Sauces and Marinades

Nancy’s Hot Fudge Sauce

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Watch out for people taking a surreptitious spoonful straight from the container!

Ingredients:

  • 1 c unsweetened cocoa
  • 3/4 c sugar
  • 1/2 c brown sugar
  • 1 c whipping cream (although Nancy just uses whole milk)
  • 1/2 c butter (1/4 lb)
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

  1. Place butter and cocoa in saucepan and melt.
  2. Stirring constantly, add sugar and cream.
  3. Bring to a rolling boil.
  4. Boil for one minute.
  5. Remove from stove and place in a blender.
  6. Add vanilla.
  7. Blend on high for 5 minutes.
  8. Store in refrigerator.
  9. Reheat in microwave 25 – 30 seconds before using.

Serves:   2 1/2 cups

Source:  Nancy Oglesby (Nancy-next-door)

Skye Prawns Sauce

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This sauce is really called Japanese Steakhouse Mayo Sauce from The Way To His Heart with some slight changes based on the list of ingredients I had.  Great as a dip for shrimp, fries, spread on hamburger etc.  Skye Prawns are not to be confused with Sky Prawns which are locusts!

Ingredients:

  • 1 c mayonnaise
  • 1/4 c cream/water
  • 1 tsp tomato paste
  • 1 Tab melted butter
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1 dash cayenne pepper or Tabasco

Directions:

  1. Whisk all of the ingredients together until the sauce is creamy. Do not add all of the cream/water at once. Add a little at a time, until you get the consistency you want.
  2. Refrigerate over night for best results.

Serves: Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Source: Unknown

Strawberry Sauce

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Delicious over ice cream or a plain cake (or just about anything) with whipped cream.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs ripe strawberries, hulled (or 20 oz frozen strawberries)
  • 1/2 c granulated sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/4 c orange liqueur

Directions:

  1. Combine sugar, salt and cornstarch in medium saucepan.
  2. Add strawberries.
  3. Cook over medium-low heat stirring gently until sugar dissolves and berries are soft, about 10 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and add orange liqueur,
  5. Cool.

Serves: 12 (3 cups)

Source:  A variation on Kitchen Genius

Horseradish Sauce

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 This keeps forever!  If you want it thicker, whip the cream slightly, or substitute sour cream for 1/2 the cream and reduce vinegar by 1 Tab.  

Ingredients:

  • 1 c cream
  • 4 oz horseradish – extra hot (not the wimpy sauce)
  • 1 Tab Dijon mustard
  • 3 Tab apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • salt to taste

Directions:

Mix it all together

Serves:  makes about 1 1/2 cups

Source: MLK

 

Plum Sauce (Another Duck Sauce)

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While traditionally served with roasted or Peking duck, this also makes a different dipping sauce for different dim sum.  It is also good on chicken (or chicken nuggets)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 c plum jam

1 Tab and 1-1/2 tsp sugar (This is what happens when you translate from metric measurements!)

1 Tab and 1-1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar

5 green onions

3/4 c finely chopped chutney

Directions:

  1. Prepare the duck sauce by mixing the plum jam with the sugar, vinegar, chutney and 2 finely chopped green onions – white part only- in a small serving bowl.
  2. Chop remaining green onions and place them into a separate bowl.
  3. Place whole duck onto a serving platter and garnish with orange slices and fresh parsley.
  4. Use plum sauce and onions for dipping.

Serves:  Makes 2 cups

Source:  Lost

Villa Park Women’s League – GOURMET – January 18, 2014

Wendy’s Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce – Copycat

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Wendy’s Honey Mustard Copycat recipe is sweet, mustardy, and perfectly delicious. And now you can enjoy it at home too! A simple recipe that comes together in a snap it is the only honey mustard you will even need.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 c mayonnaise
  • 3 Tab honey
  • 2 Tab yellow mustard
  • 1 Tab Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 Tab fresh lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Combine ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Whisk until well combined.
  3. Allow to sit overnight in the refrigerator.  You may use immediately, but the flavors meld overnight and become a fantastic creation!
  4. Serve and enjoy.

Serves:  Makes 1 Cup

Source: :Donna Elick  The Slow Roasted Italian

Crème Fraîche

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While sour cream and crème fraîche are both used to add richness and tangy flavor, are they really just the same thing? And is it worth paying the premium for crème fraîche?

