B&B sauce depository

This thead is going to be cleaned up and incorporated in the Gentlemen's Essentials, so we need to build up more sauces in the thread, so please get cookin!



Cooking, at least for the amateur, is all about cheating. Once you've mastered a few basic techniques (not setting fire to the house, rudimentary sauteing, grilling, frying, broiling, blanching, etc.) all you need to look like a genius is to use good ingredients and a couple a handy sauces, lifted from your friends. It's okay- comedians do it all the time.

While a professional chef is constantly called upon to create new dishes, the goal of the novice is to present a passable rendition of the old favorites. If you have two or three sauces in your repetoire, you can get by (or at least fake it), and if you have four or five sauces (per cuisine) you can lay out a spread that will impress your peers to no end.

Example- Chinese cuisine uses a few basic sauces, repeated ad infinitum. If you can swing a sweet and sour, a black bean, an oyster and a lobster sauce, you can make dozens of dishes. Same for Mexican- three or four sauces, then just twist the tortilla a bit differently and you're home free.

So............. let's get sauced!

Well....

I'M WAITING !!!!

I'll start 'er up-

Tomatillo sauce

Husk and wash 2 lbs fresh tomatillos, then blanch in boiling water for two miinutes. Grind in blender or food processor, in batches, until it is still a little coarse.
In large saute pan, heat oil, add garlic, diced onion, and diced jalepenos, serranos, poblanos, or any chilis you have. You're on your own for the heat. Deglaze pan with white wine, add tomatillos, and cook 10-15 minutes. Adjust consistency with water, chicken stock, or wine as required. Adjust seasoning (a bit of sugar may be needed), and add a mound of chopped cilantro.

Suggestions-
Sautee shrimp in butter and/or oil for 1 minute, add a few ladles of sauce, and cook another minute. Done.
-or-
Roll sliced grill chicken in tortillas, cover with sauce and cheese (jack, queso fresco, cheddar, or combo) and bake at 500 until gorgeous. Top with a spoon of sour cream and grated cotija cheese, and your Enchiladas Suizas are done.

This mexican green sauce goes with chicken, shrimp, pork, salmon, crab, lobster, mussels, or clams, and takes twenty minutes start to finish.

By all means, feel free to make corrections or suggestions.
I'd love to hear how your mom used to do it, or how recipes vary by area.

Now I'll just sit back and wait for the first BBQ sauces to pour in.

Here is a basic tomato sauce...

1 Spanish onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 2 tablespoons dried)
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 - 28-ounce cans of tomatoes, crushed and mixed well with their juices
Salt, to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent, but not brown (about 10 minutes). Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to just bubbling, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

I won't take credit for it...It is Mario Batali's recipe. I have tried quite a few different recipes and I like this one. I will also add a bit of fresh thyme at the end of cooking as well. Buy the Whole tomatoes...San Marzano or similar. Even though it is a bit more work to crush them with your hands I feel the quality of the whole is better than the crushed in the can.

This is a great sauce to do in a large batch and freeze some. You can use it for a plethora of dishes...from meat ragus for pasta...to lasagne...chicken or veal parmesan...Brajol...you get the picture.

This is Mario's recipe...I have tried quite a few different ones and I like the depth of flavor the Thyme gives it.

Uncle Ouch's Almost Kosher Ranchero Sauce

From Taco Bell (hold the e. coli, please) to Zarela's, everyone's got one. Most places serve up a flavorless rendition that tastes no different than the sauce at the local pizzeria.
Most mexican sauces are based on dried chilis- this uses fresh ones.

Cut a few slices of bacon into half inch pieces and fry in a little olive oil until crisp. Remove and reserve or (put on top of your refried beans). Lower the heat and saute garlic and onion until translucent. Add a mess of diced fresh green chilis- an assortment is nice, but use whatever you have. Add a little white wine and a can of drained plum tomatoes, crushed by hand or chopped with a mezzaluna, and cook the dickens out of it until it looks right (the toughest part of cooking always is knowing when something's done). Add oregano (preferably the mexican variety), epazote, and cilantro. Mount with butter and adjust seasoning. Done.
If it sounds like making marinara sauce- you're right. Bet you didn't know you could cook Mexican!

Suggestions-
Cook up a nice rib steak in a cast iron pan (I do it outside, so I'm allowed to live inside) and add a couple of ladles of sauce, et voila- Mexican steak pizzaiola, or is it steak ranchero? Is same, only different.
-or-
Top pork or veal chops, chicken or shrimp with sauce. Hell- call it Shrimp Diablo, just like the big shots.
-or-
Use in your favorite burrito or enchilada recipe, or dump a bunch on your nachos.

Break out the sangria and margaritas, and you'll have to beat the women away with a stick.

My steak marinade/sauce

Jack Daniels original BBQ
A-1 steak sauce
splash of Tabasco
White Zinfandel few splashes
salt, peeper, (and various others of you favorite spices, I like mine hot so I go that route) to taste

And if that fails Curry Works for everything.

Keep on going with those great south of the border sauce recipes and we might have to change your handle to Tio Ay.

Let's not forget the basic pan sauce, created from the fond in your cooking vessel. This technique is so ridiculously easy and so quickly adapted to anything it should be in everyone's arsenal.

