I found this gem on Don't Waste the Crumbs. It's super easy, and really does fancy up your fiesta!
16 oz sour cream
2 big limes (you want the juice and zest from both)
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice your limes and add to the sour cream along with the remaining ingredients. Whisk until combined. It's best if you refrigerate for a few hours before use, but you can use it right away.
Showing posts with label Sauces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sauces. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Balsamic Glaze
I found this recipe on Wonky Wonderful (here).
2 cups Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt (just a pinch)
This is super easy. Over medium heat bring the above ingredients to a simmer. Once you have a simmer reduce heat to medium/low and continue to gently simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until your mixture becomes syrupy (that's a great word). You'll want to stir occasionally. I think I let mine go for longer than 20 minutes but I was worried it wouldn't thicken. It may not get very thick in the pan but it does after it's cooled in the refrigerator. Your reduction should be about 1 cup when you are done. Store in the refrigerator and enjoy on just about anything!
2 cups Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt (just a pinch)
This is super easy. Over medium heat bring the above ingredients to a simmer. Once you have a simmer reduce heat to medium/low and continue to gently simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until your mixture becomes syrupy (that's a great word). You'll want to stir occasionally. I think I let mine go for longer than 20 minutes but I was worried it wouldn't thicken. It may not get very thick in the pan but it does after it's cooled in the refrigerator. Your reduction should be about 1 cup when you are done. Store in the refrigerator and enjoy on just about anything!
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Teriyaki Sauce
Why buy teriyaki sauce from the store when it's dead easy to make your own? Here's our take on this marvelous condiment.
Ingredients
70g white sugar
200ml sake
200ml mirin
250ml dark, brewed soy sauce
Heat the ingredients over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool, then bottle it and use it to saute everything. Yum!
Ingredients
70g white sugar
200ml sake
200ml mirin
250ml dark, brewed soy sauce
Heat the ingredients over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool, then bottle it and use it to saute everything. Yum!
Friday, February 15, 2013
The Five Classic French Sauces
Some people have asked me to explain what I meant by "the five classical sauces", so that's what this blog post is about. No new recipes. Sorry folks.
There are five sauces in classical French cuisine that form the basis of literally hundreds of derivative sauces. As an example, your basic cheese sauce is actually called Mornay Sauce, and is a direct descendent of the first of the so-called Mother Sauces.
So here they are in order:
1. Bechamel Sauce. Bechamel is your standard white sauce. It's ingredients are milk, butter, flour, salt, white pepper and nutmeg. A very basic recipe that yields one cup of sauce is: 1 1/2 c. cold milk, 2 Tbsp each flour and butter, a pinch of nutmeg and salt and white pepper to taste. I have perfected a method for making this sauce, which I'll write about in a future blog post.
2. Veloute Sauce. There are few variations of this, but generally speaking, a veloute is formed from white stock (of some kind), and roux (equal amounts of flour and butter used as a thickening agent); salt and pepper to taste. You can use white stock (made from a combination of chicken and veal bones), chicken stock and fish stock.
3. Espagnole Sauce. This is a sauce that is derived from beef stock. The idea is to cook stock with mirepoix (2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery), roux, and tomato puree (most chefs use something called tomato concasse; I'll write about that in another post). I'm sure everybody's heard of demi glace: it's a concentrated beef stock preparation that is used in port/madiera wine reductions and lots of other sauces. It's made by reducing Espagnole Sauce and beef stock in equal parts with bouquet garni until reduced by half.
4. Hollandaise Sauce. This sauce is fantastic by itself (think eggs benedict), but it is also the basis for bearnaise sauce, which is a much more tangy and flavorful derivative.
5. Tomato Sauce. Our "Sunday Gravy" recipe is a Southern Italian version of this classic sauce. There's no wrong way to make this, so whatever recipe you have for tomato sauce will do. Nota bene: Plain marinara is not a replacement for Tomato Sauce.
