Flavour

sophistica

It depends on what you are making. French dishes they use Provencal herbs and red wine, Austrian dishes paprika, english stews bay leaves. Suggest you use a recipe book from the library and try different dishes.

Olliebeak

Have to admit that I don't usually brown off the meat first - will give this a go next time - thanks girls :T . I do sometimes sweat the veggies first (usually when making soups) - but again not always. So in my next pan of scouse I will do both of those things to see if OH notices any difference :rolleyes: .

My personal favourite for extra oomph flavour is celery - even OH who hates the stuff, thinks it makes a difference to stews/casseroles. I never use salt in any cooking apart from celery salt when I don't have any fresh stuff. I also add lots of herbs to things. Fresh, when I have them, or just the normal dried mixed herbs (I usually get Asda SmartPrice ones!) - had some beautiful fresh coriander this summer that went in absolutely everything :rolleyes: - even got chewed raw .

kethry

Becky_2 wrote: »

I would be grateful if someone could explain what the difference is between caramelised and sweated?

sweating is when you simply give the veg a bit of a head start by cooking them gently in some oil or butter, so that they release the moisture held within. you DON'T want the veg to brown. With onions you can tell when they're "done" for sweating cos they sort of go translucent and soft. The link takes you to a picture that shows them just about right. for sweating, ideally, because you want to release that moisture, the best thing you can do is to trap any steam - so stick the lid on! - and keep the temperature fairly low. you should only see a bare sizzle around the pieces of onion when you tip them in.

you may also come across "sauteing" as a term in cookery books, to do with onions - this is very similar to sweating but done without the lid, the minimal amount of fat and is generally faster.

Caramelisation on the other hand, you want the onions to go brown. NOT black, when they've caught on a high heat and go hard and bitter - that's not caramelisation. With caramelisation you start out the same way as sweating, i usually use a combination of butter with a little bit of either veg oil or olive oil (adding a little bit of oil to butter gives you the flavour of butter, but raises the point at which it burns - butter is notorious for catching easily), put them in the pan on a low heat, stick the lid on and just leave for half an hour, stirring periodically. eventually the onions go soft and brown. You can add to the flavour by adding either balsamic vinegar or brown sugar (or both, as i do), and you get a lovely sort of syrupy flavour in the base of the pan. this is gorgeous served up with say, sausage and mash. This link is a proper recipe, amounts n all if you fancy giving it a go!

HTH

keth
xx

p.s. those who've noted the extra oomph that celery makes. yup, there are certain flavours that are considered to be "base notes" in cooking, particularly with classically trained chefs. If you're making a white sauce, for example, following a classic recipe, then it will often tell you to infuse the milk - you heat the milk you're going to use to make the sauce gently with half an onion, a stick of celery, some black peppercorns and a bayleaf, then fish them out before you use the milk to make the sauce. It adds those base notes and extra flavour. Marigold's boullion does the same thing for me, it has those base notes in it, and this is why, where appropriate, i add a tsp or so to the casserole.

Mamabear

I usually keep a tube of anchovy paste in the fridge and often add a 'squidge' to 'wet cooking'.

I've been trying to come up with an aluminium free solution and can only think that I'll have to move to glass jars of whole anchovies. Not such a big deal as anchovies keep for ages and disolve very quickly at, even, a gentle simmer.

jenie_2

Celery is my definite favourite for stews and casseroles. The smell whilst cooking is gorgeous and it certainly adds a lovely flavour.

Fruball

I must admit, i have been using celery a lot recently as its been on offer at half price.

I hate the stuff raw but I discovered that in casseroles/soups its great.

Made lentil soup today with carrots, onion and celery and it was scrummy

competitionscafe

Buy good quality meat so that you start with something which has a good flavour. Well hung beef, mutton instead of lamb, free range chicken...
Anchovies are good in a lamb dish (add less salt as anchovies are salty), Thai fish sauce can work in a chicken dish especially if you add other asian ingredients like chillies, lemongrasss, coriander, ginger etc. Worcstershire sauce is great with beef. Tabasco is good for a bit of heat. Alcohol also helps a stew - red wine with lamb or beef or ale or guiness/stout with beef.
Fresh herbs are good too. Or if using dried, find a good herbes provencal mix (one which includes lavender). Seasoned pioneers do some good spices, spice and herb mixes and recipe ideas: http://www.seasonedpioneers.co.uk/spices_seasonings.aspx

yorksbabe

i always add a teaspoon of english mustard to my stews and also a splash of rich soy sauce