# Your secret to making good \_\_\_\_? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773 "2010-07-23T21:45:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/1 "2010-07-23T21:45:39Z")
Let everyone know your secret to cooking any kind of food. Since I can’t cook, I don’t have any valuable secrets. Ya’ll are going to have to do most of the leg work here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/2 "2010-07-23T22:15:20Z")
Chocolate chip cookies? Crisco. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/3 "2010-07-23T22:20:02Z")
I’ve been told I make kick ass chili, and it seems to be true, as I regularly sell it at $5 a quart. I can’t give you a recipe for it, as I change it according to my mood, what I have handy, and what my financial situation is, but there are 2 things that stay the same. I always put in 2 cups of chopped banana peppers, and a stick of cinnamon. I leave it in a slow cooker for 8 hours or so, and remove the cinnamon stick before serving. It gives the chili a sweet & spicy tang that it would otherwise lack. Powdered cinnamon won’t work either. It’s got to be a stick of cinnamon. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/4 "2010-07-24T02:52:05Z")
Anything savory? About half a cup of white wine. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/5 "2010-07-24T04:05:22Z")
Meat? …There’s two ways to do it: Super Hot, Quick, and Dry or Low Heat, Long, and Moist (…it’s kind of like good sex) Also, season your meat well… most people underseason their meat, gotta give a cut a nice massage and crust of seasoning. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/6 "2010-07-24T04:48:56Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Anything savory? > > About half a cup of white wine. sub water for skim milk. the added sugars are well worth the flavor/texture boost. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/7 "2010-07-24T05:13:52Z")
Beer instead of water. This holds true for just about everything in the kitchen, if not Life itself. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/8 "2010-07-24T09:23:46Z")
Want your cakes to be moist? As soon as you take the cake out of the oven put it in the freezer for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/9 "2010-07-24T13:00:47Z")
Oddly enough, the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever made had an odd ingredient. Ground moose meat. Tasted unique and great in a spaghetti sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/10 "2010-07-24T14:08:53Z")
When I make macaroni salad I use sweetened condensed milk but with an extra cup of sugar for that special crunch. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/11 "2010-07-24T14:14:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Oddly enough, the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever made had an odd ingredient. > > Ground moose meat. > > Tasted unique and great in a spaghetti sauce. Thanks for the tip, Mrs. Palin. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/12 "2010-07-24T16:37:06Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > When I make macaroni salad I use sweetened condensed milk but with an extra cup of sugar for that special crunch. that video made me dry heave. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/13 "2010-07-24T17:04:31Z")
Acid & salt at the last minute will add a whole lot of zing to any soup/stew/sauce kind of thing. If you’re about to serve it and you taste it and go “Hmm it’s good but it’s not great”, take out a spoonful and sprinkle a little salt on it. Taste. Is it better? Add more salt to the whole thing. Same thing with acid. Try a spoonful with a little bit of vinegar or lemon or lime juice on it. It’s amazing how upping the acid in something will really bring out all the flavors in a dish. ---
**Author:** ![Pandoranoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce73a5/32.png) [@Pandoranoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandoranoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/14 "2010-07-24T18:40:44Z")
Vegan french toast: about 2 cups vanilla flavored soymilk OR chocolate flavored hazelnut milk Mashed banana instead of egg Generous splash of vanilla extract Generous sprinkling of nutmeg (if using chocolate hazelnut milk, I think coconut is better here) Brown sugar-just to taste, a little handful for me Coat all pieces of bread (Ezekiel makes a lot of good vegan breads) thoroughly and fry until golden brown. Top with powdered sugar. Delicious. ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/15 "2010-07-25T02:22:09Z")
Chicken soup: throw in a small beet at the very beginning. It makes the water red at first but after cooking for a while it turns the perfect golden-brown color. It also, somehow, enhances the chicken flavor. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/16 "2010-07-25T13:24:20Z")
Italian\* food. Keep it simple. Don’t put throw in everything but the kitchen sink. A nice pasta rarely has more than three main ingredients and often just one of two. Spend the time thus saved on find the best _quality_ ingredients. \*This is even more true for the north than for the south, where they have a few very tasty exceptions but then those guys _really_ know what they’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/17 "2010-07-25T14:00:10Z")
For the best pancakes ever, make the batter overnight, using only half the amount of buttermilk. When you’re ready to make them, add the rest of the liquid as soda water, mineral water, lemonade or Red Dragon ginger beer (it’s the only one that works properly!) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/18 "2010-07-25T14:02:41Z")
Oxtails- brown sugar burnt in oil. Seriously. This also works with short and beef ribs but, man, it makes oxtail stew delicious! ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/19 "2010-07-25T14:09:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Oddly enough, the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever made had an odd ingredient. > > Ground moose meat. > > Tasted unique and great in a spaghetti sauce. Minced kangaroo is great too. And no fat (for anyone who cares!) ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/20 "2010-07-25T14:33:57Z")
When I make sauteed squash, I mix the salt and pepper into the onion (almost as much as squash you’ll have) right after the onion starts to wilt, then after it’s turns golden, add the _cubed_ squash. For some reason, the seasoning takes better. I also turn off the stove and add minced red, green and yellow peppers and cover. Comes out perfect every time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773.md?page=2)