Salt. Be sure to use enough without using too much.
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It's not my recipes, but my wife's: browning either flour or butter (often both) for baking recipes. She makes these chocolate chip Heath toffee cookies this way that are just absolutely mind-bending. Browning the flour before making a roux is also a big process improvement, you can get to your desired color much more quickly with fewer opportunities to mess it up with clumps. Game changing for sure!Comment
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+1 Remember my Grandmother and Mother doing this for gravy. -
You have my attention. Browning flour? As in heating it in a pan until it gets a little color?
Makes sense that it would add flavor, but it never crossed my mind before. I bet it makes for a killer roux. -
Santamarina, that's it exactly. You put it on low-med heat, and continually move it around with a spatula until it darkens some. Levels up all kinds of things!
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Starting mixing umami in my burger meat, which is 1/4 Italian sausage and 3/4 73/27 chuck. Throw in some Tony's more garlic, S&P, etc., but adding a good amt of umami powder in was quite a difference!Comment
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An ounce of Sherry in meat or tomato based sauces. Added in the last 1/2 to 1 hour of simmering, adds a really nice, sweet kick. Sometimes I'll use Port, but Sherry works best, for me.Comment
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Salt. Specifically, salting steaks before cooking. Salt them like you mean it.Comment
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Fish sauce in any type of braise, sauce, soup. Amps up the savory aspect big timeComment
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I've wondered about this... my wife is allergic to fish, but it's the oil in the fish. I am sure she's had food with fish sauce in it, we have eaten a zillion Chinese foods. I just don't know about experimenting with it at home... -
Yeah, it's funny, she doesn't get really bad - but her lips swell and she gets hives - pretty funny looking, but it's obvious.
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A teaspoon of Gochujang in a pot of sloppy joes works wonders.
From my Mom, I picked up the habit of putting a splash of Worcester and a dash of tabasco in countless things -- from soups to stews to eggs to dips to dressings.Comment
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This one is controversial at home. My wife insists that we stay as true as possible to her parents' KC style barbecue sauce recipe except for how we have punched up the heat. But I find that when I switch from lemon juice to lime juice in it that makes a world of difference. I just have to lay low when I make a batch that way.Comment
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Add honey to BBQ sauce to make a better glaze on my pork ribs.Comment
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For me, I would have to say for me, there are several flavors I discovered that give my Asian inspired BBQ sauces and marinades that extra flavor component they were lacking:
1. Ginger (I usually mince fresh ginger root, but sometimes buy a tube of paste)
2. Toasted Sesame Oil
Those two things in a soy sauce based marinade take it over the top.
A third would be:
3. Gochujang (Korean fermented pepper paste)
Of those, the ginger is probably the most noticeable thing I added to some marinade recipes I've used for 20-30 years.Comment
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To echo that said by others above, for me it’s been the proper use of salt on protein. Like night and day.Comment
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Anything that calls for pepper flakes now gets a dose of one of the varieties of Flat Iron Pepper flakes, usually using the grinder that fits on top of the bottles. A favorite is the Smoke Show blend in the Carolina Vinegar Sauce recipe on the free side.
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Black pepper, also Green Onions have become a flavor staple, so has Thyme.Last edited by Richard Chrz; January 10, 2022, 03:20 PM.Comment
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Using weight to measure salt whenever possible and NOT volume. Under-salting leave things boring, and over salting can make them inedible. Sometimes it takes a few tries to dial in a recipe because they all use volume.
After that? Fresh ground pepper. The basics really make a difference.Comment
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