I've just instant coffee in my bolognese. Life changing. Any other weird food hacks?

[catinbootsx]

I've always done the regular MN bolognese with a stock cube, Worcestershire sauce etc etc with good results.

Saw some weirdo on here the other day who puts a teaspoon of instant coffee in hers.

Was feeling a bit maverick, tried it. Cannot wait to eat tonight.

Chocolate has been used in mexican cooking for thousands of years.

Plenty of recipes out there using it.

I put milk in my bolognese and it's amazing.

I also put chocolate in my chilli and highly recommend it.

A teaspoon of cocoa powder (not hot chocolate powder) and a mug of strong tea added to chilli works really well. The tea is a Jack Monroe idea instead of wine, I was skeptical but it's brilliant.

So, let me get this right.

Sugar is good in a ragu. Milk is traditional in bolognese. Now we’re saying add some coffee.

It’s a cup of coffee

@LongHotSummerJustPassed I'll try the lemon cheese trick. You might like Greek avgolemono (an egg lemon sauce which is significantly more delicious than you'd think).

@catinbootsx milk!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolognese_sauce

Genuine ragù alla bolognese is a slowly cooked meat-based sauce, and its preparation involves several techniques, including sweating, sautéing and braising. Ingredients include a characteristic soffritto of onion, celery and carrot, different types of minced or finely chopped beef, often alongside small amounts of fatty pork. White wine, milk, and a small amount of tomato paste or tomatoes are added, and the dish is then gently simmered at length to produce a thick sauce.

My kids love it. Long, slow cooking is also critical.

I'll just drop this in here too:

Shout out for the Pasta Grannies.

I put milk and chicken livers in the Bolognaise.

The chocolate in chilli gives me nightmares.

In the old days when we could go to other people’s houses my friend cooked a chilli with chocolate in it. She used a whole bar of green and blacks but only told us afterwards.

Another friend was driving the rest of us home and all of us starting getting horrendous stomach
cramps end route and everyone had to pile into my house to go to the loo.

I don’t think I have ever farted so much in my life.

I put chorizo in my bolognese and it is so tasty.

How much milk?

I put dark chocolate in chill. I mistakenly bought a super intense espresso instant coffee. Teen DD couldn’t drink it despite usually putting 3 spoonfuls if coffee in 1 cup.

I used it for a chocolate cake. Mind blown 🤯 I will be doing this forever.

Mary Berry adds cream to her bolognaise near the end. She also bakes it in the oven. It’s really good.

A cup of milk maybe @catinbootsx

Should have said, 1 square of dark chocolate. That with 500 grams of beef, same amount of beans and vegetables.

@TheBlessedCheesemaker

Sugar in curry definitively improves it - whenever a recipe includes either tomatoes or onions I have found that sugar adds to the taste. If onions are being fried I add the sugar in at that point to bring out that fab caramelised taste. I also use bovril instead of stock cubes and regularly throw ginger into things. Cloves (in v small amounts) are also a magnificent addition to a curry that tastes a bit boring - used loads in North African cooking but don’t often get much of a look-in here.

Anything with tomatoes in it benefits from a little sugar as it balances the acidity of the tomatoes. Adding milk/cream to a bolognese is a thing, as is a large glass of red wine or port...there is a reason it can be such a great dish.

Cinnamon added to beef and lamb dishes adds depth too.

Adding mustard/horseradish/red currant jelly/ port to roast beef gravy makes it fab.

I substitute mint sauce for the horseradish when making gravy for a leg of lamb...again delicious.

Balsamic vinegar reduction is a great thing to add to all of the above too.

My ex-MIL used to put baked beans in her bolognese. Apparently its a thing. I was baffled.