Sear your food well in a heavy pan; this can be steak, pork, chicken, whatever. After cooking, you are left with brown bits stuck to the pan. This is pure flavor - don't waste it. While your meat is resting, in goes a finely minced shallot. Saute that out for a minute. Then in goes some spirits; maybe 1/2 cup of wine, cognac, port, etc. Reduce that out until it is syrup. Then in goes some chicken stock (just use low sodium store-bought if you don't have your own), maybe 3/4 cup, and some herbage (few stalks of thyme, whatever). Reduce that by half or so, then add a tablespoon or two of cold butter and swirl in off the heat, then serve. Want a mustard sauce? Add a tablespoon of dijon goodness to the pan. Something sweet? Delaze with port, throw in some dried cherries. You can even use beer - nut brown ale works great with chicken.

With some practice, this will become second nature, and the best part is you get it for free. Just make sure to use a good pan or things will burn when you are searing the meat.

Scotto said:

Let's not forget the basic pan sauce, created from the fond in your cooking vessel. This technique is so ridiculously easy and so quickly adapted to anything it should be in everyone's arsenal.

Sear your food well in a heavy pan; this can be steak, pork, chicken, whatever. After cooking, you are left with brown bits stuck to the pan. This is pure flavor - don't waste it. While your meat is resting, in goes a finely minced shallot. Saute that out for a minute. Then in goes some spirits; maybe 1/2 cup of wine, cognac, port, etc. Reduce that out until it is syrup. Then in goes some chicken stock (just use low sodium store-bought if you don't have your own), maybe 3/4 cup, and some herbage (few stalks of thyme, whatever). Reduce that by half or so, then add a tablespoon or two of cold butter and swirl in off the heat, then serve. Want a mustard sauce? Add a tablespoon of dijon goodness to the pan. Something sweet? Delaze with port, throw in some dried cherries. You can even use beer - nut brown ale works great with chicken.

With some practice, this will become second nature, and the best part is you get it for free. Just make sure to use a good pan or things will burn when you are searing the meat.

Click to expand...

Scotto, if I do this in an iron skillet will the flavor stay in their?

It is hard to tell what the fond looks like in a dark pan like cast iron (I use stainless steel clad cookware almost entirely), but it will work fine. If it is not well-seasoned, you may have an issue with the wine reacting with the pan and making the flavor weird, but otherwise you'll be fine.

Scotto said:

It is hard to tell what the fond looks like in a dark pan like cast iron (I use stainless steel clad cookware almost entirely), but it will work fine. If it is not well-seasoned, you may have an issue with the wine reacting with the pan and making the flavor weird, but otherwise you'll be fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will give it a shot

Its pretty well seasoned, years old and its my steak maker.

I make a killer red sauce but I got it from my Italian girlfriend who is from Milan. Under pain of death, I can't release the ingredient list or she sends some of her relatives over to rub me out.

Scotto, you are right about using the bits left over in the skillet to make what I have always called a reduction And it will work just fine in a properly seasoned and cared cast iron skillet, that's what I use for almost all of my skillet work.

Doc Mottern said:

My steak marinade/sauce

Jack Daniels original BBQ
A-1 steak sauce
splash of Tabasco
White Zinfandel few splashes
salt, peeper, (and various others of you favorite spices, I like mine hot so I go that route) to taste

And if that fails Curry Works for everything.

Click to expand...

Hey Doc, I'm gonna meet up with you at the grill sometime!!! Sounds delicious!

Doc Mottern said:

My steak marinade/sauce

Jack Daniels original BBQ
A-1 steak sauce
splash of Tabasco
White Zinfandel few splashes
salt, peeper, (and various others of you favorite spices, I like mine hot so I go that route) to taste

And if that fails Curry Works for everything.

Click to expand...

That sounds mighty tasty. But I want to know, where can I get some peeper?

Normally I don't use steak sauces, but sometimes you can't always get those dry aged ribeyes or filets and your cut needs a little help, on those occasions, I throw out the A1 and reach for this quick, easy, no cook sauce.

Steak Sauce
1 cup Ketchup
2-2 1/2 tbls grated horseradish (the canned kind works but fresh is best) For extra heat soak the freshly grated horseradish in white vinegar overnight, it will really have a punch then.
2 tbls spicy brown or cajun mustard (If you don't have these, reach for the dijon.)
1 tbls honey
1 tbls maple syrup
1 teaspoon worchestshire sauce
2 tbls chipotle chili powder (or more or less to taste)
dash lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste

I've also found this sauce works well on grilled shrimp both as a marinade and as a finisher.
You can also add lime juice and tequila for an even cooler marinade/sauce for a southern beef dish or with fish or shellfish.

And for bourbon fans, a nice well balanced bourbon adds even more flavor.

I've got more sauces, but I'm one of those cooks who doesn't measure anything, so I really don't know what the recipe would be. I'm always happy to list ingredients, but I don't know how much help that will be.

Anyone got a bernaise sauce recipe? I haven't had beef tournedos in forever!

Randy

_JP_ said:

That sounds mighty tasty. But I want to know, where can I get some peeper?

Click to expand...

Sorry, man my spelling sucks and spell checker doesn't even help me.

Your are right Tim a good steak doesn't need sauce but sometimes its fun to get the gill and play around in the spice rack.

I remembered one more, I always make BBQ sauce from scratch, IMO it's miles away from everything you can get at the store and not too hard.

BBQ Sauce
1 white onion minced
4 jalapenos minced
3 cloves garlic minced
saute all in corn oil (or vegatable), until soft. Deglaze with bourbon or tequila (optional)

Then add:
2 cups ketchup
2 tbls dijon
2 tbls either ancho or chipotle chili powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbls honey
1 tbls lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste
And the secret and most important ingredient: 1/2 cup black coffee!

Cook all in the pan for about 30 minutes, then strain in a colinder and serve.
If you prefer a chunkier sauce don't strain or use a hand blender and combine.
The coffee is what really makes this sauce. Definately don't leave it out.