Specific recipes in a mess (7)
I believe the answer is:
precise
'specific' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'recipes in a mess' is the wordplay.
'in a mess' indicates an anagram.
'recipes' with letters rearranged gives 'PRECISE'.
(Other definitions for precise that I've seen before include "'Exact, accurate (7)'" , "Highly accurate and sharply exact" , "Express" , "with accuracy" , "Recipes (anag.)" .)