Tell me your secret ingredient or things your mother used to make that other people don't

[ettieb]

What do you add to your recipes that make them great. Thinking about this as I was looking at people's recipes for cottage pie.... mine is HP sauce... sure other people use it too but wasn't in any of the recipes that people shared... my mother used to make a pudding which I think was called milk jelly....a packet of jelly made up with 1/2 a pint of boiling water.. cool a bit and then fill up to a pint with evaporated milk.. blooming lovely!

Mixed dried herbs. In everything. I now can’t make a meal without a pinch.

That jelly and evap. DM used to make up the jelly with less water, wait until almost set then whisk in the evap with an electric whisk then in the fridge to set. It makes a lovely light mousse.

When my Mum made apple pie, she used to boil the peels with a little water, and sugar and it made a really thick syrup. I have seen in old recipe books this was a frugal war time thing, to mimic maple syrup etc. She must have got this practice from my Nanna.

She also makes milk jelly, with pineapple jelly!

StupidlyImperfect - I'm going to try your method... whisking sounds great!

We used to have the milk jelly, we called it Blancmange.

Tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce in all mince dishes.

My mum also whisked the jelly and evap. It was a treat.

Mixed herbs in everything too - to the extent that I can't really look at a tub of mixed herbs.

A really lovely soufflé omelette that I've tried to replicate and I can't.

Her gravy was the best, no gravy granules and she just made it and it was lovely from the meat juices, flour, bit of stock.

Oxo cubes in everything mince - there was a lot of mince based recipes in our house in the 80s...

If I’m making a stew or casserole, I often put in something sweet towards the end eg teaspoon of cranberry jelly or maybe dollop of golden syrup.

It just adds another layer of flavour to mingle with the others.

Oooh we had that. In our family it was called fluff. My great aunt used to add melted chocolate to lime jelly and evap. It made this lovely moussey pudding.

My paternal grandparents lived in Ceylon now Sri Lanka until independence and taught my mum some exotic Anglo Indian curries involving desiccated coconut, sultanas and mashed banana. Not standard fayre in 1970s Teesside

Chicken stock cubes instead of beef ones for mince.

Onion and garlic dip stirred into mashed potato instead of milk and butter. Also good in a cheese sauce.

I add mustard powder to so many things!

My mum (died when I was 23) made something called custard meringue. It was like Iles de flottantes but it was made hot. You made the proper custard with egg yolks, put it in a soufflé dish, then whipped up the whites with sugar to make a meringue mix, put it on top of the custard and baked in the oven. It was incredible. It was written down in a recipe book that got lost in a house move and I’ve not made it since but I’m going to try and fudge the recipe. I’ve never seen it anywhere else.

That sounds amazing

My mother used to make ‘apple crumble gone wrong’
she could make apple crumble perfectly (I was the only one that doesn’t like apple) and the family would eat it but it wasn’t a firm favourite,but she once cocked it up and everyone loved it (despite the fact it looked like vomit)
Might have been the fact she put loads more sugar than normal that one time

she used to make the best rice pudding
i don’t know what she did but it would have been my last meal on death row-creamy,not too sweet and the rice was soft but firm

I’ve tried and failed to make it as nice

Black currant syrup added to meat sauces - just a shot of it, with a bit of grainy mustard and some cream.

For risotto and also some fish dishes, a generous splash of Noilly Prat vermouth.

I've stopped adding much to braised vegetables. My mother used to put cream in with pretty much everything but it often takes away from the pure taste of veg on its own. So for sauteeing I stick with copious amounts of onions, browning well and then just salting well so the veg can sautee in its own juices. Although I'll often add just a dash of maple syrup and sone chili flakes, for instance with celeriac and pointy cabbage.

Whipped cream - good to add a bit of vanilla sugar and a shot of either raspberry spirit or fir the teetotal version, again black currant syrup.

Celery salt, in all savoury meals.
It's especially good in pastry, along with some dried Parsley.

We called the milk jelly ‘fluff’!

Harissa spice cheers up almost everything savoury! Chicken quickly stir fried in soy and harissa then in a wrap with a large amount of hummus is my go-to.

Pinch of brown sugar and instant coffee in chili. Deeeelicious.

Lime: almost everything can be improved with a squeeze of lime.

I recall my mother making a dessert that was half jelly and half milk jelly - the jelly had been left to set on a slant and then filled up with the milk jelly. At 8 years old I was insanely impressed with her expertise.

My mother used to put marmalade and currants in curry. It was disgusting but that’s probably not what you meant 😂

Marmite for umami or L&P
Splash of red wine vinegar for a bit of tang
Dried mint makes everything taste like you are on holiday in Greece

My mum used to make custard, using Bird's custard powder, but instead of using the quantity of sugar advised, she replaced it with evaporated milk. Gave it the right sweetness but also made it extra creamy.

My mum used to make faces on pancakes with drops of food colouring

Flaked rice with currants, baked until it had a lovely dark brown leathery skin. We used to fight for that. I might have a go at that myself, I've just found a recipe.

Parmesan rind in minestrone soup and slow cooker Bolognese.

Fresh bay leaves in stews and casseroles.