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Fondots ,

Nutmeg is a criminally underutilized spice, and a little goes a long way. Damn-near everything I cook gets a little bit of nutmeg.

If what you’re cooking tastes like it’s missing something but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is, in my experience most of the time it’s acid. My go-to way to add that is with a good squirt of yellow mustard.

A little bit of cocoa powder finds its way into a lot of darker colored savory dishes like stews and such

Pulptastic ,

I am always put off a bit when I notice nutmeg where it doesn’t belong, like in chili. I love it in fall sweets and maybe on roasted squash but that’s about it.

thorbot ,

Yeah… putting nutmeg in everything sounds fucking awful.

Tuggles ,

Have to agree here. I am not a picky eater, and love just about everything, but nutmeg does not sound at all like something I’d enjoy slipped into dishes. OP I’d be cautious about this one

Numhold ,

How can you not like nutmeg in your mashed potatoes?

johannesvanderwhales ,

Nutmeg… Can’t stand the stuff personally, especially when people put it in white sauces for Italian dishes. It’s OK in sweet desserts.

KingThrillgore ,
@KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml avatar

Always, ALWAYS, opt for the nutmeg nut. It keeps surprisingly long and you can make them last up to 2 years with regular use.

SpruceBringsteen ,

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.

solarvector ,

That sounds interesting!

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

zalgotext ,

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 😅

SpruceBringsteen ,

This pretty much nails it, especially the bit about gluten development. You’d really have to work this dough to make it springy (which isn’t what I’m after in mine). They’re more moist than your typical dough. And a lot of dough recipes don’t call for vanilla, which is a good addition imo.

terminhell ,

MSG

bfg9k ,

Can’t beat the good old super salt

ininewcrow ,
@ininewcrow@lemmy.ca avatar

or fish sauce … which is where MSG was originally derived from when MSG was isolated scientifically

never thought fish sauce did much before … but after using it a bunch of times … all a 2 liter pot of soup, stew, sauce needs is a few drops and it makes a world of difference.

popcorp ,

Aka Make Shit Good

Addv4 ,

Smoked paprika. It throw it in a lot of stuff you wouldn’t guess it was in, as it adds a little bit of a smokey flavour.

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

Been on a huge S. Paprika kick lately. Not sure why I never thought to use it before. It’s basically works wonders on anything (where appropriate)

Deconceptualist ,

It’s quite good even just on popcorn.

Addv4 ,

Even where you wouldn’t think it is appropriate. I make pizza crusts from scratch, and sometimes I put a bit in the dough to give it some flavour.

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

Sounds delicious (in dungeon) and wholly appropriate—really what I mean’t was savory things. I don’t think it’d be good in, say, lemonade (then again, maybe it would be?).

ThatWeirdGuy1001 ,
@ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world avatar

If the recipe calls for ground beef I’ll usually swap it for ground sausage.

DeltaTangoLima ,
@DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com avatar

Not sure if secret, but most people express surprise when I tell them I add unsweetened cocoa powder and brown sugar to my chilli con carne.

ClockworkOtter OP ,

I remember adding cocoa to a curry once then spending an hour trying to correct for it. Now I realise I should have just added sugar?

frauddogg ,
@frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml avatar

That sounds like you pretty much made an ersatz molé, which I for one absofuckinlutely support.

zalgotext ,

Cocoa goes great in all kinds of stews and braises, but unfortunately a lot of times people hear “cocoa” and immediately jump to “ew, chocolate in my chili? Gross!”

DeltaTangoLima ,
@DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com avatar

Yep - unsweetened cocoa adds a lot of richness to many sauces. And the brown sugar I add to my chilli con carne takes away some of the tartness of all the tomatoes I put into it.

Pulptastic ,

Heat, salt, fat, acid. Technique matters more than secret ingredients.

Using low and slow or high and fast where appropriate depending on the goal. Plenty of fat and salt on everything, and a little acid to brighten up the dish.

feedum_sneedson ,

Yeah, most shit cooking is from people not understanding what heat does to food. Or… a lot. It’s hard to teach, as well.

fannymcslap ,

Last mile seasoning! Shortly before your dish is ready to serve check for salt acid and heat, and adjust accordingly. This is critical!!!

ferrent22 ,

Adding half a bag of butterscotch chips sprinkled on the top of box brownie mix. I get tons of compliments like it’s the best thing in the world (and it is arguably much better than without the butterscotch).

TastyWheat ,

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.

Asafum ,

I had no idea that was a real thing! I saw Vegeta mentioned in another comment and thought it was a typo lol

wesker ,
@wesker@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Love.

gramie ,

Ever since I dropped a hot tray of food on the floor, fresh out of the oven, my wife has said that I season my food with hate, and it still tastes pretty good.

sunbeam60 ,

Sugar.

People are far too afraid of it. Add a tablespoon to bolognaise: Instant improvement.

Also, balsamic vinegar. There’s very few savory dishes that aren’t improved by a table spoon.

Also, Worcestershire Sauce. Can’t deny the umami.

And yes, nutritional yeast.

Holyhandgrenade ,
@Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world avatar

Last year I picked a huge amount of mushrooms in the forest, dehydrated them (you can buy a dehydrator or use an oven) and ground them to a powder.
I put mushroom powder in damn near everything I cook, gives it a nice hit of umami.

autokludge ,
@autokludge@programming.dev avatar

Be careful out there…

Holyhandgrenade ,
@Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world avatar

I never pick any mushrooms which could potentially be confused with anything toxic. Even if I’m 99% sure, that’s not enough.

sharkfucker420 ,
@sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml avatar

Dried shiitake mushroom powder slaps hard

Holyhandgrenade ,
@Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world avatar

Hell yeah. Unfortunately they don’t grow where I live, but we have plenty of Porcinis and Chanterelles which taste amazing

peepee_longstonking ,

LSD My cookies are wild man

johannesvanderwhales ,

Note that LSD is heat sensitive so it should be added after they cool.

joby ,

I spread pesto inside my grilled cheese sandwiches

DarkShaggy ,

What cheese though?

Appoxo ,
@Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

56 cheeses tested: youtu.be/ZPQMbbsjXiQ?si=1c-KiISnzNdGtzif

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