What secret/special ingredient do you add to certain food/dishes?

Bettyboop

Hi all,

I was wondering if everyone would like to share any special ingredient/s that you may add to certain foods.

For example mine is:

2tbsp of desicated coconut and 1 tsp of chutney to curry
and
a splash of worcester sauce to bolognaise sauce.
and for juicy sweet carrots after steaming/boiling add a squirt of syrup and knob of butter.

They are not secret ingredients as such but while cooking one day I found the above to make a big difference taste wise.




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voiceofreason

Bolognaise sauce - a big teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of red-wine vinegar to stir through just before serving.

Makes the tomato flavour sing

SunnyGirl

I always add half a teaspoon of sugar to peas and to dishes with a tomato base. This was passed on to me by my Mum :T

I 'hide' lots of veg in bolognese's, stews & soups and lentils too. For a bolognese I chop the veg in the food processor then put it in with the onions & the kids never notice

rach

balsamic vinegar in spag bol & chilli
star anise in spag bol

Francesanne

I like to add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard to my bolognaise sauce.
Gives it a bit of oomph.

tanith

Two squares of Dark Chocolate into Chilli Con Carne makes it delice..

*Maya*

Add small amount of English mustard to cheese sauce. Theres no taste from the mustard but it enhances the cheese flavour and you can use less cheese. Money saving and less fattening. :j

bunty109

Stick of cinammon in my chilli con carne. You don't notice it in there, but when I make it without, I notice it isn't there! (and I don't really go a bundle on cinammon!)

Bettyboop

What great tips so far. So far everything mentioned I never thought to try. Someone told me to baste pork chops in mustard and that tasted awful.

gremlin

Im veggie and for any meals using quorn/soya type ingredients I always add a few splashes of Hendersons relish.

For those not familiar with it its like a veggie alternative to worcester sauce.

It gives a nice meaty richness to meals that you dont normally get without meat.

I also add mustard to cheesy meals - I agree that it brings out the cheesiness without tasting it (and I dont like the taste of mustard)

bunty109

I do a sauce for pork chops using mustard that's lovely......1 tablespoon of mustard powder; 2 of brown sugar (darker the better) and 3 of orange juice (although I usually up this).