Category Archives: Sauce

Barbecue sauce

Homemade BBQ sauce

It was the first snowy (and rainy) day of the year, and I had a hankering for pulled pork. While I usually use Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, I had an almost empty bottle in my fridge and noticed that the first ingredient listed was high-fructose corn syrup. So I decided to make my own and it was super easy and super tasty.

I had to pick up mustard powder, and found it with mustard, not the spices, fyi.

Getting ready to become pulled pork

If not using right away, allow to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container and storing in the refrigerator.

Barbecue sauce
Makes: 3 cups
Source: Everyday Food, July/August 2005

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 cups ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in mustard powder and red pepper flakes; cook 30 seconds.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire, vinegar, molasses, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 5-10 minutes.

Tomato puree

Beautiful tomatoes!

Tomato puree – what a great way to deal with my tomato overload problem last week! Plus it forced me to pull the food mill out of the box (it was a Christmas gift last year). The food mill was much more intuitive to figure out than the mandolin was!


Simmer action

I used Martha’s recipe for the blanching and peeling of the tomatoes, and then attempted to make a chunky marinara with peppers, onions, and chicken sausage. The tomato puree was great (and pretty easy), but the marinara was a bit of a fail because I added too much red wine for the amount of tomatoes I had (1/2 cup wine) and I added it to the pepper, onion, sausage mixture thinking it could simmer and reduce. Unfortunately this turned the sausage into a wine color…so the ultimate product did not taste bad but it certainly wouldn’t win any points for appearance.


Tomato puree
Makes: about 3 cups

Ingredients
Food mill

2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes, a mixture of plum and beefsteak

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions
Puree!

1. Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Prepare a separate bowl of ice water. Remove core and slice an X into the bottom of each tomato with a paring knife. Lower tomatoes (a few at a time) into the boiling water and blanch for 15-30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove the tomatoes from the pot and immediately plunge into the ice-water bath until cool enough to handle. Pull off each peel, using the paring knife. Tear beefsteak tomatoes into pieces.


2. Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat, until fragrant and sizzling, but not brown. Add tomatoes and season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a rapid simmer and cook until tomatoes are falling apart and are reduced slightly, about 15 minutes.

3. Pass the tomatoes through a food mill fitted with the fine disk into a bowl (or puree in a food processor and strain out seeds). If not using immediately, let cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or the freezer for 3 months.

Tomatillo salsa

Getting ready to broil

It is always nice when your ingredients (or in this case CSA share) guide you in the direction of what to make. I had all of the ingredients for this tasty (and spicy!) salsa on hand…everything except tortilla chips!

I adapted the recipe to accommodate the three tomatillos we got this week (the original recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds). Mine was a bit spicy because I used a whole jalapeno…so feel free to adjust based on the amount of heat you can take.

Roasted tomatillo salsa
Makes: about 1 1/2 cups

Just add chips

Source: adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients
3 fresh tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed to remove stickiness
1/2 jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds removed
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped

Directions
1. Preheat broiler. Broil jalapeno, garlic, and fresh tomatillos on rack of a broiler pan 1 to 2 inches from heat, turning once, until tomatillos are softened and slightly charred, about 7 minutes.

2. Peel garlic and place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth and enjoy!

Pesto

My coworker makes the best pesto, and she used to keep me fully stocked…until I graduated and started making it myself. Of course I still use her recipe. I love to mix pesto with ricotta for pizza, with eggs, and when sauteeing vegetables.

Basil doesn’t do well in the fridge, so if I am not going to use it right away, I put the stems in a glass of water and leave it on the counter.

Love basil

Pesto
Source: Cynthia Brown

Ingredients
4 cups basil
4 cloves garlic
4 Tbsp pignoli (pine nuts)
1 cup olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. She likes using a blender, but be forewarned that the next batch of fruity frozen drinks might have a slight hint of basil and garlic!
2. Freeze or add Parmesan cheese to taste and enjoy! If freezing, do not add the cheese until you are ready to use it.

Ready to blend!



Tzatziki

I had some extra dill from last week’s dilly cucumber salad, so this week I decided to make tzatziki. This is a great basic recipe that can be modified to suit your tastes. I prefer it more dill-y and less mint-y, so I only used about a 1/2 tablespoon of mint.

If you use Greek yogurt, you probably don’t need to bother with the cheesecloth. I did strain it, and there wasn’t much liquid that drained off. However comma, it is important to squeeze as much liquid as possible from the shredded cucumber (which I did not bother to peel).

I like it as a dip with pita chips, or instead of mayonnaise on sandwiches or wraps.

Tzatziki
Source: adapted from The Food Network (courtesy of Molyvos Restaurant)

Ingredients
2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 large English cucumber, peeled, shredded and drained
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1 Tbsp mint, chopped
1 Tbsp dill, chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Prepare the yogurt: Line strainer with cheesecloth and set over a bowl. Bowl should support strainer so it does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Put the yogurt in the strainer loosely covered, and let it drain overnight in the refrigerator. Discard the liquid and use the strained yogurt as directed.
2. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight before serving. Enjoy!

Sofrito

This week I made a big batch of Spanish style sauce. I remembered to buy the onions this time, but then forgot to put them in the recipe…it still tasted great. The March issue of Everyday Food provides a recipe for shrimp and mussels with sofrito and chicken with sofrito. It also suggests using it to top fish or steak, tossing it with steamed vegetables, and using as a base for soup or beans. I didn’t really follow a recipe and used about 1/2 cup in a saute of shrimp, chick peas, and queso blanco. I froze the rest in 1/2 cup portions.

Sofrito

Tomatoes in the Cuisinart

Source: Everyday Food, March 2012
Makes: 3 cups

Ingredients
2 pounds plum tomatoes
2 red bell peppers
2 medium yellow onions
5 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 bunch cilantro, large stems trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup)

Directions

Sofrito on the stove

1. Coarsely chop tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Combine with garlic cloves and cilantro. In batches, pulse mixture in a food processor until finely chopped.

2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add tomato mixture and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced, 25-30 minutes (reduce heat if browning at edge).

3. To store, cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze.

4. Enjoy!



Cilantro peanut sauce

This week I made a cilantro peanut sauce, and then realized I wasn’t going to be home much, so I stuck it in the freezer to use at a later time. I love this stuff so much that I would probably bathe in it if that were socially acceptable. Instead, I usually opt to marinate and saute chicken, shrimp, or tofu…vegetables and other proteins would probably work well too. You can adjust or omit any of the ingredients to suit your tastes.

Cilantro Peanut Sauce
Source: Adapted from recipe from Red Fire Farm

Ingredients
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
Juice from half lemon or lime
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (or green garlic)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced (or a little ginger powder)
Dash of cayenne powder and/or chili flakes

Directions
1. Mix everything together.

2. Enjoy!