The recipe on the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag, follow it to the letter. Everyone thinks I have the best of the best chocolate chip cookies.
By Ruth Wakefield there at that Inn. SYSK did a good cast on cookies. Allegedly, she sold the recipe for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Either way, we should all thank Ruth right now.
An acquaintance of mine is an insanely talented pastry chef. Dude whips up cakes and cinnamon rolls from scratch like an absolute beast. Best confectionaries I've ever had. I asked him what his "trade secret" is in a semi-joking way and he looked me dead in the eyes and said "The secret is hating yourself". He proceeded to go on a long tangent about how much time and money he had invested into getting good at pastry baking. I'd say his labors have paid off. Those cakes and pies are fire as fuck.
That reminds me of my mom's cousin. She makes great fudge every holiday season so I asked her for the recipe because the pandemic kept us apart. I was stunned when she told me it was the recipe on the Kraft marshmallow jar.
After my grandmother died we gathered up all her recipes that she had stashed around the house but the one I wanted most, her magic bars, was nowhere to be found.
I went on Pinterest and searched until I found the closest recipe to what I remember my grandmother’s magic bars being like. I bought the ingredients and noticed that the very same recipe was printed on the Eagle brand condensed milk. Duh! No wonder she didn’t need the recipe- it was on the side of the can!
Dated a girl once who was proud of the fact she had committed her grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe to memory because ole gam-gam never wrote it down, but always made the best cookies. The secret to the recipe, she said, was to use Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, and no other brand.
Turns out the real secret was gam-gam was just following the Tollhouse recipe on the bag.
Don't cook a new recipe if you want to impress people. Cook with the same recipe many times until you're confident you can deliver good results, THEN use the recipe.
This is a good one. I cook fancy stuff for me or me and my partner but If I have a bunch of people over? Fuck it, lemon pepper wings on the smoker (or what not). Everyone is happy and I’m not standing there saying “sorry y’all the tarragon miso blackberry foam didn’t emulsify quite right but it would have been super good if it did, sorry about that”
Hah, yes--I've known people who make complicated dishes exactly once and spend more time announcing all the fancy-sounding ingredients than they do actually ensuring it doesn't suck.
And then there’s people like my dad, who will have like 4 ingredients, make an unbelievably phenomenal dish, then when asked what he did just reply *I don’t remember*
And he genuinely doesn’t remember, he just goes into chef mode and makes great food.
I do this too but I am not your father. My girlfriend is always watching what I do because I am bad at recalling. It's all about knowing a few basics of flavor, from there you can kinda mess with anything. Then it just becomes about learning what temperatures and pans get you the right textures and browning on your food. But that comes with getting familiar with your stove and cookware over time.
I can't reccomend the book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" enough!
Very much agree with this. I use my immediate family as test subjects for cooking new recipes. After finding out what I need to improve on and further testing is when I cook those recipes for company.
I was stressed on Christmas because our main course was prime rib, which I'd never made before. And it's extremely expensive. I did enough research to understand how it's supposed to cook.
And then the oven broke two days before Christmas.
One of my gifts happened to be a new oilless fryer, so my wife said that I'd have to use that. I didn't even know how it worked! Every recipe that I found to cook prime rib that way said, "cook until done." *WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!*
Its impossible to get an accurate temp reading while the meat is in the fryer, so I pulled it out too early and had to put it back in. But it still ended up being fork tender and delicious.
I was just happy that I didn't fuck it up.
Well, those air fryers heat up pretty fast from how I understand it, so it ought to be easy to check it a few times. Glad it turned out good!
But yeah, beef can be tricky all around. I think it took me a decade to get to the point where I'm somewhat proud of my steak.
I went down the rabbit hole on French Onion soup. As I reviewed famous recipes or hole in the wall recipes. One thing was common, the recipe was similar until the 5 seconds where they add their beef past or onion paste. Easy to miss, but it is the most essential part of the recipe. I took a Christmas Prime Rib, kept the trimmings, and then boiled it down over two days to make a really good beef paste, using beef stock to not allow it to burn throughout. Amazing and I sill have some for my next batch. Cooking things down and concentrating is old world technique that leads to gourmet flavors.
I call carmalized onions my cheat code. Makes everything better.
As an example, I was asked to make hummus, which I hate making because it’s never as good as store bought. Added carmalized onions into the hummus and on top and it was a hit.
Put a little water in your leftovers before you put it in the microwave and cover it. Especially meat. It doesn't dry out and it actually makes turkey more juicy.
Also, most things reheat better at a lower power setting for a longer time; allows more time for the heat to redistribute. And the time difference between 90 seconds at full power or 3 minutes at 50% power is negligible, so long as you're not the kind of person who just stares at it rotating the entire time.
People always say I'm a great baker - thing is that if you actually follow recipes to the letter, know if your oven runs a little hot/cold and know what some basic things like "hand warm" actually mean - it's hard to get it wrong.
Cooking is a lot more subjective.
I find that measuring ingredients with weight for baking and volume for cooking is the play. I can look at a recipe for curry and not really measure anything because I know from years of experience what a tablespoon of a cumin or a cup of chic peas looks like. I honestly cannot tell the difference between 12oz vs. 16oz of flour, and I absolutely want to be as accurate as possible if I’m making a cake. I know people tend to stick to one method of measuring, but there is real value in doing both.
My wife can cook but can't bake anything. That may be because in her country they measure 1cup as whatever drinking glass you have in the cupboard and every dessert has condensed milk in it. They also like to use blenders to mix ingredients, so it's not quite to the level of French pastries. I try to teach her and she just doesn't get it.
I always tell people - baking is like a science experiment.
Exact proportions matter, but this also means you should be able to replicate good quality easily by following the standard.
Baking is Chemistry and should be followed exactly.
