Whats your cheat ingredient or recipe you would be ashamed to reveal?

[notamumyetbutoneday]

Mine is pasta caronara- with the sauce bit made from adding any old grated cheese (usually cheddar ) to creme fraiche til it melts. Absolutely gorgeous, everyone loves it but I would be soo ashamed to reveal that my carbonara sauce contains cheddar cheese!

Whats your secret?!

Hmmm, handed down from my mum is a delicious sausage casserole recipe that includes both baked beans and peanut butter....alongside tinned tomatoes and onion.

For extra-crunchy toppings (for example on Shepherd's pie or pasta bake) crush up anything crunchy (ready salted crisps, cornflakes whatever) and sprinkle on top. Lovely.

Campbell's condensed mushroom soup is also fab if you can't be arsed to make a sauce (for pasta or pancakes).

But the all time best ever cheat's ingredient is Kecap Manis - Indonesian sweet soy sauce. You can use it to make your gravy richer/browner or throw it on stir fried vegetable to make them fun. Mmmmmmm. So many things to do with it!

mollyroger, I'll try your way on Sunday (have frozen as well though, just in case)

cositjustisok, I'd be interested in trying that one out

I can't do sauces either, but my Mum gave me this fab microwave cheat:
Put 1 pint of milk in a bowl with a big knob of butter and 2 large tablespoons of flour.
Whisk it up.
Microwave for 2 mins on full power.
Take out and whisk again
Microwave for 2 more mins, whisk again.
If not thick yet then microwave for one minute, then whisk and you get a lovely creamy sauce - just add cheese or whatever you like to flavour it.
Never mind all that melting butter in a pan and gradually adding flour and milk etc. Easy!
I also add tomato ketchup and marmite to casseroles and DP thinks I make the best gravy ever but I always use gravy granules to thicken it

cos its justok- is the chicken soup cooked first? would you use a whole tin? very curious about this one!

Cornation Chicken

2 large Cooked Chicken Breast chopped up
1 onion
Oil for frying
Good dollop of Pataks Madras paste (from a Jar)
3 tbs mango chutney (or apricot jam in the Credit crunch)
4 or 5 dried mangoes slices chopped finely (can be left out in the credit crunch)
1 tin chicken condensed soup (no substitutes)
5 tablespoons mayonnaise

Chop onion up very finely and fry in a little oil with the Paste. Cook until soft and leave to cool
In a bowl mix the mayonnaise, mango chutney,mangoes and soup and add to cooled paste and onions
Mix in as much or as little chicken as you want ..depends if you like more sauce than meat etc etc

I never really go exactly to the recipe as I like it spicey so usually put in quite a bit of the paste...a good few dollops...also Pataks do a whole range of pastes in a jar and honestly they all work fab...and the jar can also be used to make a curry with. Also just add as much or little chicken as you want. It is important to cook the paste for some reason it says this on the jar...I would love to know why if someone knows..is it just to release the flavours.

Hope you enjoy it as muh as I do.

HAve also added a few chillis to recipe sometimes as I love spicey food.

Notamummy...no chicken soup not heated up and yes the whole tin. It really is scrummy and highly recommend it

thanks cositjustisok, will give that a whirl with some jacket spuds I think, looks tasty. I never thought of using those jars of curry pastes for anything but curries!

I really hope you enjoy it Lucysmam...Like everyone else I am trying to watch the pennies on the food bills....which is why I added the wee bits that I sometimes change when things are tight..but it is really good and worth it I think..plus the fact it feeds about 4 people one meal so not too expensive as can be bulked out with salad, pots etc

I'd only do half of what's there to feed the 3 of us, so shouldn't work out too much anyways. & the mango's & chutney would be substituted with the jam I'm afraid. But, it should still be tasty. & since I'm in charge in the kitchen, if my oh questions anything I'll set him on mopping duty for a week

Will look forward to trying it out, may add some chilli though, I am obsessed with spicy/hot food at the mo

Gravy granules into veggie cottage pie... the lentil part.

Garlic from a tube (my mother heartily disapproves and even refused to use it when we were on holiday together!)

My DH makes some concoctions of which he refuses to divulge the ingredients - as he cannot clear up after himself I believe that HP sauce and tomato ketchup feature heavily. Further than that I don't like to investigate.
Not a cheat as such but when we first got together he got me into the habit of making cheese on toast with baked beans with a layer of horseradish sauce beneath the cheese. I had been making it this way so long that I was taken aback that one of our friends was surprised that was the way we made it.

Condensed mushroon soup added to leftover chicken. With mushrooms and frozen veg for a quick pie mix.

I can never find the cornflour for thickening things, so I use custard powder - everything tastes a bit vanilla-y, but at least the sauce is thick!

It is nice if food looks attractive so when I make a rich fruit cake, eg Xmas cake, I like to give it a luscious dark colour by using a special method handed down through the generations that does not involve in any way (honest guv'nor) gravy browning.

OMG at custard powder

!!!!!

Subtlemouse - seriously, you use custard powder instead of cornflour?

When you say you can't find it do you mean in the grocers or in your cupboards? I think we need to address this

If I'm in a rush, then tinned potatoes in soup or boiled a bit more and mashed for shepherd's pie . I also use baked beans for the shepherds pie to make it more gravy-ey!

can just see subtlemouse scurrying around her cupboards then saying 'stuff it get out the birds again'

For savoury mince/cottage pie add a tsp of Bovril to the mince (as well as stock cubes) makes supermarket mince taste fab

I grate almost everything!

If im making a pasta bake/lasagne/shepards pie/spag bol i always grate a courgette/carrott/parsnip or any veg i have into it the kids cant see them once its all cooked down, it is much easier and quicker than chopping it all into tiny peices. I even do it in Risotto to bulk it out.

I used to be a professional chef and i am always 'cheating' no harm in it, it is quick and has never killed anyone yet............. that i know of.

I love sun dried tomato paste (sacla do it or sainsbury's own). It adds tons of flavour to chilli, spag bol, shepherds pie etc.. They even make one now with added chilli - lovely

i use smash on cottage/shepherds pie. my mash is always really stodgy and sinks to the bottom.

no-one has noticed the fakery yet!

I am still boggling at custard powder

Bamboobutton you absolutely must get a potato ricer

Oooh yes - potato ricers are ace!

My mash is always perfect now.