Do you have a secret ingredient?

[QSis]

Butter in and on everything that can stand it.

Tossed with all vegetables before serving them, spread on bread before making sandwiches, put in most sauces, e.g. spaghetti sauces, BBQ sauces, wine sauces, etc., spread on hot steak before serving .... on and on. I'm sure you guys have more butter tips .... where people say, "Hey, I don't know why this tastes so good, but it's PARTICULARLY good!"

I use Smart Balance now, which is really great, and I call it "butter". Butter makes everything better.

Lee

 

[Zlatko]

vodka, it goes good in lot of thing, like soup, meat, and even cake/deserts.

 

[kyles]

Jennyema and Kadesma, I was gonna say anchovies!!!! My dh claimed to hate them, and I used them in everything, the pieces getting bigger each time. One day he said "oh I love these, what are they?" hehehehehe

Zucchini in chocolate cake is another. I have a recipe somewhere, but it's gorgeous, and you can cut down the fat content in the cake. I used to make this when I worked in a house with people with learning disabilities, and I used to get them to get their relative to guess the secret ingredient!!! No one ever guessed!

Smoked paprika in savoury dishes, it's lovely!

 

[auntdot]

Thanks for reminding me about anchovies. One of us does not like them, I love them, but keeping they sure do add a bit of zip.

Instead, have been adding Worcestershire sauce. Not enough to be recognizable, but just enough to give it a little zip.

And find hot sauce, usually one of the tamer ones like Texas Pete, will give many dishes a nice flavor. People who we know do not like hot stuff will wonder what we put in a number of dishes to make it taste so good. We just add enough so that the heat is not detectable.

 

[AllenOK]

There is anchovy in Worcestershire. It's basically chemically dissolved into the acidic broth of the sauce, but it's there.

My secret ingredient would have to be salt. PeppA refuses to put ANY salt into her food, on grounds that it plays havoc with her mother's blood pressure. The problem is, her Mom grabs the salt shaker, which is even worse than properly seasoning the food while you cook it.

 

[Corinne]

Saffron. People aren't sure where the great flavor & color are coming from!