Ingredients

Parkaaaaaaay!

 

Smart Balance Light is my other secret ingredient ... but that's mainly in the pan, not mixed into the batter.

 

'Cinnamon. It should be on tables in restaurants along with salt and pepper. Anytime someone says, "Ooh, this is so good - what's in this?" the answer invariably comes back, "cinnamon." Cinnamon. Again and again.'

 

I can't believe it's not butter.

 

Garlic, fresh if available.

 

I use this in tomato sauces, beef or veal stew, pot roast, anything in which you otherwise might use a red wine. It is an Italian fruit condiment made from cooked, reduced, unfermented grape must. It's the same stuff that, if fermented, would become balsamic vinegar. It is very thick and sweet enough to eat on ice cream, although I haven't tried that. It adds a richness and taste that I really can't describe. Pricing varies wildly on the Internet. When a local store temporarily stopped stocking it, I saw ridiculous markups on the Net -- up to triple what I'd been paying. This is where I turned, and it's still a fair price:

http://www.ibfoods.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=840&DEPARTMENT_ID=123

 

Fresh garlic, black pepper and butter, depending on the dish.

 

Geese's Pieces and I Can't Believe It's Not Otter.

 

Garlic just terrifies me. You can be with someone four days after they had some good garlic, and their breath is melting your eyelashes like a blast furnace...AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA!

Horrible stuff.

 

MSG