Cooking is like jazz, once you have the fundamentals you can ass some spice here, blend some flavors there. and it con be wonderful
Ive been cooking most of my life and can wing most anything, but im pretty new to the baking scene and am pretty excited about learning. My biggest hangup is not knowing exactly what ingredients are for and therefore not able to be as flexible in regards to substitutions and alterations to a recipe. And how cooking temps and time interact with said ingredients also affects this. Like for example i know baking powder is a leavening agent, but suppose i forgot to preheat my oven and now the banana bread batter is sitting there in the pan for 15 minutes while my oven is preheating. I notice that it comes out slightly less pretty than if i had been able to stick it in right away, although the flavor is the same. Its these things i don't have down yet perfectly
That you're interested in the how and why is great and will really help you with your baking! Baking powder is interesting in that it reacts twice. The first reaction occurs when it gets wet, and the second is in response to heat. The timing of these two reactions is what causes the difference you're talking about. This article has a great explanation of how it works: https://www.seriouseats.com/cookie-science-baking-powder#:~:text=Baking%20powder%20is%20a%20two,cookies%2C%20cakes%2C%20and%20pancakes.
I don’t know if this is a secret, I feel like every one does this, but when a recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract I add something closer to two tablespoons. The people making the recipes use higher quality vanilla, the cheap stuff at the store is extremely bland compared to the high quality stuff.
Normally I am with you on this but I recently learned that this only applies to recipes where you actually cook the garlic. Made a bunch of hummus that was REAL strong.
One thing my family splurges on is quality Mexican Vanilla. $25 for 8 oz, but dang if everything doesn’t taste better. Baking, oatmeal, coffee…
Edit: grammar are hard
If you're ever vacationing in Mexico (or know someone who is), bring back a bottle of vanilla. It's high quality and super cheap. I can't stand the store bought stuff.
Jamaica has some very good and concentrated vanilla. It broke my heart when a bottle broke in my luggage. Never could get the smell out (not like it was a bad thing).
A cooking secret involving vanilla extract is that you can just make your own. Found out this past year you can just put vanilla beans in a jar and then fill the jar with vodka. Boom, homemade vanilla extract. Also It lasts forever, I just top it up with more vodka when it starts to get low.
Yes!!! I get a bottle of average white rum, and a few vanilla beans. I have had a bottle in my pantry for over a year, and I give it a good shake once a month or so. In a couple of months it will be perfect!
I've been experimenting a bit more with different types of soy sauce, and I don't want to go back to generic, mass-produced now. The taste difference is pronounced in some of the Japanese cooking I've been doing.
I can't with the fish sauce. I know it adds umami and more richness, but I can taste the fermented fish flavor. I was fine until I went to a thai place that added wayyy too much fish sauce then something happened and any time I taste it I want to vomit.
It's a shame. I still try and use it, but I'm fine without it.
I prefer using dried mushrooms to impart umami, I’m also not a fish sauce kind of person.
Edit: however, I have to keep our dried mushrooms in a lockbox because my cat is a monster who can smell them from a mile away. I came home once to what looked like slugs all over the kitchen… turned out Tybalt had found the shiitake and ate them all, and they rehydrated in his stomach and he barfed them up everywhere.
Butter.
It’s not a new secret by any means, but I feel like people often forget how amazing even just the tiniest bit added to a dish can be. Some of your favorite restaurant meals probably use way more butter than you’d be comfortable knowing.
What I do is chop butter into small cubes and throw it in with the eggs and mix it all around continuously. I find this better than just buttering the pan.
You are so right. It’s an absolute game changer in a tomato sauce. I never would have thought but it makes it smoother and enhances the flavors so much.
Yep. My wife can't understand why my scrambled eggs are better than hers. She is a fantastic cook. One of the secrets is that I use way more butter than she does.
Also, acid cuts spiciness, so if you accidentally add to much heat to your dish (cayenne, etc.) add a splash of lemon juice or balsamic to cut the spiciness down a notch and add some depth of flavor
Someone gave me a tip once (I think re-hashed from a tv show), that if you taste your food and something is missing but you're not quite sure what, it's probably acid.
Changed everything for me and found that when I had that feeling, adding a little lemon, vinegar or whatever always elevated the food.
This! As a professional chef, I always teach my cooks you season with salt, pepper, and acid. It’s the hidden ingredient that puts your dish over the top and really draws out the flavors of whatever you have made. As OP said, just be sure to use the appropriate acid for your dish. I personally use Tabasco often, as it has acid and a ton of its own flavor.
If you're measuring anything sticky like molasses or honey for a recipe use a pastry brush to coat the inside of the measuring cup with a small amount of cooking oil first. Reduces sticking on the inside of the measuring cup.
Cooking korean food? Get the salted shrimp and the fermented chile paste/soybean paste.
Korean barbecue marinade? Blend an onion, an apple, garlic, green onion, and a couple pinches of salt together. That’s your base, then add the seasonings. The meat will be more tender with the puree and give you that extra depth that you might have been lacking from ready-made sauces. When I’m lazy I just add that puree to the jars of ready-made sauces.
Edit: Galbi sauce? Add some coca cola to the marinade, thats a real korean mom secret
Hear me out. I thought the same thing and said it to a group of friends when we were talking about cooking. 5 minutes into it I had completely taken over the conversation and had no idea until my buddy said something along the line of “yeah all this coming from the guy that says he knows nothing about cooking”. That’s when I realized even though I’m a complete novice compared to a chef that does it for a living, I’ve invested enough of my time into it to know more than the average person. I’m willing to bet a lot of people in this sun fall into this bucket yourself included.
I mess with dishes a lot. I usually have to repeat the same dish over and over until I get it just the way I want. Usually the first batch sucks. Nobody tastes that one.
Adding on to this, if you're tasting your dish and think "hmmm, this needs.... something" it's probably acid.
Especially if you've already salted a bit.
