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What's your secret ingredient?

106 replies

Kinsters · 24/08/2021 12:49

I made a bolognese this morning and had an aubergine that needed using so roasted it then blended it up with the tomatoes. It added a lovely richness to the sauce.

What's your secret ingredient?

OP posts:
BlackAlys · 25/08/2021 17:00

Time.

Anything that has a tomato base, I try and make hours beforehand the. Leave it to simmer. Thickens, sweetens naturally.

Marni83 · 25/08/2021 17:19

Yes I agree @Classica

Plus I love coming in and dinner all ready - and all the cleaning and tidying has been done. It’s just… serve and eat

Marni83 · 25/08/2021 17:20

Oh sorry that was meant to be for @BlackAlys

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StormyLovesOdd · 25/08/2021 17:24

A square of dark chocolate and a good squirt of BBQ Sauce in chilli

PineapplePanda · 25/08/2021 19:11

@SimonJT

The same as super hans
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
NeverDropYourMooncup · 25/08/2021 19:33

For a tomato based sauce, far more puree than is normally suggested, time - for the onions to soften and change colour before adding anything else, for the spices to cook and then infuse throughout the cooking process, for the liquid to reduce - and then further attention in the last five minutes for any last tweaks to the flavouring.

For anything savoury, sea salt flakes rather than standard salt. Means a lower total sodium with far more flavour than adding table salt (which I think tastes disgusting).

For anything containing fresh herbs, more than is conventionally used or if it's homegrown, less but they're normally far stronger flavoured, put in when it's best for the flavour.

For spices, well, coriander in particular, homegrown that has run to seed rather than brown pellets in a jar that may have been harvested four years ago. The taste is completely different.

Tamarind paste for a sweet/sour/darker savoury flavour.

Where a recipe would be frequently expected to have cream or other dairy in it, a cooked potato blended in or some potato/cornflour/arrowroot slaked in water/stock does wonders for the feeling of richness and texture without the expensive/forgotten/nasty allergen.

For stews, curries, etc, it's not even remotely cooked until it makes a sound like a volcanic mud pool and any oil or fat in the ingredients has risen to the surface.

Allowing meat and fish to come up to room temperature whilst fully covered before cooking. Far less chance of cold or underdone spots that way.

Pick a cooking method and ingredients that enhance the flavour, such as using avocado oil for something including bacon or rice bran oil rather than olive, steaming rather than boiling potatoes so they don't get soggy or grainy.

Other than that, I use things like Gochjang, Miso and suchlike frequently for extra depth in flavour. They also keep for far longer than the tubs suggest.

Got another couple, but I'm keeping them absolutely secret...

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