A little tomato sauce here and there...

[poodlesrule]

I find that, while cooking something on stovetop, like stir-frying, a couple of soup spoons of tomato sauce livens the dish quite a bit, enhances color, and blends everything nicely.

Try it!

[Tig***]

I never thought of that! I'll give it a try. For chunkier recipes, we like Rotel tomatoes.


For some meats and pasta dishes, I like using spices like Tony Chachere's.

[Katastrophe]

Dude! Ro-tel is a staple here... Use it all the time, and not just in chile con queso.

My Dad and Stepmom make a simple deer chili, using Ro-tel for the "heat." Comes out great every year. With our homemade shredded wild hog tamales we make at Christmas time, you are talking about some serious good eatin'!

Poodlesrule, that sounds like a great idea... I'm willing to give 'er a try!

[Commodore 64***]

Tomatoes are high in glutamates which really enhance flavor. Try adding Fish Sauce or Tomato Paste. They are more concentrated. 1TB of Fish Sauce generally isn't detectable by anyone eating chili, pad thai, or curry or swedish meatballs, for example. I use it all the time.

[Ch0jin]

.....1TB of Fish Sauce generally isn't detectable by anyone eating chili, pad thai, or curry or swedish meatballs, for example. I use it all the time.

How sad is it that I first read that as "One Terabyte of Fish Sauce..."

I agree though, a little of the old Nam Pla in many dishes is the secret weapon, just don't Google how it's made if your squeamish about food preparation....

Oh and tomatoes are also awesome for you if you live somewhere sunny because they contain lycopene which helps prevent sunburn.