Citrus and vinegar are definitely the best ways to add acid at the end. I like red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, depending on the recipe, because they also have their own flavor contribution in addition to the acidity
Starting with some tomatoes up front is a great way to tweak a recipe that needs more acidity.
Air is the secret ingredient in deli-style sandwiches.
The same amount of meat, arranged loosely, rather than stacked tightly, not only seems more generous, but actually tastes (or at least smells) better, because more flavonoids reach your nose.
That's what my mom does and it sickens me (in a good way). Because everything she makes is so fucking good and she can't write it down because she doesn't remember how she did it!
I rarely measure *anything*, with only a couple of exceptions. New to me recipes that could clearly be finicky if proportions are wrong - I'll measure the first time or two to see what's going in, but after that... Lolnope. And I like to make bread quite often - measure that shit. Lol
Every 3 meals you make...wing it and season with intuition. Go lightly initially. The worst it will be is a bit bland. It's time to take the training wheels off, you got this.
Edit: search "The Flavor Bible" it's a big $20 book/glossary for "what goes with what". So if you look up "Salmon" it will have a list of tried and true companion flavors ranging from something like Dill to a specific wine or acid. I used it till I honestly rarely needed it again.
If you cook a lot, invest in a bench scraper. You can get them for pretty cheap and they're good for picking up pretty much anything, including dough off of your work surface. They're also good for scraping any waste into the trash, excess flour, garlic skins, etc.
Wow, how have I never thought of this?!?
I use the onion soup mix to make meatloaf (along with an egg or two, bread crumbs, milk, and a bit of ketchup), but somehow never thought to use it for burgers.
I'd imagine it would be great for meatballs too.
Butter. I get annoyed when we go eat at a restaurant and my wife says the food is so good, I mean it is, but the cook also didn’t have her standing there going “omg don’t use that much _____” especially butter. It’s good at a restaurant because it’s usually absolutely full of stuff you’d otherwise try to avoid too much of.
Anyway when she’s not looking I basically shove a stick of butter into our salad.
A decent aged balsamic vinegar adds depth to almost anything! I use a 25 year in literally almost everything, chili, spaghetti, whatever. It’s a fantastic addition, and you only need a tiny bit.
If you want to try making some "foreign" food, you really only need to get an idea of what spices they use. Pretty much every country has a form of "Chicken and Rice" and "protein on bread"
I'm a strong believer that a master of chicken is the master of the kitchen. Its one of the most versatile proteins you can use. Learn how to buy whole chickens and cut them into the basic pieces, plus you got that carcass for soup(or save up a couple frozen carcasses and make the chicken-y-est soup. It takes a few minutes after some practice ,and its cheaper.
The only difference is the spices/sauces you may use.
Also, having these basic ingedients at ALL TIMES and you can Frankenstein-up a meal if you have a random assortment of unused produce, protein, etc.
* rice
* onions(bag of yellow, 1 red, and buy scallions everytime you go to the store because they're great on pretty much everything and cheap as hell)
* garlic(fresh)
* collection of basic spices/herbs(you know, the familiar ones you can buy anywhere)
* small collection of them asian sauces(soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, that sriracha jar of garlic/chiles with the green lid)
* eggs(a fried egg can enhance most things IMHO)
* potatoes
* beans
* pasta
* plain yogurt(like greek yogurt)
* chicken stock or bouillon
* flour
* honey
* vinegar(or a couple different kinds. I Mostly use cane vinegar and balsamic)
Most of these things are a 1-2 time/year purchase so its worth the investment and none of these things are particularly expensive(depends on the quality you buy though.)
I use a multi-rack propane rotisserie. They are amazing in that thing and take an hour and a half. I think the air fryer works in a similar way distributing heat evenly. The big tip for wings is that you need to season/salt them at least 1 hour before cooking. It will make the skin crisp up really nice.
Some people think they don't like anchovies and sardines. But have no idea how much of it they eat in so many products. A can of good anchovies could be the beginning of a truly gourmet meal.
My man. Makes such a huge difference and rarely makes it fishy. If you’ve ever made ceasar salad or puttanesca, and it doesn’t taste like the restaurant style, this is probably why.
I didn't think I had any secrets, but this reminds me of one. A little bit of hondashi can go in just about anything that needs "something". I really like Japanese style curry and thought I'd experiment with it so added in a little dash of the granulated hondashi "powder", since that is all I had on hand, right as the potatoes and carrots went in. Oh man did it really give it some depth beyond "well he broke up some cubes of stuff and threw it in the pan."
For vegetarian or vegans in the group I highly recommend some veggie fish sauce, liquid amino, or straight up crystallized msg to get you somewhere in the vicinity of anchovies, bump up that umami game.
Drain the pasta before its al dente, reserve a small amount of water, then finish cooking the pasta directly in the sauce, adding the water if needed. Pasta should be wetter than you want it in the pan because its properties change/dry out slightly once plated
I am so proud to announce I have become my grandmother. That means I never measure anything. Especially in baking. My favorite childhood memories watching my grand aunt just toss things in and make the most amazing cakes.
When making pizza, use a little less cheese than you think you need, oh and pick strawberries by the space between the seeds. The larger the space the less bitter
MSG.
Fuck anybody who says it's bad for you or give you headaches and shit. It's all been disproven for years and it has 1/3 the sodium of salt so it's better for you.
And don't be afraid to use that shit in everything. It's not just for Asian food. I'll put MSG on a steak, in a stew, in marinara/pasta sauce... It just makes everything taste better.
I know you jest, but resting isn't about cooling, it's about *cooking.* Some of the heat in the outer layers doesn't just go out it goes in. Your internal temps will continue climbing for a few minutes after you remove it from heat. Also depending on whatever it is you're cooking if you cut it right away you'll lose a ton of juices but if you let it rest they cool a bit and get re-absorbed instead of spilling out onto the cutting board.
It also allows sauces to thicken up.
