>>21528943 (OP)
Two things, the first is a spice mix made from old bay, brown sugar and MSG which works for a huge array of things like a general spice mix or a marinade, can also be used to make pan sauces too. The second is frozen stock cubes I've made from the accumulated beef fond from pretty much every bit of beef I've cooked in my dutch oven from the past few months. Every time I'll cook a brisket or something in the dutch oven I'll deglaze the fond, break out all my old stock cubes I haven't used over the past few months, recombine it all into a fresh bastardised demiglace and then re-freeze after separating off the unwanted bits.I'll also add some extras to it prior to freezing depending on taste; usually the spice mix above plus some garlic/onion powder. The stock cubes I mostly save for otherwise bland food like store-bought beef pies. Bring out one of the stock cubes, melt it and add it into the pie to make it far more interesting.
