Tartar Sauce

Apr 17, 2015

Super simple with ingredients you probably have on hand. If you don’t have capers, skip them.

Dump all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl.

tartar sauce 1

Mix together well.

tartar sauce 2

Serve with fish sticks (my favorite meat) at your next fancy dinner party. If you want to maintain a monochromatic theme, you’ll have to skip the only healthy part of this meal.

tartar sauce 3

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Tartar Sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons minced onion
  • 2 tablespoons capers minced
  • 2 tablespoons dill pickle relish or finely chopped dill pickles (can use sweet relish or pickles)
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • Optional seasonings to taste: Old Bay dill, smoked paprika, pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Cover and let sit to meld the flavors.
  3. Refrigerate leftover tartar sauce.

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Clam Sauce for Pasta

Apr 21, 2013

clam_sauce

A guy I used to work with came up with the basis for this recipe one day. He was a good cook and seemed to create it as he was writing it down for me. Years later I was perusing The Joy of Cooking and found the recipe he claimed to have invented. We added the wine, butter, and flour.

If you’re looking for a creamy sauce, this is not it. The sauce in the photo was made with whole (they’re small) fresh clams (so none of the juice from the cans of clams). Captain OCD steamed some of the clams and made garlic butter to dip them in for an appetizer, then used what was left of the garlic butter (you can be sure he left no steamers) and more flour to make more of a sauce than this recipe makes. You might have guessed that he’s a fan of parsley.

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Clam Sauce for Pasta

Super quick and easy clam sauce for a fast dinner.
Course pasta sauce
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup parsley chopped
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 small cans minced clams with juice (of course, fresh clams are better)
  • oregano to taste
  • pepper ground, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup wine

Instructions

  1. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil.
  2. Cook until onions are soft, being careful to not burn garlic.
  3. Add clams, parsley, seasonings, and wine.
  4. Bring to a simmer.
  5. Melt the butter (microwave works great for this). When melted, add flour and stir until lumps are gone.
  6. Stir butter/flour mixture into clams.
  7. Stir until sauce has thickened, at least one minute.
  8. Serve over pasta.

 

 

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Jan 1, 2013

This is modified from an old Time Life Books “Foods of the World” series. It’s not bright red like you’ll get in a lot of Chinese restaurants (it’s kind of a golden-caramel color), but it tastes better, is not full of unpronounceable ingredients, and is not as gelatinous. Add a little red food coloring if you like.

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Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chicken stock or water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup red-wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup pineapple juice or cold water

Instructions

  1. Stir together chicken stock, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, and salt in a bowl or large measuring cup.
  2. Cook, stirring every minute or so, until boiling. Boil for about a minute (or until sugar is dissolved).
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the corn starch and pineapple juice. Stir until the lumps are gone.
  4. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. If it's been sitting for a while, give it a quick stir before adding.
  5. Cook for about a minute or so, until the mixture is thickened.

 

Mustard Sauce for Ham and Pork

Dec 26, 2012

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ham sauce

Mustard Sauce for Ham and Pork

Tangy and sweet, often requested by anyone who has tasted it before.
Course sauce
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup apple-cider vinegar
  • 4 eggs slightly beaten
  • 3 tablespoons mustard any kind you like: the type of mustard has a big influence on the taste. Cheap yellow mustard tends to make it a bit caustic-tasting
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 12 oz current jelly

Instructions

  1. Combine brown sugar, vinegar, and slightly beaten eggs in a microwave-safe bowl. Make sure there's enough room in the bowl for the mixture to boil up: at least double the volume.
  2. Combine the mustard with the flour and stir out any lumps.
  3. Pour a little of the liquid mixture into the mustard and flour.
  4. Stir mustard, flour, and liquid until paste-like, with no lumps.
  5. Add lump-less mustard-flour mixture to the remaining liquid mixture and stir well.
  6. Stir in the current jelly. The jelly chunks will go away as it cooks.
  7. Microwave on high, stirring every minute or so, until thick: 5–10 minutes, depending on your microwave.

Recipe Notes

You can, of course, make this on the stove. You'll have to stir constantly to prevent scorching the sauce, which is why I use the microwave for everything possible that requires constant stirring.

This is often mistaken for gravy by guests. Next time, I will put a sign by the bowl stating that it is not a good complement to potatoes.