Honey Mustard

This recipe tastes almost identical to the little packages that you get at fast food places with your chicken strips, but doesn't have any of the nasty long list of things in it. It's so simple to make, and uses ingredients almost everyone has at home, so why not make it from scratch.

Recipe courtesy of the Food Network.

Ingredients

1/2 C. Mustard
1/2 C. Honey
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Directions

~Mix all ingredients in a small dish and whisk to smooth out all clumps. Salt & pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce

I love Hollandaise Sauce, but I don't like eggs. Meaning I rarely get to eat it because every restaurant that serves it, only does so atop of eggs on an egg's benny. No thanks. But then I had an awesome breakfast at a local pub and I actually got to eat Hollandaise Sauce because they'd poured it over a dish I could make egg free. Yay!

So I wanted to make this dish at home, and the first step was to figure out the Hollandaise Sauce. I quickly found this recipe from Simply Recipes and I altered the method slightly, because the way they instructed seemed a bit iffy for me, because they assumed that pouring melted butter into eggs was enough eat to cook the eggs. I didn't believe this, so I added an extra step where I just throw it into a pot and actually cook the eggs so we don't all die. But I do eat cookie dough without a second thought so my logic is slightly flawed here.

I always double this and five people eat with a bit leftover.

Ingredients

3 Egg Yolks

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1/2 Tsp. Salt (I omit because I use margarine that is salty)

1/8 Tsp. Cayenne

10 Tbsp. Butter, unsalted (if salted omit salt above)

Directions

~Melt butter

~In blender or food processor combine eggs, juice, salt and cayenne. Blend until well mixed and lightened (approximately 30 seconds)

~Once well blended, turn down to lowest setting and slowly add in the melted butter as it continues to mix. Don't add in all butter at once without the blender on as it could curdle the eggs

~Once mixed in, transfer to a small saucepan and place over medium or medium-low heat. Whisk continuously while allowing eggs to heat.

~If not eating right away, keep on element at lowest setting.

~Before serving whisk again. If thickened, add a bit of warm water and whisk to thin out.

Enjoy

Buffalo Sauce

I made Buffalo Cauliflower Wings a while back and while I enjoyed them, the sauce wasn't quite what my favourite Buffalo Sauce is. Some places do great sauce, some don't and it just tastes like hot sauce has been smothered on them. While I like hot sauce, that is not Buffalo Sauce. So this recipe is wonderful because it's exactly what I like Buffalo Wings to taste like. Even better, by making it at home we can put it on something healthier than wings. I love to make this and put it over chicken breasts, chicken thighs, cauliflower and white rice.

This recipe has been doubled from the original

Recipe from American Food About and posted by John Mitzewich.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. White Vinegar

1/2 Tsp. Cayenne

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tsp. Tabasco

1/2 Tsp. Salt

3/4 C. Hot Sauce (I use Frank's)

3/4 C. Butter

Directions

~Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan.
~Over medium heat, bring to a simmer while whisking
~Reduce to low heat and keep warm until serving.

Enjoy

Apple BBQ Sauce (Tomato Free)

As I was making this, I commented that if this turned out, I would have no idea what I did to make it again. Well, it turned out and now I have the task of trying to remember everything I threw into the pot. The great thing about this is that while it tastes like BBQ Sauce, it also has the apple and smokey taste to it. I had it on pork tenderloin, but it would probably be amazing on ribs for the apple wood smoked flavour.

Recipe adapted from Taste of BBQ

Ingredients

1 1/4 C. Apple Sauce

2 C. Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp. Molasses

6 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce 

1 Tsp. Pepper

1/2 Tsp. Salt

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 Tsp. Paprika

1/8 Tsp. Cayenne

1/4 Tsp. Dried Chilies 

2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Directions

~Combine all ingredients (except cornstarch) together in a medium saucepan and whisk until smooth.

~Bring mixture to a boil and continue to whisk, then reduce to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

~Whisk in cornstarch and bring back to a boil, continuing to whisk

~As soon as sauce thickens, remove from heat.

Enjoy

Tangy BBQ Sauce

This tastes amazing. What's even greater is that it doesn't have ketchup in it. It's pretty tangy. I tasted it before adding the final 3 ingredients in at the end of simmering and I just about knocked myself out. It was a little bit strong. Luckily it tamed down significantly towards the end and just tasted amazing.

I used this as a sauce for pulled pork and it was fabulous. It would also be wonderful I suspect on chicken. I had some extra sauce left over and it was dumped in the crock pot with a roast and the roast tasted pretty good the following day.

Recipe from about.com

Makes 4-5 Cups

Ingredients

2 C. Yellow Mustard

1 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1 1/2 C. White Vinegar

1/2 C. Water

1/4 C. Chili Powder

2 Tsp. Black Pepper

1/2 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1 Tsp. Soy Sauce

1/4 C. Butter

2 Tbsp. Hickory Liquid Smoke 

Directions

~Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan, except for the soy sauce, butter and liquid smoke.

~Bring to a boil, whisking constantly and then lower to a simmer for 30 minutes.

