Secret Ingredients

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What are the secret ingredients that you add to your favorite recipes to give them flavor?

I was a short order cook for a few years and learned quite a few. I fed a whole county here in Maine every night.

Let's trade up...

This can be kind of like a game.

Someone mention a dish and everyone name their secret ingredients.

Let's start with "chili" and go from there.

A couple of my secret ingredients for chili is dark beer and brown sugar.

You add them together and they create a chemical reaction then you add that to your chili... your turn Smile

You can post full recipes here. You may also use this thread to inquire also. Let's have some fun.

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Well, when my brother and his family come to eat with me, beer or cider is a secret ingredient in my stew.
If they knew I put alcohol into it, they would not let my niece it it!

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Its no secret but just add garlic to everything.Not pretend garlic but the real thing, peel it, chop it, breath it in, eat it(not on its own), yummmmmmmy!!

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Bohne wrote:

Well, when my brother and his family come to eat with me, beer or cider is a secret ingredient in my stew.
If they knew I put alcohol into it, they would not let my niece it it!

hehe, the alcohol boils/evaporates out so there is no worry there Smile

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You mentioned chili...my secret ingredient is cloves.

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RexRed wrote:

hehe, the alcohol boils/evaporates out so there is no worry there

Well, not completely, but even so, I think they are too serious with this issue.
She's 12 now and she doesn't even get a sip of champagne for New Year's Eve.

And I do most of my sauces with wine.
(Don't tell them!)

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Cumin. Lots of it. In everything, really.

And garlic, of course. Real preferably, but powdered in a pinch.

Oh, and Cayenne Pepper.

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Bohne wrote:

RexRed wrote:

hehe, the alcohol boils/evaporates out so there is no worry there

Well, not completely, but even so, I think they are too serious with this issue.
She's 12 now and she doesn't even get a sip of champagne for New Year's Eve.

And I do most of my sauces with wine.
(Don't tell them!)

I don't think children should have sips of champagne...

But I also think wine in cooking is completely harmless.

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I think Cav once posted a link, and I saved it but on another computer, to the effect that not all of that alcohol is boiled away. Or perhaps it wasn't Cav that gave me/us the link. In any case it was a scientific study on the subject. And the alcohol that remained was very little... though still measureable.

Personally, I like the italian and french way of introducing wine to children, most often highly diluted with water, as part of the family scene at mealtime. The italian culture, at least in my experience and from my reading, doesn't reward using booze or wine to get blotto on in the escapist way so many other cultures, including my own irish american one, can get into. Using alcohol in an escapist way makes one present a "brutto figura" instead of a "bella figura". Instead they see wine as part of the digestion process, a healthful addition to a meal.

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On secret ingredients -

for some people I would avoid giving the information that I'd added an anchovy or two to the broccoli, garlic, chile pepper sauce that would go with the penne or rigatoni...

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I add peanut butter to my chile. It's awesome!

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Hmm Peanut butter is really a great idea for flavor and texture in chili Smile

How about American chop suey?

What am I doing wrong it never tastes right?

I found I need to fry celery (which I was missing), garlic onion and green pepper but still there is still something missing. I tried hamburger relish but that didn't really do it either

It is interesting how everyone's sense of taste is so widely varied.

I put American cheese slices on my shepherds pie right before I top brown it with the broiler.

Anchovies need to be disguised in something for me to get one down... Smile

haha

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I like these ideas for chile. I put a square of bitter chocolate in mine -- you don't taste the chocolate but it adds some body, or depth, or something.

When I make an omelette or scrambled eggs, I wipe the bottom of the pan with the cut side of a garlic clove. You can't really taste garlic in the omelette but it's subtly enhanced.

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Tico wrote:

I like these ideas for chile. I put a square of bitter chocolate in mine -- you don't taste the chocolate but it adds some body, or depth, or something.

When I make an omelette or scrambled eggs, I wipe the bottom of the pan with the cut side of a garlic clove. You can't really taste garlic in the omelette but it's subtly enhanced.

A delicious egg sandwich is to pan fry your egg flip it and cook it through

sprinkle sage and shred sharp cheese on it then put them between a couple slices of bread or toast.

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I took garlic supplements and broke out in terrible hives...

Now every time I overload on garlic I get a hive somewhere.

I love garlic so much that I would rather have a hive than not eat it.

When I broil steak I get a thick london broil and take chopped garlic and olive oil mix them and spread about three to four generous tablespoons on the steak and then broil the heck out of both sides. Sprinkle pepper and salt also before you broil.

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I keep my vegetable oil in the refrigerator.

It goes bad too quick if I leave it out on a shelf.

I use it up now before it goes bad because the refrigerator prolongs it's life.

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What do you all add to your beef stew? Smile

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I don't make beef stew...

but I do cook ossobuco. And part of the so called 'gremolata' for me is ..

swiss chard. Very non recipe.

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RexRed wrote:

What do you all add to your beef stew?

Guinness and brown sugar!

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Bohne wrote:

RexRed wrote:
What do you all add to your beef stew?

Guinness and brown sugar!

That would be good

Although sherry I think is better... Smile

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