Modern recipe style uses some or all of these typographic elements:

title

subtitle

headnote

list

method

sidenote

endnote

picture

They get laid out something like this:

	title
	subtitle
	headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote
	list list list list
sidenote sidenote	method method method method method method method method method method method	sidenote sidenote
	method method method method method method method method method
	method method method method method method method method method method method
	endnote endnote endnote

Pictures go anywhere from the head to the side to the end or the facing page, or even to a separate section.

The Williams‑Sonoma books are notable for the beauty and clarity of their design. Here's an example from Georgeanne Brennan's Williams‑Sonoma Salad[1]:

(Recipes are marked up to help protect authors' rights.)

The text page is laid out like this:

	title
picture	method method method method method method method method method method method	list list list list list list list list
sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote sidenote	method method method method method method method method method
	method method method method method method method method method method method
	endnote #1 endnote #2

with a full‑page picture bled (i.e. run all the way out to the edges) on the facing page. It thrills me that the richest king or queen in ages past couldn't have had more beautiful pictures for any amount of money, and today we can buy these books in the grocery store.

Sugar, the firm that did the book design for Barbara Lauterbach's The Splendid Spoonful,[2] also uses the side of the recipe for the list:

Looking again just at the text page:

	list list list list list list list list
headnote
title
headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote
method method method method method method method	sidenote sidenote
method method method method method

Sometimes photographs are atmospheric rather than illustrative. For instance, look at this recipe for celery root salad from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris:[3]

We don't buy Ina Garten's cookbooks just because we like the recipes; we buy them also because we like her. In this format the method carries over to the right‑hand page:

	title
	headnote
	headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote headnote	method method method method method method method method method method method method method method method
sidenote	list list list list
sidenote	method method method method method method method method method method method
	method method method method method method method method method
	method method method method method method method method method method method

These elements are meant to convey some or all of the answers to your questions: What does the recipe make, and how?

---

[1] Georgeanne Brennan:

Williams‑Sonoma Salad

Simon & Schuster, 2001

ph: Noel Barnhurst

pages 94-95

[2] Barbara Lauterbach:

The Splendid Spoonful

Chronicle, 2005

ph: Kirsten Strecker

pages 72-73

[3] Ina Garten:

Barefoot in Paris

Clarkson Potter, 2004

ph: Quentin Bacon

pages 9444-95