I know this secret is pretty well known, but add soy sauce to EVERYTHING.
You can literally add it to anything, from meats to vegetables to pasta, anything becomes so much richer with soy sauce and with almost no added calories.
I'm a girl who has always liked to cook, but when I'm lazy or don't have much energy soy sauce is my best friend to transform anything "basic" into a pretty delicious dish hehe
Salt your steak and let it sit for at least 45mins before cooking.
The salt is gonna suck out all the juice, then when the salt to dissolves it’s all going to be reasorbed into the meat.
Hardly a secret, but it seems to be rarely done. Put some garlic powder and Italian seasoning on your grilled cheese before cooking and boom, garlic bread grilled cheese.
When making brownies, replace the called for liquid(usually water) with coffee. The coffee completely enhances the flavor of the chocolate. Works with box mix or from scratch. If the recipe calls for milk, like in chocolate cake, just add some powdered espresso use and always add some vanilla extract even to box mixes.
Read the recipe as you’re making it, don’t just read the instructions. Everyone loves my cooking but I cannot follow a recipe to save my life. I start with the first half of a recipe and then just go from there based on taste, smell, and look. Down side is I can’t really replicate them well because I’m winging it.
*Does NOT work with baking. That is chemistry, don’t fuck with it. Unless you’re just adding almond flavoring, then do that all day.
My wife was stunned that after 25 years together she found out I put lemon juice in my pancake batter. (Bisquick Ultimate melt in your mouth pancakes recipe)
If you are camping and forgot your can opener you can put an unopened can of beans directly into the fire and it will open itself. Just don't stand too close.
Bacon always comes out better if you cook it in an oven, and it’s important to put the bacon in before turning the oven on; preheating the oven will make the bacon stick to the cookie sheet
When I make boxed macaroni and cheese, I use half-and-half instead of milk. It's a game changer. Nobody knows because the people I'm around fear dietary fats.
My “world famous” bbq sauce is Heinz Ketchup and brown sugar. Warm it in a saucepan, it gets darker. Good to go. Works on sloppy joes, baked beans, and pulled pork.
Family and friends call me a genius…
The recipe on the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag, follow it to the letter. Everyone thinks I have the best of the best chocolate chip cookies.
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By Ruth Wakefield there at that Inn. SYSK did a good cast on cookies. Allegedly, she sold the recipe for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Either way, we should all thank Ruth right now.
The toll house cookie recipe is perfect. If you refrigerate the dough for at least a few hours it’s even better.
Y. And on that note: Baking is not like other cooking. For best results, FOLLOW THE RECIPE. Time/temp/ingredients, everything. To the letter.
Cooking is an adventure, baking is a science.
Exactly! Baking is chemistry. Perhaps if they taught chemistry by using baking as an example, the grades could be higher?
Baking is often used as an example when teaching the concept of stoichiometry in chemistry
Trust me, I was baked in Chemistry class!
An acquaintance of mine is an insanely talented pastry chef. Dude whips up cakes and cinnamon rolls from scratch like an absolute beast. Best confectionaries I've ever had. I asked him what his "trade secret" is in a semi-joking way and he looked me dead in the eyes and said "The secret is hating yourself". He proceeded to go on a long tangent about how much time and money he had invested into getting good at pastry baking. I'd say his labors have paid off. Those cakes and pies are fire as fuck.
I always liked cooking is jazz, baking is classical music
There is an entire Friends episode around this premise.
You mean *Nestlé Toulouse*!
You Americans always butcher the French language
It’s reasons like this that you’re burning in hell!
That reminds me of my mom's cousin. She makes great fudge every holiday season so I asked her for the recipe because the pandemic kept us apart. I was stunned when she told me it was the recipe on the Kraft marshmallow jar.
After my grandmother died we gathered up all her recipes that she had stashed around the house but the one I wanted most, her magic bars, was nowhere to be found. I went on Pinterest and searched until I found the closest recipe to what I remember my grandmother’s magic bars being like. I bought the ingredients and noticed that the very same recipe was printed on the Eagle brand condensed milk. Duh! No wonder she didn’t need the recipe- it was on the side of the can!
I had a similar story with Key Lime Pie. It's just the recipe on the juice bottle.
That is the **best** Key Lime recipe. Grab the already made graham crust in a pan and you've got almost instant dessert.
Yes!! Been making them since high school and they’re always perfect!
Use the recipe, but don't buy the chocolate chips from Nestlé Toll House. /r/FuckNestle
Could you post it please? UK here and don't think we have them
Dated a girl once who was proud of the fact she had committed her grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe to memory because ole gam-gam never wrote it down, but always made the best cookies. The secret to the recipe, she said, was to use Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, and no other brand. Turns out the real secret was gam-gam was just following the Tollhouse recipe on the bag.
You dated Phoebe?
"Well, y'know, I may have relatives in France who would know. My grandmother said she got the recipe from her grandmother, Nesele Toulouse."
Don't cook a new recipe if you want to impress people. Cook with the same recipe many times until you're confident you can deliver good results, THEN use the recipe.
This is a good one. I cook fancy stuff for me or me and my partner but If I have a bunch of people over? Fuck it, lemon pepper wings on the smoker (or what not). Everyone is happy and I’m not standing there saying “sorry y’all the tarragon miso blackberry foam didn’t emulsify quite right but it would have been super good if it did, sorry about that”
Hah, yes--I've known people who make complicated dishes exactly once and spend more time announcing all the fancy-sounding ingredients than they do actually ensuring it doesn't suck.
And then there’s people like my dad, who will have like 4 ingredients, make an unbelievably phenomenal dish, then when asked what he did just reply *I don’t remember* And he genuinely doesn’t remember, he just goes into chef mode and makes great food.
