Page 5 | Tell me your secret ingredient or things your mother used to make that other people don't

ettieb · 2023-02-08T11:02:59+00:00

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!

isthismylifenow · 10/02/2023 18:57

SpaceOP · 10/02/2023 09:50

This is a great thread @CornishGem1975 @ThisNameIsNotAvailable I grew up in South Africa so curries were often what we called Malay curries - serving them with dried fruit, chopped bananas, dessicated coconut and chutney was pretty normal. In fact, Bobotie is a classic south african curried mince dish that has dried fruit mixed into the mince and you often serve it with chutney.

Our family one is onion sauce. Learnt from my paternal grandmother but I have yet to see this made anywhere else. I assume it's a regional UK recipe from who knows how long ago - she grew up in London so she must have got it from her mother or grandmother? You cook onions in milk then use the milk to make a thick white sauce and re-add the onions. Served usually with roast beef.

My mum did a lemon pudding that was originally a souffle or something. It got messed up but was so delicious it became a firm family favourite. Grown men have been known to get into scuffles over the last piece!! Unfortunately, while I technically have the recipe it's a) very complicated and b) my mother wasn't known for writing down recipes well so it's incomprehensible!

I'm a Saffer too, and Mrs Balls chutney is still a staple that gets added to everything. We always add it into the cooking curry as that bit of sweetness just makes it so much nicer.

Not my mum, but our nanny made the best green bean, potato and onion mash, I don't know what special ingredient she added, but my attempts just never taste the same.

When we went to the Netherlands they do a similar thing using carrots, which I have also never been able to get just right.

I'm still digesting the fact that for 50 years I have been fobbed off about what Blancmange is. 😂

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 19:47

My mother made bobotie back in the sixties. We called it bobbitty as kids. Family favourite. Only found out that it was South Africa a few years ago from a SA friend. I'd googled the recipe for years with no success.

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 19:52

Something else my mum made to go with roast lamb. I've never found that recipe either. All I can remember is flour, suet, sugar was in it. You mixed it together with water then into a sizzling hot pan with a bit of lard then into the oven to cook. It was sliced and went with the roast lamb.

Anyone know what it was???

Georgyporky · 10/02/2023 19:55

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 19:52

Something else my mum made to go with roast lamb. I've never found that recipe either. All I can remember is flour, suet, sugar was in it. You mixed it together with water then into a sizzling hot pan with a bit of lard then into the oven to cook. It was sliced and went with the roast lamb.

Anyone know what it was???

Don't know the answer, but it sounds like something to fill you up & eat less meat - like yorkies.

VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji · 10/02/2023 20:02

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 19:52

Something else my mum made to go with roast lamb. I've never found that recipe either. All I can remember is flour, suet, sugar was in it. You mixed it together with water then into a sizzling hot pan with a bit of lard then into the oven to cook. It was sliced and went with the roast lamb.

Anyone know what it was???

Suet pudding?

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 20:10

VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji · 10/02/2023 20:02

Suet pudding?

Show quote history

Not pudding no it was squashed into a round and put in a cake tin with sizzling hot fat. Like Yorkshire puddings. Went in when the lamb came out. Was cut into wedges. I think it was to fill up three hungry kids meat being expensive.

Mum cut out recipes from woman or woman's own and used to make some unusual dishes.

Daffodilsandtuplips · 10/02/2023 20:12

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 19:52

Something else my mum made to go with roast lamb. I've never found that recipe either. All I can remember is flour, suet, sugar was in it. You mixed it together with water then into a sizzling hot pan with a bit of lard then into the oven to cook. It was sliced and went with the roast lamb.

Anyone know what it was???

I make suet dumplings from 100g of self raising flour, 50g of suet, salt and pepper, 5 tbs (more or less) of water, made into a dough, divided into about eight balls, flattened slightly then baked in the oven at approx 200 c.

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 20:23

Never made roasted suet dumplings. On cold winter days it was a long walk home from school. Mum would have hot soup waiting with dumplings bubbling away on the stove. I used to make cocoa in a pan of milk stirring so it didn't burn.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 10/02/2023 20:33

Our family one is onion sauce. Learnt from my paternal grandmother but I have yet to see this made anywhere else. I assume it's a regional UK recipe from who knows how long ago - she grew up in London so she must have got it from her mother or grandmother? You cook onions in milk then use the milk to make a thick white sauce and re-add the onions. Served usually with roast beef.

This one? sauce soubise

www.seriouseats.com/soubise-french-onion-sauce-recipe-7101058

Snowpaw · 10/02/2023 21:33

I made a real mess of making pancakes one morning - batter too runny I think and they wouldn’t stay nice and round, they came out looking like octopuses / jelly fish with legs / frilly bits. My 4yo called them “sea creature pancakes” and now demands them every time. I have to now consciously add legs / fins / pincers / flippers etc and we have a good laugh about it. I hope she has looks back on it fondly when she’s grown. Because it’s hard concentrating on making a lobster out of pancake batter at 7.00am haha!

Daffodilsandtuplips · 10/02/2023 22:31

I make Muddy Puddle pancakes for my grandkids. Substitute an ounce of flour with cocoa powder.

justasking111 · 10/02/2023 23:18

Daffodilsandtuplips · 10/02/2023 22:31

I make Muddy Puddle pancakes for my grandkids. Substitute an ounce of flour with cocoa powder.

Ooh I'm pinching this brilliant idea

Ilovehamandtoast · 21/02/2023 07:18

PauliesWalnuts · 08/02/2023 16:00

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.

Hmmm I'm sure this translates as floating islands.. Meringue poached in milk? Mary berry brought it into an old bake off as one of the technical challenges. In fact, it then came back year's later post Mary.

Ilovehamandtoast · 21/02/2023 07:29

Here's auld Mazzas recipe but you can look up others maryberry.co.uk/recipes/great-british-bake-off-recipes/floating-islands

PauliesWalnuts · 21/02/2023 22:23

Thank you @Ilovehamandtoast ! My mum’s was a bit different - custard on the bottom layer of a soufflé dish then meringue and then baked in the oven rather than poached and placed on top but I’m definitely going to use the ingredients and measurements from Mary’s recipe that you posted.

Ilovehamandtoast · 22/02/2023 09:15

Awww I'm so glad. Maybe poke around a bit online, you may find one closer to your mums. Either way I'm excited for you trying 😊