How They’re Made:  Sour cream is made by adding lactic acid culture to cream and sometimes milk to thicken and sour it. In France, crème fraîche was traditionally made from unpasteurized cream that naturally contained the right bacteria to thicken it. Since our cream is pasteurized here, crème fraîche is now made by adding fermenting agents with the necessary bacteria to cream.   → It’s cheap and easy to make your own crème fraîche: DIY Crème Fraîche
The Differences Between Sour Cream & Crème Fraîche:  Sour cream has a fat content of about 20% and may include ingredients like gelatin, rennin, and vegetable enzymes to stabilize it and make it thicker.  Crème fraîche has a fat content of about 30% and does not contain any added thickeners. Crème fraîche is thicker, has a richer flavor, and is less tangy than sour cream.
Which One Should I Use?  Choosing between the two all depends on how you plan to use it. Because sour cream has less fat but more protein, simmering or boiling it will result in curdling, so use crème fraîche in sauces or soups instead (unless you just stir sour cream into something once it’s cooked and off the heat).  If using in a salad or as a topping, they’re pretty much interchangeable and the choice is yours — some people like the tanginess of sour cream, while others like the richness of crème fraîche.  Since crème fraîche is a specialty grocery item and costs more than sour cream, think about what you’re making so you make the right choice at the market!

Sure, you can buy it in the store, but where’s the fun in that?! Especially when it’s just as easy–and most certainly cheaper–to make it at home.

DIY Crème Fraîche

  • 2 cu heavy cream  *  You want to start this process when your cream is still fresh.  Do not use cream that has been in your refrigerator for a week.  Use the freshest cream you can purchase.  Pasteurized cream is fine, but not ultra-pasteurized.
  • 2 Tbs buttermilk (or 1/2 c sour cream)
  1. Stir the buttermilk into heavy cream in a non-reactive container (like glass or stainless steel) that has a lid.
  2. Cover securely and shake 15 seconds.
  3. Leave the container partially covered, and let it sit at room temperature until it’s as thick as you like it–about 8 – 24 hours.  Stir once or twice during that time.  NOTE:  Cream will thicken faster if the room is warm.  If it turns out that it’s too thin, try to keep it in a warm place and continue fermenting it.  Hint:  Preheat oven at 200 degrees F.  Then turn oven off and place the jar with the cream in the oven.
  4. Stir the contents and refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving,
  5. Keeps for up to two weeks.

How does this work? Bacteria in the milk convert sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. The acid lowers the pH of the liquid and prevents the formation of any illness-causing microbes. At the same time, the liquid thickens and develops the pleasant tart flavor we love. Cooks love chemistry!

Source:  Kitchn & What;s Cooking in America

Tempura Dipping Sauce – Kitchen Cupboard Version

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There are “authentic” recipes for dipping sauce, many brands to purchase, but when you make tempura to use up bits of leftovers you need a quick and easy sauce.  This will work.

Ingredients:

  • 1 c water
  • 1/4 c dry Sherry
  • 1/4 c soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp chicken broth granules

Directions:

  1. Combine.
  2. Heat until boiling.

Source:   An old “Almost authentic” cookbook somewhere

Peanut Sauce

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Not particularity “authentic” but a good, easy substitute.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • ½ c creamy peanut butter
  • 2 Tab soy sauce
  • 1 Tab fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp (packed) light brown sugar
  • ¼–½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

  1. With motor running, drop ginger and garlic clove into a blender.
  2. Blend until finely chopped.
  3. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and 1/3 cup water
  4. Blend, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if needed to thin, until smooth.
  5. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and chill.
  6. Bring to room temperature before using.

Do Ahead: Peanut sauce can be made 3 days ahead.

Servings:  4

Source:  Bon Appitite

Tomato Cilantro Sauce – Wounded Pico de Gallo

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Traditional Pico de Gallo is a great salsa.  However, it does present a challenge when used as a dip.  Hence, “wound” it in the food processor – just enough to dip, but still chunky.

Ingredients:

  • 3 c diced Roma tomatoes (about 6 tomatoes)
  • 2/3 c diced white or red onion (about half of a medium white onion)
  • 2/3 c  fresh cilantro, loosely packed
  • 1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, stemmed, cored and finely diced (don’t touch your eyes while cutting these! Peppers burn.)
  • 1 lime,  juiced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • (optional) 1/4 tsp ground cumin

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients except lime in a food processor and pulse only until chunky creamy.
  2. Stir in lime juice
  3. Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 2 days.

Serves:   4 cups

Source:  Many Pico de Gallo recipes