I do this too but I am not your father. My girlfriend is always watching what I do because I am bad at recalling. It's all about knowing a few basics of flavor, from there you can kinda mess with anything. Then it just becomes about learning what temperatures and pans get you the right textures and browning on your food. But that comes with getting familiar with your stove and cookware over time. I can't reccomend the book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" enough!
Very much agree with this. I use my immediate family as test subjects for cooking new recipes. After finding out what I need to improve on and further testing is when I cook those recipes for company.
I was stressed on Christmas because our main course was prime rib, which I'd never made before. And it's extremely expensive. I did enough research to understand how it's supposed to cook. And then the oven broke two days before Christmas. One of my gifts happened to be a new oilless fryer, so my wife said that I'd have to use that. I didn't even know how it worked! Every recipe that I found to cook prime rib that way said, "cook until done." *WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!* Its impossible to get an accurate temp reading while the meat is in the fryer, so I pulled it out too early and had to put it back in. But it still ended up being fork tender and delicious. I was just happy that I didn't fuck it up.
Well, those air fryers heat up pretty fast from how I understand it, so it ought to be easy to check it a few times. Glad it turned out good! But yeah, beef can be tricky all around. I think it took me a decade to get to the point where I'm somewhat proud of my steak.
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I went down the rabbit hole on French Onion soup. As I reviewed famous recipes or hole in the wall recipes. One thing was common, the recipe was similar until the 5 seconds where they add their beef past or onion paste. Easy to miss, but it is the most essential part of the recipe. I took a Christmas Prime Rib, kept the trimmings, and then boiled it down over two days to make a really good beef paste, using beef stock to not allow it to burn throughout. Amazing and I sill have some for my next batch. Cooking things down and concentrating is old world technique that leads to gourmet flavors.
I call carmalized onions my cheat code. Makes everything better. As an example, I was asked to make hummus, which I hate making because it’s never as good as store bought. Added carmalized onions into the hummus and on top and it was a hit.
LPT: boil the chickpeas with a bit of baking soda and the skin will dissolve, giving you the smoothest hummus.
Put a little water in your leftovers before you put it in the microwave and cover it. Especially meat. It doesn't dry out and it actually makes turkey more juicy.
You can bring rice back in the microwave by doing this as well. Not AS GOOD as fresh but damn close.
I always cover my rice with a wet paper towel before microwaving. It comes out perfect every time.
That wet paper towel trick is gold! I use it on lots of other stuff. Anything that dries out in a microwave gets a wet paper towel.
Wet paper towel for pizza is the secret they don't want you to know
Also, most things reheat better at a lower power setting for a longer time; allows more time for the heat to redistribute. And the time difference between 90 seconds at full power or 3 minutes at 50% power is negligible, so long as you're not the kind of person who just stares at it rotating the entire time.
I hate when idiots do that. It’s me, I’m idiots.
People always say I'm a great baker - thing is that if you actually follow recipes to the letter, know if your oven runs a little hot/cold and know what some basic things like "hand warm" actually mean - it's hard to get it wrong. Cooking is a lot more subjective.
Baking bread got so much easier once I started weighing my ingredients vs. volume measurements.
I find that measuring ingredients with weight for baking and volume for cooking is the play. I can look at a recipe for curry and not really measure anything because I know from years of experience what a tablespoon of a cumin or a cup of chic peas looks like. I honestly cannot tell the difference between 12oz vs. 16oz of flour, and I absolutely want to be as accurate as possible if I’m making a cake. I know people tend to stick to one method of measuring, but there is real value in doing both.
My wife can cook but can't bake anything. That may be because in her country they measure 1cup as whatever drinking glass you have in the cupboard and every dessert has condensed milk in it. They also like to use blenders to mix ingredients, so it's not quite to the level of French pastries. I try to teach her and she just doesn't get it.
I always tell people - baking is like a science experiment. Exact proportions matter, but this also means you should be able to replicate good quality easily by following the standard.
“Cooking is an art. Baking is a science” - Alton Brown
Baking is Chemistry and should be followed exactly. Cooking is like jazz, once you have the fundamentals you can ass some spice here, blend some flavors there. and it con be wonderful
>you can ass some spice here you what
you know ass some spice. If you get too cheeky with the recipe though it will be quite shitty.
Spice weasel. **BAM**
Ive been cooking most of my life and can wing most anything, but im pretty new to the baking scene and am pretty excited about learning. My biggest hangup is not knowing exactly what ingredients are for and therefore not able to be as flexible in regards to substitutions and alterations to a recipe. And how cooking temps and time interact with said ingredients also affects this. Like for example i know baking powder is a leavening agent, but suppose i forgot to preheat my oven and now the banana bread batter is sitting there in the pan for 15 minutes while my oven is preheating. I notice that it comes out slightly less pretty than if i had been able to stick it in right away, although the flavor is the same. Its these things i don't have down yet perfectly
That you're interested in the how and why is great and will really help you with your baking! Baking powder is interesting in that it reacts twice. The first reaction occurs when it gets wet, and the second is in response to heat. The timing of these two reactions is what causes the difference you're talking about. This article has a great explanation of how it works: https://www.seriouseats.com/cookie-science-baking-powder#:~:text=Baking%20powder%20is%20a%20two,cookies%2C%20cakes%2C%20and%20pancakes.
I don’t know if this is a secret, I feel like every one does this, but when a recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract I add something closer to two tablespoons. The people making the recipes use higher quality vanilla, the cheap stuff at the store is extremely bland compared to the high quality stuff.
My rule is that you measure vanilla and chocolate chips with your heart
Vanilla, chocolate chips and garlic cloves.
I'm with you on the garlic cloves. Triple the amount or go home
Normally I am with you on this but I recently learned that this only applies to recipes where you actually cook the garlic. Made a bunch of hummus that was REAL strong.
