I was having a quiet chuckle reading Tanna's confession that despite not using pre mixes for any of her baking, she does use - and like - Bisquick. There would be more than one or two of you that has a packet of something not quite kosher for a dedicated food blogger to possess, a dirty little secret if you like.

There are are more than a few such packets and boxes floating around our pantry, but the one I'd really like to see is not there. Probably because it hasn't been invented, though when noodling around eBay I discovered it's day can't be too far off. There was for sale a book of restaurant recipe secrets - no, not your more usual kind of restaurant, but the big chain restaurants. You know, McDonalds, KFC, Wendy's, Taco Bell et al.

It's ironic really, fast food made at home and I'm betting it would be quicker to get in the car and buy it before you could have it ready yourself. But the thing is that there must be some demand for the recipes for someone to have gone to the trouble of making a book about them. And here is my confession. If someone packaged up the coating to KFC, I would buy it. In a heartbeat.

We make at home from time to time Southern fried chicken. Only the best free range, corn fed bird is bought and carefully jointed and coated in spiced flour and gently fried to finger lick'n succulence. But in my heart of hearts, I know what I really want is the eleven secret herb and spice mix surrounding my bird. The Amateur Gourmet recently found a way to roast a chicken without fat, with only a whisper of a few herbs and spices and he waxed lyrical about his creation. Oh Purleeease! Where's the nice crispy coating that has all the flavour? A bird that tastes just like the juiciest chicken ever - who would want just that when there is so much more to be had? That's like getting to the home turn in a foot race and stopping.

One of my sons worked a while at KFC and I drove him mad trying to find out what was in the mix, but to his everlasting credit he never told me - my own son! Like some deranged scientist, I have been secretly working on a version of the Colonel's formula and have even had some success. The coating seems to be about half and half breadcrumbs and flour. For the first time I can reveal - Gasp! - two of the spices...salt and pepper. From the amount of water that I drink after eating KFC, it would be no surprise to learn that MSG is a third.

So there you have it - my dirty little secret. I bet there are more secrets out there than Tanna's and mine. Care to share? The Food Police aren't watching - promise.