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Those "top Secret Recipes" Books

Nantzie

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Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

I was looking at my email and was checking out the email I got from Top Secret Recipes. I've been on their mailing list for years now. I've just never bothered with it because (pre-gluten-free) I always figured that it's easier and cheaper just to go buy the thing than to get all the ingredients to make it yourself.

But today, I realized that this is a PERFECT resource for us!!! A lot of stuff that we can't eat in restaurants is stuff that could easily be made gluten-free by substituting or omitting something (like the flour in Taco Bell's taco meat). Or there is so much potential for cross contamination in a restaurant that it's not even worth taking the risk (like KFC Coleslaw).

I went on the site - www.topsecretrecipes.com. They've got a recipes section, and have quite a few free recipes. If you want to buy one of the recipes that isn't free they're only 79 cents each. I think I'm going to just start collecting the books, but I'm going to try some of the free recipes for now. They even have comments for people who've tried the recipe and tweaked it to be even better or closer than Top Secret has it. For example, under the KFC Coleslaw comments, someone says to use Tarragon Vinegar rather than the white vinegar Top Secret calls for and even points out that KFC has it listed in their ingredients.

Here's some of the free recipes on the site that I'm going to try. I'm guessing a lot of the recipes that have flour in them could be made totally fine with cornstarch. My mom always used cornstarch instead of flour to make gravies and sauces. She said she used it because it didn't lump up like flour. Nobody ever knew the difference.

Taco Bell Soft Tacos - (I read in an excerpt of the book on amazon that Top Secret says that it's the same meat as in the crunchy tacos)

KFC Coleslaw and Potato Salad

French's Classic Yellow Mustard

Hostess Twinkie Creme Filling (for the kids... ;) )

Honey Maid Graham Crackers (really missing these - might be good made with Pamela's Baking Mix)

Nancy

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angel-jd1 Community Regular
angel-jd1
Posted

I ran across the top secret site a few weeks ago. I was so excited. They have a big mac sauce on there. I made it then made myself a tasty big mac minus the bun. It was AWESOME!! It's a fun site that we can use to make some of the things we really miss. Thanks for bringing it up.

-Jessica :rolleyes:

Carriefaith Enthusiast
Carriefaith
Posted

Thanks for the link. I'll have to try some of those recipes!

chrissy Collaborator
chrissy
Posted

we used to own a KFC----i still make my coleslaw like i did back then---only we used red wine vinegar. i'm going to check this site out, sound fun!

christine

kathy1 Contributor
kathy1
Posted
  chrissy said:
we used to own a KFC----i still make my coleslaw like i did back then---only we used red wine vinegar. i'm going to check this site out, sound fun!

christine

Would you mind sharing the KFC coleslaw recipe?? it's one of husb favorites and we are not likely to be spending much time at KFC anymore!!

chrissy Collaborator
chrissy
Posted

i don't remember the amounts, only the main ingredients. the cabbage needs to be shredded, we used to run it through the shredder twice to get it small enough. i put it in my food processor now, a cheese shredder works pretty good too. the sauce is made with mayonaise, sugar, and red wine vinegar. don't put in too much vinegar to begin with, or you'll end up with a lot of sauce because you'll havae to keep adding mayo and sugar. sorry i don't have more exact proportions. i will have to see if i still have the ingredients listed somewhere for their potato salad sauce---it was pretty good, too.

christine

Rusla Enthusiast
Rusla
Posted
  chrissy said:
we used to own a KFC----i still make my coleslaw like i did back then---only we used red wine vinegar. i'm going to check this site out, sound fun!

christine

You wouldn't happen to have the old KFC Bean Salad recipes would you?

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chrissy Collaborator
chrissy
Posted

i don't have the bean salad recipe----i loved that stuff. i think i have seen a recipe somewhere else for bean salad---maybe it was taste of home.

christine

  • 7 months later...
angel-jd1 Community Regular
angel-jd1
Posted

I was just visiting the top secret recipes site and thought I would bump this thread. For those of you who haven't visited the site it is sooooo cool. TONS of recipes for "restaurant" food that you can make at home. Many of the recipes on the site are free of charge. They add a new free recipe each week. Check it out for some fun cooking inspiration :)

-Jessica :rolleyes:

PS. The McD's big mac sauce is quite yummy for homemade big macs

2Boys4Me Enthusiast
2Boys4Me
Posted

I thought Big Mac sauce was Thousand Island salad dressing. I have never eaten a Big Mac in my life, but that's what the fellas put on if we're having homemade Macs.

Nancym Enthusiast
Nancym
Posted

I'd like to be able to replicate the stuff at Chipotle. :)

teebs in WV Apprentice
teebs in WV
Posted

Nantzie - Thanks for the wonderful idea. I have one or two of these cookbooks and it didn't occur to me to use these to take the place of some of the restaurant foods that I used to love. After reading this thread I immediately went to the website that you referenced and we had the Taco Bell meat filling for dinner that night. The recipe calls for flour but I substituted corn starch and it turned out alright. Instead of the soft flour tortillas I fried some corn tortillas that I had on hand and we had crunchy tacos.

Thanks again!

BFreeman Explorer
BFreeman
Posted
  teebs in WV said:
Nantzie - Thanks for the wonderful idea. I have one or two of these cookbooks and it didn't occur to me to use these to take the place of some of the restaurant foods that I used to love. After reading this thread I immediately went to the website that you referenced and we had the Taco Bell meat filling for dinner that night. The recipe calls for flour but I substituted corn starch and it turned out alright. Instead of the soft flour tortillas I fried some corn tortillas that I had on hand and we had crunchy tacos.

Thanks again!

Did you substitute the exact same amount of cornstarch? I thought when substituting you went for a 2:1 ratio. (If I make it I want it to turn out right.) :)

teebs in WV Apprentice
teebs in WV
Posted

I substituted the same amount and it was good. Let me know how it turns out if you try the other way.

happy4dolphins Enthusiast
happy4dolphins
Posted

Hello,

I tried to get on to www.topsecretrecipes.com and it keeps telling me to download the latest flash and I did, but still can't read that site. What else can I do to open it?

Nicole

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