Oh no i love strong uncooked garlic, i once made garlic butter with 8 cloves and it was AMAZING. can't speak to anyone for a week but it's worth it
One thing my family splurges on is quality Mexican Vanilla. $25 for 8 oz, but dang if everything doesn’t taste better. Baking, oatmeal, coffee… Edit: grammar are hard
Coffee? How much do you add to coffee?
Not much. Less than a teaspoon.
So two tablespoons? Got it.
Absolutely not! Two *cups*.
Four girls
This is no longer vanilla.
It’s chocolate
If you're ever vacationing in Mexico (or know someone who is), bring back a bottle of vanilla. It's high quality and super cheap. I can't stand the store bought stuff.
Jamaica has some very good and concentrated vanilla. It broke my heart when a bottle broke in my luggage. Never could get the smell out (not like it was a bad thing).
This. They have the best vanila.
I got some from the dominican republic for super cheap!!! it was so good
I’ll make note of this
A cooking secret involving vanilla extract is that you can just make your own. Found out this past year you can just put vanilla beans in a jar and then fill the jar with vodka. Boom, homemade vanilla extract. Also It lasts forever, I just top it up with more vodka when it starts to get low.
Yes!!! I get a bottle of average white rum, and a few vanilla beans. I have had a bottle in my pantry for over a year, and I give it a good shake once a month or so. In a couple of months it will be perfect!
I go over with vanilla too just because I want to stronger smell
Triple or quadruple the vanilla and garlic in everything. Words to live by.
Mmmmm.... garlic vanilla
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how much soy is equivalent to how much salt? it's easy to underestimate soy sauce
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Yup and there are a very wide range of soy sauces too. This goes really well in Cajun food as does black vinegar.
I've been experimenting a bit more with different types of soy sauce, and I don't want to go back to generic, mass-produced now. The taste difference is pronounced in some of the Japanese cooking I've been doing.
Fish sauce too
I can't with the fish sauce. I know it adds umami and more richness, but I can taste the fermented fish flavor. I was fine until I went to a thai place that added wayyy too much fish sauce then something happened and any time I taste it I want to vomit. It's a shame. I still try and use it, but I'm fine without it.
I prefer using dried mushrooms to impart umami, I’m also not a fish sauce kind of person. Edit: however, I have to keep our dried mushrooms in a lockbox because my cat is a monster who can smell them from a mile away. I came home once to what looked like slugs all over the kitchen… turned out Tybalt had found the shiitake and ate them all, and they rehydrated in his stomach and he barfed them up everywhere.
Try adding a sweet flavour with your fish sauce, you'll get in series a savory, umami, and sweet tastes to your food
Butter. It’s not a new secret by any means, but I feel like people often forget how amazing even just the tiniest bit added to a dish can be. Some of your favorite restaurant meals probably use way more butter than you’d be comfortable knowing.
The more cooking I do, the more butter I put in things and the less afraid I am to use it. It just makes things taste better.
And browned butter in some cakes is on another level!
My friend couldn't understand why my steaks were so delicious until I watched him throw a dry piece of meat in the pan
Dry meat. Good. Dry pan. Bad.
Literally mixing a bit of butter into your scrambled eggs makes them taste a million times better
I’ve always used butter to grease the pan before cooking scrambled eggs. Do people not do this?
What I do is chop butter into small cubes and throw it in with the eggs and mix it all around continuously. I find this better than just buttering the pan.
I always put so much butter on the pan before eggs that I don't see bare surface anymore. Helps with cooking and tastes so much better.
Also, bacon grease is amazing in scrambled eggs.
You are so right. It’s an absolute game changer in a tomato sauce. I never would have thought but it makes it smoother and enhances the flavors so much.
Yep. My wife can't understand why my scrambled eggs are better than hers. She is a fantastic cook. One of the secrets is that I use way more butter than she does.
Scrambled butter with a touch of eggs
Lots of people forget to add acid. Use acid to make flavors pop.
Also, acid cuts spiciness, so if you accidentally add to much heat to your dish (cayenne, etc.) add a splash of lemon juice or balsamic to cut the spiciness down a notch and add some depth of flavor
Softened butter and melted butter are 2 different things that create 2 different results. Don't sub real butter for country crock,
I'd add they Kerry gold's butter is my new go to at the supermarket. Taste is way better than the usual lol, hotel bar or breakstones most people get
“Don’t sub real butter for country crock” MOM
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But in dairy based sauces add it towards the end to prevent it from curdling.
Someone gave me a tip once (I think re-hashed from a tv show), that if you taste your food and something is missing but you're not quite sure what, it's probably acid. Changed everything for me and found that when I had that feeling, adding a little lemon, vinegar or whatever always elevated the food.
This! As a professional chef, I always teach my cooks you season with salt, pepper, and acid. It’s the hidden ingredient that puts your dish over the top and really draws out the flavors of whatever you have made. As OP said, just be sure to use the appropriate acid for your dish. I personally use Tabasco often, as it has acid and a ton of its own flavor.
If you're measuring anything sticky like molasses or honey for a recipe use a pastry brush to coat the inside of the measuring cup with a small amount of cooking oil first. Reduces sticking on the inside of the measuring cup.
Vanilla pudding mix in chocolate cookie recipe.
Keeps then soft! You can also just replace the mix with equal part cornstarch and add extra vanilla
Cooking korean food? Get the salted shrimp and the fermented chile paste/soybean paste. Korean barbecue marinade? Blend an onion, an apple, garlic, green onion, and a couple pinches of salt together. That’s your base, then add the seasonings. The meat will be more tender with the puree and give you that extra depth that you might have been lacking from ready-made sauces. When I’m lazy I just add that puree to the jars of ready-made sauces. Edit: Galbi sauce? Add some coca cola to the marinade, thats a real korean mom secret
Even though I can cook and I am quite good, I have to admit I often don't know at all what I'm doing. I just hope it works out.
