Secret Ingredients

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Discussion

ali_kat

Original Poster:

32,041 posts

232 months

Sunday 9th September 2007
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What do you to add that little something to a dish, that gives it that 'magic' spark to make it 'yours'? You know what I mean, the 'thing' you do to a meal that makes all your mates rave about it and want to come for dinner biggrin

For example :-

Chocolate in chiili

Mine

jar of salsa and/or chillis into bolognese sauce.
honey instead of sugar in Thai cooking.
worcester sauce in stroganoff
Season-All on pork chops (before grilling)


jmorgan

36,010 posts

295 months

Sunday 9th September 2007
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Balsamic vinegar gets a hammering in my house. Great for making dressings or adding to stocks and stews etc etc. Along with the usual lea and perrins etc.

TpdNotts

879 posts

214 months

Monday 10th September 2007
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Chinese Five Spice
Worcestshire Sauce

uberscruff

3,239 posts

221 months

Monday 10th September 2007
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Pinch of salt into chocolate things.

Noger

7,117 posts

260 months

Monday 10th September 2007
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Tomato Ketchup in tomato based sauces, adds that extra bit of sweetness.

Balsamic Vinegar in Baked Beans.

Tina K

21,424 posts

223 months

Monday 10th September 2007
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Finely crumbled dried wild mushrooms make excellent 'taste adders' to any savoury dish. They are my secret ingredient for pasta sauce, chili and risotto. I hunt my own in the local woodlands in autumn, slice them up and dry them on a tea towel over a radiator.

drivin_me_nuts

17,949 posts

222 months

Monday 10th September 2007
quotequote all
Casseroles or anything with the word stew in it

Meat is always browned in a pan with a small amount of turmeric and often a few strands of gods own luxury - saffron

uberscruff

3,239 posts

221 months

Monday 10th September 2007
quotequote all
Tina K said:
Finely crumbled dried wild mushrooms make excellent 'taste adders' to any savoury dish. They are my secret ingredient for pasta sauce, chili and risotto. I hunt my own in the local woodlands in autumn, slice them up and dry them on a tea towel over a radiator.
yes There's a very good reason that this works so well: Dried wild mushrooms are very high in free glutamate - the natural form of MSG - which gives a "savoury" flavour to food (the Japanese call it Umami and consider it to be one of the basic tastes along with Sweetness, Sourness, Saltiness and Bitterness). Parmesan cheese, seaweed and tomatoes are also very high in free glutamate. nerd

ETA: Worcestshire Sauce also has lots of glutamate in it.


Edited by uberscruff on Monday 10th September 15:19

Tina K

21,424 posts

223 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
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^^^ Wow - didn't know that. Thanks! thumbup

Tina K

21,424 posts

223 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
quotequote all
I also swear by a really good chicken stock as the basis of any soup, casserole, or gravy. A quick googling of the aforementioned 'umami', makes me realise that this is again following the same idea.

Whenever I roast a chicken, I leave all the appendages / skinny bits intact to get nice and crispy, then pull them off and freeze them until I have a good potful for stock.

Celery, onions etc also add that 'savoury' character, so they both go into the pot for slow simmering, straining, then reducing. Shop-bought stock doesn't have the depth of flavour required imho, and I personally find that even the best quality stock cubes are too salty.

Edited by Tina K on Tuesday 11th September 01:59

vernan

137 posts

220 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
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Chicken livers in Bolognese sauce (qv)

dbroughton

304 posts

225 months

Tuesday 11th September 2007
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thai fish sauce in everything

Bunglist

545 posts

241 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
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Learn to cook properly and you wont need secret ingredients. laugh



Edited by Bunglist on Wednesday 12th September 16:19

ali_kat

Original Poster:

32,041 posts

232 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
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You think?

But that just means you put in to your cooking what everyone else does - how boring rolleyes

drivin_me_nuts

17,949 posts

222 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
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..another really good one for casseroles is Iranian dried limes. Most middle eastern type stores sell them. You wash them under cold water and pierce them in a few places with a very sharp knife (without stabbing youself!) and then add 2-3 to a casserole. They give a slight citrus sharpness. Take them out after cooking..

dbroughton

304 posts

225 months

Wednesday 12th September 2007
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Bunglist said:
Learn to cook properly and you wont need secret ingredients. laugh



Edited by Bunglist on Wednesday 12th September 16:19
Just seem Marco Pierre White, One of Britains greatest every chefs put a full bottle of Worcester Sauce in a Steak with pepper sauce.



Tina K

21,424 posts

223 months

Thursday 13th September 2007
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dbroughton said:
Bunglist said:
Learn to cook properly and you wont need secret ingredients. laugh



Edited by Bunglist on Wednesday 12th September 16:19
Just seem Marco Pierre White, One of Britains greatest every chefs put a full bottle of Worcester Sauce in a Steak with pepper sauce.
I was once 'fortunate' enough to eat at MPW's 'The Restaurant' rolleyes in Knightsbridge (on the company tab, fortunately), where the food was so bad that I've virtually dined out out on the story ever since: lobster salad, dressed with stale mayonnaise, diced raw onion and soggy frozen green beans. Absolutely horrible. yuck

dbroughton

304 posts

225 months

Thursday 13th September 2007
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i guess everyone has a bad day but I suspect MPW got nowhere near your salad.


When was the last time Gordon Ramsey cooked in his own restaurant? Celeb chefs can cook but once they start empire building then it is time to find somewhere else to eat.

escargot

17,121 posts

228 months

Saturday 15th September 2007
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dbroughton said:
i guess everyone has a bad day but I suspect MPW got nowhere near your salad.


When was the last time Gordon Ramsey cooked in his own restaurant? Celeb chefs can cook but once they start empire building then it is time to find somewhere else to eat.
He was 'in' Claridges when I went earlier in the year. Doubtful he got near my plate of food though.

That said, I don't care, it was absolutely awesome anyway!

fluffnik

20,156 posts

238 months

Sunday 16th September 2007
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A couple of drops of green Tabasco in stews or soups containing root veg - makes the veg taste more rooty.