I have a number of recipes that I claim to be a secret when asked.
Tonight I served a mix of a ranch dressing from a bottle with an adobe chile sauce
to go on a dry rub pork tenderloin. The whole thing was amazing.
But! no way was I going to admit to my guest that I mixed two bottles to make this
really delicious sauce.
I smile and thanked him for the compliments but simply said that it is a secret family recipe.
I make many loaves of pumpkin bread that are really special. But It is just a recipe I found
years ago–but I refuse to give out this recipe. It is my gift to many and therefore considered
very special to them. I have made as many as 27 loaves a year. This year only 18…
I did make an amazing Artichoke dip way before it was popular. Gave out the recipe willingly
and then found that my special dish was often made by others every event we attended.
Another CRAZY thing to do is to mix a raspberry yogurt with dream whip partially thawed
and serve with good strawberries. Not one person has caught me out on this one. It is super popular.
The fact is that I am a “cook from scratch” nearly every day of my life. And really good.
BUT :)) … I am not telling! when I cheat.
For many years I made these really easy Sezchuan spicy peanut butter noodles to pot luck dinners in a small town where we used to live. I would be asked for the recipe every time. I would say that I would only share it if I ever moved away. I held to that too.
Everyone thinks I have some special knack for baking bread, thinks it’s something I learned at the foot of some guru on top of a mountain. It’s just the recipe in Joy of Cooking.
The sister to your raspberry thing is to fold thick whipped cream into dark chocolate pudding, for chocolate mousse. I don’t do that anymore, but people think you slaved for hours. (The original was diet Cool Whip, a recipe from Weight Watchers.)
My secret is a pasta salad dressing. I do any regular oil, red vinegar…and then I add sugar. People adk me for the recipe and I give it to them. If someone comments it’s just not the same, I only tell them the secret if I like them well enough…
I put fish sauce (the Southeast Asian ingredient) on almost all of my steamed veggies, with fresh lemon and good olive oil. They are almost all of the flavors for Caesar salad dressing. Veggies taste amazing.
Just curious…why do you all feel the desire to keep a well liked recipe a secret??? I cook a lot and can’t think of any recipe I wouldn’t happily share. I understand having a “signature” recipe but not a secret recipe.
i took the word “secret” to mean what I think you mean by “signature”–things that I feel I have developed myself and don’t necessarily keep secret.
I also grill things on my gas burners, which doesn’t seem that amazing until you understand that I live in NYC. Grilling is a little more complicated in NYC than most other places in the US. I grill anything that won’t make a lot of smoke or drip a lot. I grill portobello mushrooms as “burgers”. For Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve, I grilled octopus. Last night I grilled eggplant slices and rolled them around ricotta (plus homemade tomato sauce and fresh mozz) for dinner. So grilling in NYC might be “secret”!
@abasket , I am with you. If someone asks for a recipe, I gladly share it if I can. Some things I cook are not precise measurements. Those are hard to share.
I made up a lobster and crab sort of casserole dish for Christmas. It turned out really nice but I forgot to record what I did
I have had bad experiences with sharing recipes. I have been accused of giving a fake recipe because their dish didn’t turn out the same way. But when I pressed them for answers they admitted they didn’t follow instructions or made substitutions.
My MIL (who was never a good cook) would ask where I bought something if she liked it. I cook from scratch.
I’ve never understood “secret” recipes either. I have recipes from my grandmother that I am glad to share because it keeps me talking about and rememberIng her and I know she would have never understood withholding anything related to food. I teach a certain craft and I don’t have secrets there, either. I realized long ago that my skill in the craft is a combo of talent, perseverance and the distillation of predecessors tips and techniques. You find your own way within that mix. If I teach someone something and they are able to make it better or make money at it, well, I had a hand in their success and that’s pretty neat.
I do remember eating sausage stuffing in the mid 80s and asking for the recipe and being told it was a family secret. Why feed it to others if it’s a secret? I felt rebuked when I asked for the recipe and that was 30 years ago. I have a box with recipes written on cards and notations like “Jill’s aunt’s” and “Ellen’s Grammy’s chocolate cake”. Haven’t seen or spoken to Jill or Ellen in 35 years but think of them when I make their recipes.
I have a good friend who brings her much asked for signature chicken dish to potlucks. When asked for the recipe, she says it’s a family secret. We practice that other craft together, and she’s very forthcoming with ideas, resources, etc. so I was surprised by this until she confided the secret is that everyone in her family knows she gets it at a certain Chinese restaurant and then puts it into her own container.
I am a member of the cooking for dummies club. If anyone wants any of my recipes, they can have them. I have a LOT of easy recipes. Some involve prepared things like in post one.
To be honest, i am flattered when someone asks for one of my dummy recipes…and I am very willing to hand them out.
I was once asked for the recipe for my beef barbecue. I sheepishly told them it was from the McCormick seasoning packet.
Years ago, someone brought an oatmeal casserole to a breakfast at work. Everybody loved it and asked for the recipe. She made copies and disseminated them. I eagerly made it at home a few days later. It flopped. Later, the conversation came up with several other coworkers, who all said it failed for them also. I remember as a kid I thought my mother was crazy when she said some women would omit an ingredient when asked for a recipe, but…
I’m a very good from-scratch cook, and I am more than willing to share recipes with people. I don’t get why people are posting their “secret” recipes here for random strangers, but won’t share them with friends.
I have the melting pot’s fondue cook book and the recipe for their Green goddess sauce has to be wrong not sure if it was a typo or not but I have to reduce the amount from 1/2 to 1/8 to get it to the right consistency.
I’m happy to see this thread, even though I don’t have any secret recipes. I love it when people like foods I made and ask for the recipes. I think the only “secret ingredients” in recipes I share are that foods can turn out differently depending on the cook’s experience level (my first loaves of bread were not wonderful) and that I probably make minor modifications to recipes without thinking about them or, at least, without taking the time to write them down when sharing a recipe.
It is just a recipe I found