this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2024
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Mine probably isn't that secret these days, but almost every sauce I add nutritional yeast to. Curry, chilli, bolognese, it just makes them all better.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I just add dill and Vegeta to everything.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

New Mexico hatch Green chilies on everything.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Wijko satΓ© sauce. It goes with almost anything. I'll have no shame in it. My Asian partner does.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I quite like cottage pie (or shepherds pie, depending on my mood). I've found mixing sweet potato into the mashed potato topping makes a HUGE difference. Only 1/4 to 1/3 is needed, anymore and it can be overpowering.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Tomato sauce and everything hot tomato, especially if you use canned tomatoes, needs a bit of sugar. It makes it 100% better. It does not make it sweet, but all the flavors of the tomato just pop while otherwise it is only sour and bland.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Have you tried balsamic vinegar? The thick, syrupy version? Adds that bit more than just sugar.

Of course, it can be fucking expensive so definitely a luxury.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Mirin! And other stuff you'd find at Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc stores. Like the different types of sauces and ingredients you can get from them can often mix very well with traditional American foods.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Vanilla pudding mix in the dough for cinnamon rolls.

For the brown sugar cinnamon filling, sub some of the sugar out for honey. If you pick a honey with a unique taste, anyone who has them will be unable to pinpoint what makes yours so good.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That sounds interesting!

How does the vanilla pudding mix work? What is it replacing?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure boxed pudding mix is mostly cornstarch, sugar, maybe some powdered milk or powdered eggs, flavoring, and then dyes and preservatives. If you just dumped a box of pudding mix into a basic lean dough (just flour, water, salt, and yeast), you'd end up with something close to a typical enriched dough (lean dough plus stuff to make it sweeter, more tender, etc). Obviously the sugar and flavorings are gonna sweeten things, and the cornstarch might have a tangzhong-like effect where it traps water, leading to a softer, moister, more tender finished product. It'll also probably interfere with gluten formation, which will also lead to a softer, more tender dough.

To figure out what it could replace, let's consider what's in a "normal" cinnamon roll dough first. Commonly a typical cinnamon roll dough is basically brioche dough, so a lean dough enriched with eggs, a touch of sugar, and a healthy amount of butter. Egg yolks, sugar, and butter all interfere with gluten formation and lead to a softer dough, while egg white might lend a bit of structure, but realistically is mostly just contributing water.

So the most obvious thing that's being replaced is the sugar. If the pudding mix contains some sort of powdered dairy product, that might lend some dairy flavor, but you'd still need some sort of fat. If the pudding mix contains powdered egg, that might lend some egg flavor, but powdered egg has less fat than fresh, so again you may need to supplement there as well. If the pudding mix contains cornstarch, I'd consider lessening the amount of flour in the dough to make sure it's still at the right hydration level.

Note: I've never done any of this myself, so this whole thing is basically just an educated guess πŸ˜…

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Half a teaspoon of mustard to any creme-based sauce. People dont think it will taste good but once you try it... Doesnt matter if you dont like mustard on its own. But it just adds that different flavor, similar to how salt changes it, without wanting the dish to taste like salt.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Almost all of my barbecue rubs have black garlic salt/pepper. Make it myself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A quarter-dash of cinnamon in anything that calls for ground or minced beef. Enhances the savory notes of the rest of your seasonings and broths. (Haven't tried this with pork yet; but considering the existence of molΓ©, I expect it to work with chicken too.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A quarter-dash? Isn't a dash already almost nothing? So a quarter dash of cinnamon is what, three or four individual grains or cinnamon powder?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

You have a very conservative definition of 'dash'; for me, a dash is like a third a tablespoon bc I don't rigorously measure; I just shake until it tastes right.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This thread is fucking awesome and I'm gonna try lots of these.

My Ukranian mate showed me the ways of vegeta. No, not the anime character, the seasoning. Put that shit on fried eggs and never look back.

Actually you can add it to lots of stuff. But eggs were the first thing I experienced it with.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I put a pinch of freshly roasted and ground cumin in my guac. Gives it a little oomph

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This one’s a bit of a preference and not much an ingredient, but a topping. I tend to put molasses on pancakes over syrup or honey. I still occasionally use maple syrup or honey, but I love the bitterness of molasses.

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

King of Flavour

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

The MSG must flow!

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is an American problem, but I discovered Amish butter a while back and haven’t looked back.

It has a slightly higher fat content closer to European butter (85% vs 80% for the regular store stuff), so everything you make tastes better. Eggs, cookies, steak, potatoes- it improves them all. I can get it fairly easy from a local co-op and it’s the same price as regular butter, but that depends on where you are in the country.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I lived in Lancaster / Lebanon, the heart of Amish country, for over 30 years and have never heard of "Amish butter".

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This stuff? Comes in 1 lb or 2 lbs logs? Maybe a different brand or packaging?

Idk what you call it but I’ve seen it at Acme now.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I suppose there they just call it "butter."

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Pumpkin pie. Add cardamom.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Scrambled eggs. Add some cream and onion.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

When I make my pico de gallo, I use key limes instead of regular limes. Tastes more authentic.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jesus, lol, for some reason you're getting interrogated for this take. I don't get lemmy sometimes

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Define authentic taste for me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Tastes like how I remember it tastes in Mexico vs how it tastes in the US

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