~Whisk in the reserved 3 ingredients and allow to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Enjoy

Currywurst and Fries with Special Sauce

This is a post I'm really excited to share. In Germany, one of their very popular fast food items is called Currywurst. It's really a simple concept. Slice your bratwurst, bathe it in curry ketchup and top with a side of fries (that you dip in the curry ketchup). If you are a big curry fan, don't think of this as a real curry dish, it's not. If you don't particularly like curry (like me), try this. It's really not very curry like. But it's still tasty.

So then in Belgium I had an order of fries. The dutch do fries really well, and Belgium is part Dutch. They eat mayonnaise on their fries over there. Sounds strange (and is strange if you think of it as North American Mayonnaise or worse Mayo or Miracle Whip) but it is a different mayonnaise. It has more tang to it. Which worked for me because I usually eat vinegar on my fries, not ketchup. But it did take a few tries for me to accept it. So they have these little fry stands and you can get all different toppings on your fries. Special sauce, cheese sauce, pickles, red and white sauce (mayonnaise and ketchup), etc. But in Belgium the place I went to their special sauce was mayonnaise, curry ketchup and onions. Very, very tasty.

I'm going to show you the curry ketchup recipe today and then you can make two good dishes out of it.  I will also show the special sauce mayonnaise recipe. It wasn't exactly the same as the ones I ate there, but it works. The curry ketchup though was pretty much identical.

Recipes from Saveur & All Recipes.

Serves 4 (1 1/2 C. Curry Ketchup & 3/4 C. Mayonnaise)

Curry Ketchup

Fry Sauce (Mayonnaise)

Ingredients

Curry Ketchup

2 Tbsp. Oil

1 Onion, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. Curry Powder

1 Tbsp. Paprika

2 C. Canned Tomatoes with Juice, diced or crushed

1/2 C. Sugar

1/4 C. Red Wine Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Fry Sauce

1/2 C. Mayonnaise

Pinch of Salt

2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar (I probably would just use white vinegar next time)

1/2 Onion, minced

1 Kg French Fries

4 Bratwursts

Directions

Curry Ketchup

~Heat oil in a large saucepan and cook onions until transparent.

~Add curry and paprika, stir and let cook for 1 minute.

~Add tomatoes, sugar and vinegar. Stir.

~Season with salt and pepper to taste.

~Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

~Stir every so often while simmering for approximately 30 minutes until mixture thickens.

~Put mixture into food processor and puree.

~Run puree through a sieve (to make it authentic you only want the thin ketchup like mixture. I don't know if I'd put the work in though to run it through the sieve. It takes a lot of time and I don't mind chunks of tomato. But then it is more like a curry tomato sauce, not curry ketchup. So you decide).

Fry Sauce
~Combine all ingredients in a container and mix well with a fork to combine.
~Return to fridge until needed.

~Cook bratwurst
~Slice brats into bite size slices
~Bake or fry french fries
~Put brat pieces on plate, top with hot curry ketchup
~Top fries with fry sauce on one end, curry ketchup on the other and a generous topping of minced onion pieces.

Enjoy

General Tso's Sauce

So, I'm not that familiar with the flavour of General Tso's. I've only had it a few times and I have to admit that it was the sauce on a frozen dinner. So, I don't know if I really have anything to compare this to. It was good, not as strong as the one I can remember trying before, or so I thought. After I finished eating, I realized that maybe it did have a bit of a kick to it. Just a bit though. It did taste good though. It was mild enough that it didn't overwhelm the other flavours in what I was eating, it just added to them and complimented them. And it wasn't as sticky and sweet as the honey garlic sauce I made a few weeks ago. *Update* There was some leftovers of this and we tried it again the next night and agreed that there was a lot more flavour to it the second night. But still not an overpowering flavour that overwhelmed everything else you were eating. Just a good balance.

I think typically General Tso's is supposed to be on fried meat. Well, I typically tend to avoid fried meat (or fried things in general - unless you're talking about potato chips that is), especially when it calls for me doing it myself. So, we grilled the meat (or you could stir fry it) and topped it with the sauce afterwards. I personally think it tasted amazing as a sauce on our rice though. Way better than on the meat even.

Recipe from Chocolate Moosey.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Sugar

2 1/2 Tsp Cornstarch

1/2 C. Stock

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Vinegar

4 Tbsp Chili Sauce

2 Tsp. Oil

Directions

~In a small saucepan whisk sugar and cornstarch together. Add in the remaining ingredients and whisk continuously over medium-high heat until mixture begins to bubble and then thickens.

Enjoy

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

This was so incredibly easy to make I can't believe that Nesquik is still even made. Like seriously people, try this yourself. You'll actually know what ingredients are in it and let me tell you, it's a very short list. I had to make this because a recipe I was planning on making (stay tuned for it) called for a couple of tablespoons of chocolate syrup. Well, I wanted to make this recipe now, not in a few hours, not tomorrow, you get my gist right? Plus, I didn't want to go spend $5 on a bottle of chocolate syrup that would then be placed in the cupboard and never used again. I guess I could have pulled out the last bottle that we bought that is still sitting in the cupboard. The only thing is, I can guarantee you that it is way, way, way too old to be consumed. I personally know it hasn't been used in at least three years and it probably sat in there for as many years before that. I know the expiry date has scratched off the lid it's so old. So why do we keep it you might be asking? Well, when I finish typing this up I think I'll march my way over to the pantry and get rid of it. Sounds like a plan.

