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

joan_brennan

illusio wrote: »

For a stew, add a teaspoon of horseradish, big dollop of tomato puree and couple of teaspoons of onion granules to a boring granules-made gravy, and after a long slow-cook, you have the yummiest gravy every

just aquick question aren't there onions already in the stew ? or are the granules special. as you can guess i've never bought onion granules and really don't know about them at all . thanks

Burlesque_Babe

smoked paprika - once I have a tin of it, everything gets a tsp and it always tastes amazing.

forzaitalia

Not keen on using packet powders in stews etc as can be full of artificial flavourings and preservatives and really not necessary. Try salt, pepper, spices and herbs (dried or fresh) to perk up many dishes.

Teaspoon of sugar in pasta tomato sauce and bolognese to help counteract tinned tomatoes that are too acidic.

Mix one carton of passata with a tin of chopped tomatoes for tomato or bolognese sauces - improves tomato intensity and makes the sauce very creamy. Remember to simmer bolognese for at least 1 hour, preferably 3 hrs to get an authentic, rich italian sauce just like mama used to make!

Marigold vegetable stock powder in all stews, stir fries and casseroles. The only "artificial" flavouring I use. Fantastic.

Lighten mayonnaise with equal quantity of low fat yogurt for sandwiches, coleslaw, potato salad. It makes mayo easier to spread and really improves the flavour.

Add tomato ketchup to mayonnaise to make a wonderful seafood sauce for prawn cocktail/prawn sarnies/tuna/salmon. Really simple but flavour is superb.

Always add sherry (cheap and cheerful will do) to stir fries - yum!

Improve the flavour of simple whole roasted chicken by halving an onion (no need to peel) and place the two halves in the chicken cavity. Add any fresh herbs you may have, such as sage, rosemary, thyme or bay as well. It will smell wonderful whilst cooking and really improves the flavour of a rather plain dish. ALWAYS cook the chicken breast down - all the fat is in the back and cooking the chicken upside down means the fat drips down onto the breast and makes it really moist. Turn back up the other way to brown for last half hour. Bon appetit!

aurora_borealis_2

Half a creamed coconut block in curries. Delish.

Triker

Steel wrote: »

When do you add the glug of milk? Towards the end or during the cooking?

Near the end, good glug, stir, let simmer gently rather than boil and away you go.:D

wheredoesitallgo

teaspoon of sugar to anything stir fry / chinese / thai mmmmmmmm x

mathsus

Yes Yes Yes!!

Star anise in 5-meat bolognese (but not too much or for too long)
booze
Mushroom ketchup in gravies & sauces
Asda smart price mixed herbs in (nearly) everything
Pataks curry pastes (vindaloo is best) or the real spices with fresh ginger, chillies & garlic for curries - nothing else
Ketchup & brown sauce for cottage/ shepherds' pie
Tomato puree - but where, oh where, are those little 10p tins??
Nothing with monosodium glutamate
Instant coffee in barbecue sauce recipe to cook pork in - yum
Mustard in cheese sauce
Coffee in choc cake recipes - deepens flavour

mathsus

Oh, and lemon with chicken and with lamb
Freshly ground black pepper - the No 1 totally essential spice

daska

I use the oil, brine and vinegar that's left over from jars of antipasta like olives, peppadews, sun dried tomatos etc to add flavour to stews and sauces - I replace water, stock, salt etc with these as seems appropriate and they add a lot of flavour.

Paulie'sGirl

Hmmm, some not-so-secret ingredients it would seem - oh well!

I too add mustard to all things cheesey, I use a dijon and a wholegrain together for variety

I add a splash of soy sauce and the juice of half a lime to chicken fajita mix

I add cornflour mixed with water to stirfry to make a thick gravy like from the takeaway

I add port to beef gravy lacking that certain je ne sais quoi

I cook with booze! Red wine in ragu and chilli, white in marinades for chicken, pork, rissoto - you get the idea!

Again sugar in tomato sauces, and sometimes a splash of cheap balsamic vinegar

My "holy trinity" of the kitchen are onions, garlic and olive oil.

PGxx