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Your favorite single ingredient

post #1 of 46
4/7/10 at 8:51am
Thread Starter 
It's a real hard question to answer for me. If you had to narrow your ingredients into a single all time favorite ingredient (excluding salt and pepper) what would you say does it for you?

I think I'd have to say garlic for me. I enjoy garlic as an ingredient in more dishes of differing region and style than any other single ingredient I can think of. It's flavorful, a bit spicy, and healthy to boot!

Now see if you can decide on a single one!
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post #2 of 46
4/7/10 at 8:59am

MEAT!!!

They have taken the oath of the brother in blood, in leavened bread and salt. Rudyard Kipling
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post #3 of 46
4/7/10 at 9:09am
Arugula.
Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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post #4 of 46
4/7/10 at 9:14am
Onions and garlic is standard for me. 

Favorite at the moment is juniper berries.  It turns gamey meat into gold! 
In a nutshell
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post #5 of 46
4/7/10 at 9:32am
it would have to be garlic for me as well...mmm....onions are a close second.
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post #6 of 46
4/7/10 at 10:05am
Love.

BDL
What were we talking about?
 
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post #7 of 46
4/7/10 at 10:06am
 Smoke
Thanks,

Nicko 
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post #8 of 46
4/7/10 at 10:50am
cumin, i use alot of it at home
Chef it up errrrday!!!
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post #9 of 46
4/7/10 at 11:09am

I really enjoy Dill.

 

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post #10 of 46
4/7/10 at 11:38am
I'd have to say garlic.. I love the stuff!
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post #11 of 46
4/7/10 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by boar_d_laze View Post

Love.

BDL
 Good answer. We were taking the piss in baking at college, and our instructor actually told us that love was NOT the secret ingredient in everything. I think a part of me died that day..

Without giving it too much thought:

Butter.
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post #12 of 46
4/7/10 at 12:22pm
lemon juice. 
"Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors." - W. Eugene Smith
 
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post #13 of 46
4/7/10 at 4:36pm

Onions (white, red, yellow, green). Cilantro comes in as a close second.

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post #14 of 46
4/7/10 at 6:00pm
Wine, you may not call it an ingredient but I consider it one when you are pairing wines and food as it compliments the dish as if it were an actual ingredient. 

But to answer your question in a less out of the box way:

Cheese
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post #15 of 46
4/7/10 at 7:00pm
Avocados. They are the perfect food.
"If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good."  Dr. Seuss
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post #16 of 46
4/7/10 at 7:13pm
Who could pick just one? 

Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary is one of my favorite combinations. Each separately is also quite good.

I suppose I could make an argument that the soy bean is my favorite single ingredient but that's more for what it can be turned into that makes so many things good. Soy sauce, hoisin, bean paste, tofu....
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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post #17 of 46
4/8/10 at 3:28pm
Olive oil. Can not live without.
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post #18 of 46
4/8/10 at 6:01pm
Definitely a tough question.  My answer would have to come from one of these three:

Meat

Vegetables

Seasonings


As side ingredients that make so much other cooking possible, I'm undecided between butter and eggs.

mjb.
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post #19 of 46
4/8/10 at 10:31pm
A Personal Chef in the kitchen
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Robert A. Heinlein
 
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post #20 of 46
4/8/10 at 10:35pm
Bourbon, applied internally.

BDL
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post #21 of 46
4/9/10 at 12:29am
Lemon

Lemon everyday ,in just about everything....
My feet are firmly planted in mid air
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post #22 of 46
4/9/10 at 7:06am
sriracha...all day long...its awesome on fries, mixed with Caesar dressing to dip chicken wings in, on a ranch dressing sandwich -- yes ranch dressing, sriracha and bread, with peanut butter on toast, in eggs...oh momma is this stuff ever good...the possibilities are endless
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post #23 of 46
4/9/10 at 8:17am
The humble potato.
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post #24 of 46
4/9/10 at 10:51am
Lemon, almost any variety, in sweet or savory dishes.  Especially good with garlic ...
Schmoozer
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post #25 of 46
4/9/10 at 11:26am
If to eat alone, bacon.

If versatility is the issue, eggs.

If its just what makes me most consistantly happy when I eat it, garlic.

Though, if we were to share our fav's I'd wanna share with DC and BDL.
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post #26 of 46
4/9/10 at 12:25pm
Thread Starter 
Charron I tend to agree.. kicking back in the kitchen with a fifth of bourbon and a personal chef.. of course helping out when we felt like it... or after the bottle is gone.. most likely playing the "how fast I can dart the knife in between my fingers on the cutting board game"  .... on second thought I think I'll stick with garlic!
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post #27 of 46
4/9/10 at 1:12pm
Heart, without giving mine, and others giving theirs, I would have never made it in this business. Garlic would be the out of body ingredient I use most...............ChefBill
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post #28 of 46
4/10/10 at 8:04am
The egg. Perfection.
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post #29 of 46
4/14/10 at 4:34pm
I was having a hard time picking one until tonight's dinner when there was more caramelized onion on my plate than the pork chop I baked it with. And when we do cajun seafood boils, I always go for the onions. Yes,  I love my onion.
It's a wonderful thing to be spoiled in the way of food.
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post #30 of 46
4/14/10 at 5:17pm
I've been baking a lot so I'll say vanilla

As for garlic..my hubby is super-sensitive to it so I am very curtailed in it's use
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