the public be so easily duped?
So I present to you the 4 Ingredients recipe generator.
Press reload for more recipes. Press it one hundred times to generate your own bestseller.
Press reload for more delicious 4 ingredient recipes!
Addendum: Sorry, I mixed up Ed Thomas with Ed Charles
March 26, 2009 6:14 pm
Authentic Mexican baked beans with strawberry yoghurt; African inspired skinless turkey breast with fish fingers; Moroccan-spiced bacon with Minties – hours of fun for all the family!
March 26, 2009 6:17 pm
The sad thing is that the first recipe that I tried actually sounded delicious. As follows.
Authentic boiled potato with champagne
Ingredients:
500 grams of boiled potato
3 tablespoons of champagne
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of parsley
1.Par-boil the boiled potato, champagne, butter and the parsley
2. Roast for an hour.
March 26, 2009 7:08 pm
Phil, that’s gold.
March 26, 2009 8:25 pm
Why did I get cool whip as an ingredient in my first three recipes?
Then a mega umami recipe for my fourth? Mmmm double Gravox.
500 grams of tinned mushroom soup
3 tablespoons of Gravox
3 tablespoons of Gravox
3 tablespoons of parsley
1.Roast the tinned mushroom soup, Gravox, Gravox and the parsley
2. Par-boil for an hour.
Seriiously WTF?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lich59xsjik
March 26, 2009 10:20 pm
Hock – The repetition is because my randomiser is slack. As for getting cool hwhip three times in a row, that is some sort of sign.
March 27, 2009 12:42 am
I was more concerned that the “recipenerator” had some sort of trojan ability and knew about my trashy diet via my googling.
Anyway I am off to whip up some “Easy lamb chops with cocoa pops”.
It’s a very gourmet recipe….extra virgin olive oil? I believe they stock that shit at pharmacies.
March 27, 2009 10:28 am
My favourite is my sister’s recipe’s she wrote when she was 15 years old.
Sweetcorn
1. open tin with can opener.
2. Tip contents into pan.
3. Stir with wooden spoon until warm
4. Serve on plate
You mean Charles not Thomas – sorry, I don’t usually edit the interweb.
March 27, 2009 10:36 am
Sorry, Ed. I think that’s the second time I’ve done that. Amended.
March 27, 2009 11:55 am
How wonderful! Five gold stars and a Gravox scratch-n-sniff sticker for you, Phil.
March 27, 2009 12:30 pm
standing ovation, over excited pompous clapping, Phil Less this is your finest work!
March 27, 2009 12:34 pm
“African-inspired Mars Bars with parmesan cheese”
he he he he he he he he he he he
March 27, 2009 9:02 pm
I have only seen one episode which gave their top four tips for how to raise children. I thought it was hilarious – I wondered whether the producers were being satiric (clearly the two women aren’t…..)
March 28, 2009 9:03 am
Awesome. I found a bug in your code, though:
Authentic skinless chicken breast with salt
Ingredients:
* 1800 grams of skinless chicken breast
* 3 tablespoons of salt
* 2 tablespoons of Tim Tams
* 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1.Boil the skinless chicken breast, salt, Tim Tams and the extra virgin olive oil
2. undefined for an hour.
Serves 4.
But maybe “undefined for an hour” was deliberate.
March 28, 2009 10:36 am
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
April 30, 2009 10:50 am
Thank god. This is pure gold – brilliant.
September 19, 2009 6:15 pm
LOL This is so wonderful
Mmm Yummy…
Middle Eastern boiled potato with strawberry yoghurt — Hurl!
It was all very funny until
Mediterranean pork chops with hoisin sauce
Ingredients:
400 grams of pork chops
3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
5 tablespoons of pine nuts
3 tablespoons of minced garlic
1.Marinate the pork chops, hoisin sauce, pine nuts and the minced garlic
2. Microwave for an hour.
Serves 4.
which sounds delicious a bit of tweaking an im thinking Hmm that could actually
work. must be drinking too much…
October 7, 2009 1:27 pm
Hahah this is so great. I recoil in horror whenever I see that book on the shelves.
April 2, 2010 6:43 pm
Oh Phil, have been spending some time with the blogs of the folks I met at Eat.Drink.BLog and found yet another reason why I blog! To share the horror that is 4 Ingredients with others. And so I don’t feel weird by not thinking these two are just marvellous!
Laughed very heartily! luckily I think I have all the ingredients I need for the sausage recipe below in my kitchen now – off to whip up dinner – toodles!
European-style sausage with minced garlic
Ingredients:
1200 grams of sausage
3 tablespoons of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of sugar
1.Marinate the sausage, minced garlic, parmesan cheese and the sugar
2. Liquify for an hour.
March 1, 2011 7:59 am
I think you have almost, come very close to, just about hit the nail on the head with you 4 ingredients recipe generator. But there is one refinement I would like to suggest. All of the ingredients should be products made from other indredients. ie Coco Pops, Minites, Fruit Tingles, cans of soup, packets of dehydrated stuff and stock cubes should stay on the list because they are already products. Parsley and potatoes have to go or should only be one of the 4 indredients.
June 3, 2011 2:21 pm
I’d never realised celery and cocoa pops go together until I saw it in a recipe…