# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/41 "2010-07-26T15:26:33Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Cheesecake: make sure the cheesecake is softened all the way through. Much creamier in the end if it’s not lumpy or cold in the middle when you start blending it. I meant to say “make sure the CREAM CHEESE is softened…” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/42 "2010-07-26T15:40:03Z")
Deviled eggs - use Miracle Whip instead of mayonaise. I know there are tons of MW haters out there but every single one of them who have ever eaten my deviled eggs says they’re fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/43 "2010-07-26T15:50:08Z")
Rice (real rice, not converted): use a ratio of 2:1 (water to rice) with medium or long grain rice. Add some sort of fat (I use butter), and seasonings. Bring to a boil with all ingredients in the pan, then cover & reduce heat. Cook for 10 minutes at half heat. After 10 minutes, remove the heat & LEAVE IT ALONE for another 10 minutes. Do NOT remove the lid after the first 10 minutes to stir it or you let all the heat/steam out of the pot and you’ll never get it back. Makes very tasty fluffy rice. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/44 "2010-07-26T16:29:21Z")
Any recipe that calls for water and oil or milk and oil - replace both with real cream. You will get better texture with less fat, and actual creamy taste you’d almost forgotten existed. Crepes: Let the batter stand for at least ten minutes, and don’t use farm fresh eggs. (Not “old” either, but really fresh eggs will be tough.) Pressure cooker makes everything taste better! Try pricking holes in seared pork chops and infusing them with Apple cider through pressure cooking. Toss the carrots and potatoes in there while you’re at it. . . I’ve often wondered why we never see apressure cooker on Top Chef? Everything cooks _faster_, more tender and flavorful, so why aren’t they running to it at every opportunity? ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/45 "2010-07-26T21:20:21Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > …by that, I mean, why not open a few test markets for an" Original Colonel Sander’s KFC" in the McCafe ouvre… Use a retro Southern Gas Station architecture and design. Serve family style one price chicken dinners Keep the pressure fried chicken, actually use the 11 spices and herbs in your coating, prepare _real_mashed potatoes with butter and milk, slat and pepper, nothing else, real gravy made with drippings and the colonel’s best damn gravy recipe but no extensions and artifciial flavorings and preservatives. Real fresh cabbage and slaw ingredients, real fresh vegetable sides… maybe the Zehnder or various amish family style dinner’s business model… The best sweet tea, in a family environment… maybe put in a jukebox with only period Southern Music. I mean it’s not rocket surgery, it’s embarassing having to point out to them how they can become real restaurants instead of these corporate perversions… they have so little respect for us that they think we wouldn’t know and appreciate real potatoes and gravy because so many people have become brainnwashed to their old crappy mash and gravy. It’s not rocket surgery but you haven’t given a lot of thought to their business model. All your food would taste better but it’s also hard to make and hard to get consistent ingredients and results. What happens to their brand when one of their restaurants does a shitty job with all the delicious food you described? Or more likely, when a few thousand are stellar, a few thousand suck, and most are very mediocre? They don’t sell lousy food because they’re too stupid to know fresh complicated difficult to make food tastes better. They do it because they have more than 5,000 restaurants in the U.S. and 15,000 units worldwide. They know efficient, scalable, consistent food is the only way to service that many restaurants without having such inconsistencies in their restaurants that the whole model would fall apart. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/46 "2010-07-27T15:15:25Z")
Chili: Use a variety of fresh peppers – for a recipe with 4 pounds of meat, I generally use 8 Anaheims, 4 poblanos and 4 jalapenos – and roast and peel them before adding them to the pot. That’s a messy process and you might want to wear rubber gloves, or your hands will burn for hours afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/47 "2010-07-27T15:39:43Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > Also also: A pinch or two of ground cinnamon and Dutch process cocoa powder never hurt anyone. I’ve actually seen, in the spice section of the supermarket, chili powder pre-mixed with cocoa. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/48 "2010-07-27T17:48:26Z")
Well, if I told you it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. The neyves of this guy! ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/49 "2010-07-27T18:10:16Z")
Vidalia onions. Use vidalia onions instead of white or yellow. Makes a huge difference; you get all the onion flavor, plus sweetness, without the harsh bite. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/50 "2010-07-27T18:12:39Z")
And I’d be failing you all if I didn’t mention [Penzey’s](http://www.penzeys.com/). Penzey’s spices take everything over the top. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/51 "2010-07-27T18:32:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > When making cocoa from prepared mix, do not use water. It makes it taste like crap. Use milk, or cream. A-freakin’-men! I use milk when I make instant oatmeal, too (usually for The Kid on school mornings when she has a very short time to get out the door). My tips: One, season the meat!! Doesn’t matter what meat you’re cooking, or how seasoned/savory the sauce or gravy is, if you don’t season the meat before you cook it, you’re going to end up with good sauce/gravy on top of bland meat! Two, lasagna: Like many people, I don’t add the “final” layer of mozzarella/Italian blend cheese until fifteen minutes before I remove it from the oven (prevents the cheese from burning), BUT just under the final cheese layer? A layer of thin-sliced pepperoni. Mmmmmm. I have never served this to anyone who didn’t love it! Also, instead of using ‘plain’ ricotta cheese, I pour my ricotta into a mixing bowl, and beat in a couple of raw eggs, a handful of Parmesan cheese, and some Italian herbs. I refer to this as my “kicked-up ricotta”; the cheese and herbs add flavor, of course, and the eggs add a creaminess and richness you just don’t get otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773/52 "2010-07-28T02:00:23Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > And I’d be failing you all if I didn’t mention [Penzey’s](http://www.penzeys.com/). Penzey’s spices take everything over the top. Oh yeah! I was thrilled when they started expanding out of Wisconsin so I didn’t have to make special trips or order by mail anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-secret-to-making-good-____/547773.md?page=2)