So why is this important? Because almost anything you know (or would like to know) about sauces boils down to a derivative of one of these five basic sauces. It's well worth the time learning how these are made, as it will only improve your comfort with making delicious sauces to accompany your meals. There are some very basic versions here (take with a grain of salt; none of my recipes are exactly like this; you'll see an immediate difference between my bechamel and the recipe on the site linked above).
More on basics later.
Happy cooking.
~David
Postscript: I am not a professionally trained chef (well, almost not). I started cooking when I was 15 years old, when I worked at Lotito's Deli in Ramsey, NJ. From there, I trained in prep. chef duties at J. T.'s Place and then, I trained with a Cordon Bleu-trained chef (Johan Tennyson) at Johann's Oaks in Mahwah, NJ. This guy, Johan, was the real deal. He trained at CB and then cooked his way from England through Europe, down through parts of Africa and South Africa, and then America. I learned more about cooking in a year from this guy than from all of my experience since then combined. My training was completely classical; almost as good as having attended CB myself (almost). Fantastic experience and pedigree of which I'm very proud.
There are five sauces in classical French cuisine that form the basis of literally hundreds of derivative sauces. As an example, your basic cheese sauce is actually called Mornay Sauce, and is a direct descendent of the first of the so-called Mother Sauces.
So here they are in order:
1. Bechamel Sauce. Bechamel is your standard white sauce. It's ingredients are milk, butter, flour, salt, white pepper and nutmeg. A very basic recipe that yields one cup of sauce is: 1 1/2 c. cold milk, 2 Tbsp each flour and butter, a pinch of nutmeg and salt and white pepper to taste. I have perfected a method for making this sauce, which I'll write about in a future blog post.
2. Veloute Sauce. There are few variations of this, but generally speaking, a veloute is formed from white stock (of some kind), and roux (equal amounts of flour and butter used as a thickening agent); salt and pepper to taste. You can use white stock (made from a combination of chicken and veal bones), chicken stock and fish stock.
3. Espagnole Sauce. This is a sauce that is derived from beef stock. The idea is to cook stock with mirepoix (2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery), roux, and tomato puree (most chefs use something called tomato concasse; I'll write about that in another post). I'm sure everybody's heard of demi glace: it's a concentrated beef stock preparation that is used in port/madiera wine reductions and lots of other sauces. It's made by reducing Espagnole Sauce and beef stock in equal parts with bouquet garni until reduced by half.
4. Hollandaise Sauce. This sauce is fantastic by itself (think eggs benedict), but it is also the basis for bearnaise sauce, which is a much more tangy and flavorful derivative.
5. Tomato Sauce. Our "Sunday Gravy" recipe is a Southern Italian version of this classic sauce. There's no wrong way to make this, so whatever recipe you have for tomato sauce will do. Nota bene: Plain marinara is not a replacement for Tomato Sauce.
So why is this important? Because almost anything you know (or would like to know) about sauces boils down to a derivative of one of these five basic sauces. It's well worth the time learning how these are made, as it will only improve your comfort with making delicious sauces to accompany your meals. There are some very basic versions here (take with a grain of salt; none of my recipes are exactly like this; you'll see an immediate difference between my bechamel and the recipe on the site linked above).
More on basics later.
Happy cooking.
~David
Postscript: I am not a professionally trained chef (well, almost not). I started cooking when I was 15 years old, when I worked at Lotito's Deli in Ramsey, NJ. From there, I trained in prep. chef duties at J. T.'s Place and then, I trained with a Cordon Bleu-trained chef (Johan Tennyson) at Johann's Oaks in Mahwah, NJ. This guy, Johan, was the real deal. He trained at CB and then cooked his way from England through Europe, down through parts of Africa and South Africa, and then America. I learned more about cooking in a year from this guy than from all of my experience since then combined. My training was completely classical; almost as good as having attended CB myself (almost). Fantastic experience and pedigree of which I'm very proud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)