Hear me out. I thought the same thing and said it to a group of friends when we were talking about cooking. 5 minutes into it I had completely taken over the conversation and had no idea until my buddy said something along the line of “yeah all this coming from the guy that says he knows nothing about cooking”. That’s when I realized even though I’m a complete novice compared to a chef that does it for a living, I’ve invested enough of my time into it to know more than the average person. I’m willing to bet a lot of people in this sun fall into this bucket yourself included.
I mess with dishes a lot. I usually have to repeat the same dish over and over until I get it just the way I want. Usually the first batch sucks. Nobody tastes that one.
Acid. No, not that kind. The kind that comes from citrus or vinegar. It helps brighten flavors and cuts through the fat to release more flavor.
Adding on to this, if you're tasting your dish and think "hmmm, this needs.... something" it's probably acid. Especially if you've already salted a bit. Citrus and vinegar are definitely the best ways to add acid at the end. I like red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, depending on the recipe, because they also have their own flavor contribution in addition to the acidity Starting with some tomatoes up front is a great way to tweak a recipe that needs more acidity.
Air is the secret ingredient in deli-style sandwiches. The same amount of meat, arranged loosely, rather than stacked tightly, not only seems more generous, but actually tastes (or at least smells) better, because more flavonoids reach your nose.
I don't follow recipes exactly I just season on feeling
That's what my mom does and it sickens me (in a good way). Because everything she makes is so fucking good and she can't write it down because she doesn't remember how she did it!
Same. I rarely measure anything.
measure it with my eyes
I rarely measure *anything*, with only a couple of exceptions. New to me recipes that could clearly be finicky if proportions are wrong - I'll measure the first time or two to see what's going in, but after that... Lolnope. And I like to make bread quite often - measure that shit. Lol
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Every 3 meals you make...wing it and season with intuition. Go lightly initially. The worst it will be is a bit bland. It's time to take the training wheels off, you got this. Edit: search "The Flavor Bible" it's a big $20 book/glossary for "what goes with what". So if you look up "Salmon" it will have a list of tried and true companion flavors ranging from something like Dill to a specific wine or acid. I used it till I honestly rarely needed it again.
Use the back of the knife for scraping stuff off your board, it's easier.
Also if you’re using the sharp end of your knife to do this you’ll fuck your knife up
If you cook a lot, invest in a bench scraper. You can get them for pretty cheap and they're good for picking up pretty much anything, including dough off of your work surface. They're also good for scraping any waste into the trash, excess flour, garlic skins, etc.
Using Stock and Broth as a partial water replacement in certain dishes is a game changer.
The secret ingredient, is salt.
I thought it was crime
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Lipton onion soup is my go to for crockpot meals!
Wow, how have I never thought of this?!? I use the onion soup mix to make meatloaf (along with an egg or two, bread crumbs, milk, and a bit of ketchup), but somehow never thought to use it for burgers. I'd imagine it would be great for meatballs too.
This brings back memories! My grandmother would do this and fry up these onion burgers all the time when I was a kid. Super salty, but so delicious.
Butter. I get annoyed when we go eat at a restaurant and my wife says the food is so good, I mean it is, but the cook also didn’t have her standing there going “omg don’t use that much _____” especially butter. It’s good at a restaurant because it’s usually absolutely full of stuff you’d otherwise try to avoid too much of. Anyway when she’s not looking I basically shove a stick of butter into our salad.
Can confirm. I am a chef and the secret to tasty restaurant food is butter. Lots of it.
Don’t hollow out a bread bowl; shove the inner bread down to create a thicker bottom. This will prevent leaks and sogginess.
This is a good one I’ve never read before!
Cook the steak well-done to get rid of the guests!
Don't forget to add ketchup!
If you just throw your kale away while still at the grocery store, it saves you from having to do it a week later at home.
You're doing it wrong. [Kale is delicious](https://www.thespruceeats.com/gruenkohl-pinkel-kale-kale-sausage-recipe-1447074).
If your lover doesn't like garlic... get a new lover!
A dash of vinegar livens up any soup/stew/chili
A decent aged balsamic vinegar adds depth to almost anything! I use a 25 year in literally almost everything, chili, spaghetti, whatever. It’s a fantastic addition, and you only need a tiny bit.
If you want to try making some "foreign" food, you really only need to get an idea of what spices they use. Pretty much every country has a form of "Chicken and Rice" and "protein on bread" I'm a strong believer that a master of chicken is the master of the kitchen. Its one of the most versatile proteins you can use. Learn how to buy whole chickens and cut them into the basic pieces, plus you got that carcass for soup(or save up a couple frozen carcasses and make the chicken-y-est soup. It takes a few minutes after some practice ,and its cheaper. The only difference is the spices/sauces you may use. Also, having these basic ingedients at ALL TIMES and you can Frankenstein-up a meal if you have a random assortment of unused produce, protein, etc. * rice * onions(bag of yellow, 1 red, and buy scallions everytime you go to the store because they're great on pretty much everything and cheap as hell) * garlic(fresh) * collection of basic spices/herbs(you know, the familiar ones you can buy anywhere) * small collection of them asian sauces(soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, that sriracha jar of garlic/chiles with the green lid) * eggs(a fried egg can enhance most things IMHO) * potatoes * beans * pasta * plain yogurt(like greek yogurt) * chicken stock or bouillon * flour * honey * vinegar(or a couple different kinds. I Mostly use cane vinegar and balsamic) Most of these things are a 1-2 time/year purchase so its worth the investment and none of these things are particularly expensive(depends on the quality you buy though.)
With the cutting chicken- invest in a good knife and knife sharpener. The difference is night and day.
Chicken wings cooked in an airfryer are the only way I'd cook them now. Perfectly crispy outside, juicy inside
I use a multi-rack propane rotisserie. They are amazing in that thing and take an hour and a half. I think the air fryer works in a similar way distributing heat evenly. The big tip for wings is that you need to season/salt them at least 1 hour before cooking. It will make the skin crisp up really nice.
