Your secret addition to a recipe?

[ViolentPanda]

Rohypnol to my date's dinner.

Many a true word spoken in jest, eh?

 

[mrs quoad]

Fresh roast, fresh ground coffee in water.

You'd be surprised.

 

[BlueSquareThing]

The tops of scallions (err, spring onions then...) are lovely in lots of things. Sadly underused ingredient.

 

[Vintage Paw]

tomato ketchup in bolognese

Me too. And in tomato curries and chillis

Mushroom ketchup or Marmite in Spag Bol too.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Concentrated Liquid Beef Stock into things like spag bol and chilli. Obviously it goes really well in gravy.

Marmite. Especially when feeding people who hate the stuff and I tell them what the secret ingredient was after they have told me how nice it is.

Whilst at uni I got a big tub of spice mix from Lidle in which the third ingredient was MSG. It did make things taste good, but fealt to much like cheating.

 

[mrsfran]

Whilst at uni I got a big tub of spice mix from Lidle in which the third ingredient was MSG. It did make things taste good, but fealt to much like cheating.

It needn't; MSG occurs naturally in many foods - there's loads in parmesan, soy sauce, tomato juice and walnuts, for example. There's nothing inherantly evil about MSG.

 

[Poot]

Anything with stewed meat can be surprisingly bitter and a spoonful of brown sugar balances it nicely.

Creamy sauces that you eat with fish (particularly dill or parsley) are enhanced by a good dollop of mustard. You can spend ages thinking "something's missing" with a homemade sauce like that, and it's usually mustard.

 

[Bakunin]

Can't believe nobody's mentioned the mighty Worcestershire sauce yet. A staple of many a savoury dish here at Bakunin Towers.

Lea and Perrins FTW.

 

[mrsfran]

Can't believe nobody's mentioned the mighty Worcestershire sauce yet. A staple of many a savoury dish here at Bakunin Towers.

Lea and Perrins FTW.

I tend to use mushroo ketchup where I would have once used Worcestershire. It's less abrasive but still deeply savoury.

 

[Gromit]

Sperm in the meals of diners who have been rude.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

a bit of worcester sauce in chilli or spag bol

 

[DexterTCN]

It needn't; MSG occurs naturally in many foods - there's loads in parmesan, soy sauce, tomato juice and walnuts, for example. There's nothing inherantly evil about MSG.

Wiki link

Glutomate may be naturally occurring, it's not really a food though.

Yes...it's evil.

I like to add Duck Fat to my roast potatoes.

 

[mrsfran]

Wiki link

Glutomate may be naturally occurring, it's not really a food though.

Yes...it's evil.

I like to add Duck Fat to my roast potatoes.

Quotes from the above link:

Results from normal consumption of MSG in amounts you'd actually get from food have turned up very little negative effects.

...

So it's pretty safe, but do you really need it? Most food that has MSG isn't very healthy at all- Doritos, salty soups, some hot dogs. So when you do eat MSG, you're still eating a lot of bad stuff, even if it's not the MSG that's doing it to you.

...

If a person eats sensibly, there should be no reason to fear MSG.

So... not very evil at all, really.

 

[berniedicters]

Some Marigold vegetable bouillon. I struggle not to put it in everything, but am unconvinced it would improve, say, custard.

I use the vegan one, not because I am vegan, but because it is much lower salt, so I can add lots without making the food mouth-puckeringly salty...

 

[selamlar]

tomato ketchup in bolognese

Only a little bit, mind. Tomatoes are so cheap over here I have started just using loads of them instead of some plus paste or whatever. And a bit of pepper salca instead of salt.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

A bit of Coleman's Englih mustard in scrambled eggs.

Not too much mind - about 1/4 to 1/2 tspn for 2-3 eggs.

Hmmm...I might try that!

A dash of ("The Mighty") Worcestershire sauce is also good in scrambled eggers.

 

[beeboo]

A bit of butter added to the water when boiling rice.

Mustard powder is always handy.

If I'm making something generic which turns out a bit blah, I tend to just whack a load of chilli in it. Chilli always makes things good.

 

[Madusa]

If I'm making a marinade of some sort, I always add a pinch of sugar - helps all the other flavours/spices come into their own for some reason.

edit - there is a science to it that my know-it-all ex imparted to me but I've now forgotten.

 

[FunkyUK]

A slosh of milk in Bolognese.
1/2 tsp of chilli powder in carbonara - this was a one off mistake that has since become de rigeur in my Pasta carbonara

 

[seeformiles]

tomato ketchup in bolognese

Are you my mother?

 

[seeformiles]

A teaspoon of vinegar works wonders in most things - esp. soup

 

[prunus]

Mango chutney in curries.

 

[tarannau]

Not secret, but chipotle and plenty of cumin in chilis. Much more smoky flavour and depth that way.

 

[Citizen66]

French mustard or chives in mashed potato.

 

[psycherelic]

People have already said lots of ones that I use, sugar can be useful in lots of things that aren't sweet

Booze is always a good secret ingredient, lots and lots of booze!

 

[Detroit City]

Booze is always a good secret ingredient, lots and lots of booze!

why not just forget the food? don't waste good booze mixin' it with food stuffs

 

[ada]

Some dark chocolate in chilli.

 

[The Groke]

plenty of cum in chilis. Much more smoky flavour and depth that way.

Remind me never to accept a dinner invitation from you...

 

[Citizen66]

A teaspoon of vinegar works wonders in most things

I shall try some in my coffee in the morning.

 

[Chz]

My own urine!