Doctor That Dish!

Never be afraid to doctor up  dish, whether store bought or homemade. That extra fillip of something can turn a blah dish into something more palatable. What was once bland can be tasty and exciting. Just add a dose of this or that to bring extra life into any recipe.

That happened to me today when i opened can of Bush's vegetarian chili.It looked similar to our family recipe for it so I figured the taste was also similar. Wrong!!! The sauce tasted like  the Spaghetti-os one  (which is nothing wrong if its' bathing Spaghetti-os), with a funny kind of bland sweetness. It had lost all its' appeal in a second. What to do?Throw in a large pinch of cumin and two heaping tablespoons of chili powder. I then scattered a  few pinches of flaky Celtic  sea salt (my absolute go to in making any food better) and a few good turns of the pepper mill. After stirring it all together I tasted it . Voila! The perfect chili. It had gone from being a lunch time disaster to a tasty bowl. I ladled it over crunchy tortilla chips and it turned into a  textured, flavorful , fun meal.Basically it was adding oomph to a dull can of chili. Home chefs can also do this, reconfiguring and fussing with it to achieve the taste they want. The chili is also a great way of using up leftover roasts. Cut up steak, chicken or turkey would fare well in it., making it a heartier dish.Vegans can add Morningstar Farms soy chicken strips or soy beef crumbles.

You can also doctor up established recipes to make them your own I have done this with my Mom's chili  and tomato sauce recipes. My signature ingredient in dark wild flower honey. A dollop of this mellows out the chili  and gives the sauce an earthy sweetness.My new favorite recipe chicken mole has been doctored to create a brighter,more flavorful sauce. The recipe that I took from the All Recipes site calls for a can of  tomato soup. As much as I love tomato soup, I don't like the idea of it being an ingredient in a sauce. I prefer to use tomato sauce which is purer in taste. It marries well with the cocoa powder, adding a brightness I know I wouldn't have with the soup. Also I add a smidge more cocoa powder for a slightly more intense taste. Frosting is another recipe I doctor up. The chocolate buttercream that I made yesterday got amped up. Instead of the required  3/4 th cups of cocoa powder I increased it to a cup.The result is a dark, fudgey icing that is not too sweet. This offsets any cake' s sugariness. I also sub in light cream for milk - this gives the texture a lush  mouth feel.Instead of the usual one to two tablespoons, I increase it to a glug of it, maybe four or five tablespoons, Doing such gives it the malleability and smoothness s needed for icing it across a cake's surface.

Never be afraid to tinker with a recipe. The end result is usually  delicious, flavor filled dish. Doctor it up. It's a cure for avoiding a dull recipe.