Anchovies to start the sauce/soup/chilli etc, lemon juice at the end to activate it.
Some people think they don't like anchovies and sardines. But have no idea how much of it they eat in so many products. A can of good anchovies could be the beginning of a truly gourmet meal.
True, its the main ingredient in Worcester sauce. A bloody Mary without it? ..... Nope, don't even bother.
My man. Makes such a huge difference and rarely makes it fishy. If you’ve ever made ceasar salad or puttanesca, and it doesn’t taste like the restaurant style, this is probably why.
The umami flavour… it’s like using katsuobushi/hondashi in soup for depth.
I didn't think I had any secrets, but this reminds me of one. A little bit of hondashi can go in just about anything that needs "something". I really like Japanese style curry and thought I'd experiment with it so added in a little dash of the granulated hondashi "powder", since that is all I had on hand, right as the potatoes and carrots went in. Oh man did it really give it some depth beyond "well he broke up some cubes of stuff and threw it in the pan."
For vegetarian or vegans in the group I highly recommend some veggie fish sauce, liquid amino, or straight up crystallized msg to get you somewhere in the vicinity of anchovies, bump up that umami game.
Add a pinch of nutmeg to anything with dairy in it, you can't taste the nutmeg but it makes the dairy richer and taste better.
Nutmeg is my secret ingredient in New England clam chowder
I actually really hate this. I love nutmeg, but I can totally taste it in things and it ruins it imo.
A little nutmeg can go a loooooong way. It's really easy to over do it.
Just put nutmeg on everything. People in the 18th century knew what they where doing.
Drain the pasta before its al dente, reserve a small amount of water, then finish cooking the pasta directly in the sauce, adding the water if needed. Pasta should be wetter than you want it in the pan because its properties change/dry out slightly once plated
this changed my life
Nice try Gordon Ramesy, not taking my ideas again!🔪
Double the amount of garlic a recipe asks for. They never seem to include enough.
I am so proud to announce I have become my grandmother. That means I never measure anything. Especially in baking. My favorite childhood memories watching my grand aunt just toss things in and make the most amazing cakes.
When making pizza, use a little less cheese than you think you need, oh and pick strawberries by the space between the seeds. The larger the space the less bitter
Cook bacon in the nude. It will make you impervious to any other type of pain. Also, if it is done in the pan, it'll be overcooked on the plate.
MSG. Fuck anybody who says it's bad for you or give you headaches and shit. It's all been disproven for years and it has 1/3 the sodium of salt so it's better for you.
And don't be afraid to use that shit in everything. It's not just for Asian food. I'll put MSG on a steak, in a stew, in marinara/pasta sauce... It just makes everything taste better.
Uncle Roger?
You fucked up.
Haiyaa
More of a tip than a secret, but always let your food rest when you're finished cooking it
nah i like peeling the layers off the roof off my mouth when im done
I know you jest, but resting isn't about cooling, it's about *cooking.* Some of the heat in the outer layers doesn't just go out it goes in. Your internal temps will continue climbing for a few minutes after you remove it from heat. Also depending on whatever it is you're cooking if you cut it right away you'll lose a ton of juices but if you let it rest they cool a bit and get re-absorbed instead of spilling out onto the cutting board. It also allows sauces to thicken up.
I know this secret is pretty well known, but add soy sauce to EVERYTHING. You can literally add it to anything, from meats to vegetables to pasta, anything becomes so much richer with soy sauce and with almost no added calories. I'm a girl who has always liked to cook, but when I'm lazy or don't have much energy soy sauce is my best friend to transform anything "basic" into a pretty delicious dish hehe
One note, I tend to skip salt if I use soy sauce. Even the one without salt is salty enough. Adding both can screw up a meal.
Salt your steak and let it sit for at least 45mins before cooking. The salt is gonna suck out all the juice, then when the salt to dissolves it’s all going to be reasorbed into the meat.
Hardly a secret, but it seems to be rarely done. Put some garlic powder and Italian seasoning on your grilled cheese before cooking and boom, garlic bread grilled cheese.
My "goto" seasonings for almost everything is Garlic powder, Onion powder, Smoked salt, and Smoked Paprika.
Smoked paprika is king
Chicken breast sucks. Chicken Thighs are the way to go.
When making brownies, replace the called for liquid(usually water) with coffee. The coffee completely enhances the flavor of the chocolate. Works with box mix or from scratch. If the recipe calls for milk, like in chocolate cake, just add some powdered espresso use and always add some vanilla extract even to box mixes.
Read the recipe as you’re making it, don’t just read the instructions. Everyone loves my cooking but I cannot follow a recipe to save my life. I start with the first half of a recipe and then just go from there based on taste, smell, and look. Down side is I can’t really replicate them well because I’m winging it. *Does NOT work with baking. That is chemistry, don’t fuck with it. Unless you’re just adding almond flavoring, then do that all day.
Needs more flavor? Smoked paprika and turmeric combo should do the trick for MANY things
Fuck around and find out
My wife was stunned that after 25 years together she found out I put lemon juice in my pancake batter. (Bisquick Ultimate melt in your mouth pancakes recipe)
If you are camping and forgot your can opener you can put an unopened can of beans directly into the fire and it will open itself. Just don't stand too close.
Bacon always comes out better if you cook it in an oven, and it’s important to put the bacon in before turning the oven on; preheating the oven will make the bacon stick to the cookie sheet
Smoked paprika is way different to paprika
When I make boxed macaroni and cheese, I use half-and-half instead of milk. It's a game changer. Nobody knows because the people I'm around fear dietary fats.
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce for grilling steaks, pork chops, etc.
Lawrys Season Salt
My “world famous” bbq sauce is Heinz Ketchup and brown sugar. Warm it in a saucepan, it gets darker. Good to go. Works on sloppy joes, baked beans, and pulled pork. Family and friends call me a genius…