Anyway, this is a little bitter as far as my likings go. If I were to be making this for an ice cream topping, etc. I probably would be increasing the sugar a little bit. But then again, I always have found chocolate syrup to be a bit bitterer than I like. So I guess this is pretty normal then. The one thing I do like about this recipe is that it can easily be scaled. The recipe I'm going to share makes about 1 1/2 C. of sauce. But because I only needed a couple of tablespoons, I easily was able to make only 1/3 of the recipe, and I didn't have to fiddle around with odd measurements. It just divided perfectly.

Recipe from Kitchen Treaty, who adapted from The Washington Post.

Makes 1 1/2 C.

Ingredients

1 C. Cocoa Powder

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Water

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Vanilla

Directions

~In a small saucepan combine cocoa and sugar and whisk to combine.

~Add in water and on medium-high heat bring to a boil, whisking constantly.

~Once on the boil, continue to stir for 3 minutes or until sauce thickens (it will thicken more once cooled).

~Stir in the salt.

~Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

~Allow to cool for it to thicken fully.

Enjoy and stay tuned for a recipe that you can use this sauce in.

Honey Garlic Sauce

I've always enjoyed having a jar of honey garlic sauce in my fridge for stir fry. But I find there is two types of honey garlic sauce. You've got the liquidy one you get in the jar from the stir fry section of the store, or the thick and gooey and sticky one you get on wings or meatballs at a bar. I also find that the different textured ones have very different flavours (or maybe that's just the different brands talking), but I feel like their flavours are so different that they shouldn't be labeled as the same thing. So you're probably wondering, where am I going with this and I have to be honest, nowhere. I'm just rattling on and on and on. So I'll stop now.

Okay, so this sauce tasted amazing, it worked amazing, it was thick and gooey and sticky and it tasted exactly like the sauce we get on our wings at the bar we like, except for one tiny additional flavour in it that I suspect may be my addition of the chilli peppers. Anyway, a word to the wise, don't sit around over the stove and worry that it is not thickening. I was about 3 seconds away from dumping in another scoop of cornstarch when all of a sudden the entire sauce just magically changed. On that same note, don't walk away from the stove, it takes a bit but when it does change it is very quick and you need to be stirring.

This sauce is great on stir fry, would be excellent on wings or meatballs or anything you could really think of that would be better with some sugar and garlic drizzled over top.

Makes ~ 3/4 - 1C.

This recipe can be found over at GroupRecipes.com

Ingredients

3/4 C. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Corn Starch

3/4 C. Water

3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Honey

3-4 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 Tsp. Dried Chili Peppers

Directions

~Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small pot and mix to combine.
~Add in water, soy sauce, honey, garlic and chillies.
~Bring mixture to a bowl, whisking constantly.
~When mixture changes from a watery to syrupy consistency (it's impossible to miss, if you are unsure, you haven't reached it yet) give it a few final stirs and you are done.

Enjoy

Tarter Sauce

So, the only problem with this tarter sauce is that I have a really awful picture to show for it. Unfortunately, the sun was just a little too bright and all the things on the plate seemed to become a blinding mass of glowing white. It's too bad because if I had have had just a couple more minutes I would have got a decent picture, alas that didn't happen. So, as a bit of compensation I'm going to include a couple of unrelated (to the recipe at least) images that I really like because they just seem to represent summer.

No, I don't have a recipe for this. I think it was canned peaches, tequila, some juice and ice, but I can't say for sure. You see, I made this last summer in a huge batch that I then kept in the freezer for when the time was right. Well, that time never came last summer, it was simply too cold out to be drinking frozen concoctions. But today was finally a frozen drink day. Maybe one day I'll make it again and post the exact recipe. Until then, enjoy this nice taste of summer.

But back to the tarter sauce. This tarter sauce recipe is a lot like a basil lemon veggie dip that we make as well. I much prefer this, because I'm more of a dill person than a basil person. The good thing about both of these recipes though is that they are a creamy white dressing that does not have sour cream in them. Yay, dairy free! Because the tarter sauce is so similar to the basil veggie dip, I have been known to use up the tarter sauce on my raw veggies.

Recipe based very very loosely off of a recipe I clipped out of our local grocery chain's (Thrifty Foods) flyer.

Makes: 1 C. of Sauce

Ingredients

1 C. Mayonnaise
Zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
3-4 Tbsp. Fresh Dill
2 Tsp. Yellow Mustard
2 Tsp. Pickle Juice
4 Dill Pickles, finely chopped
1/2 Tsp. Hot Sauce
Salt
Pepper

Directions

~Measure out all ingredients and combine them in a container. (I just mix in the container I'm going to store it in, that way I don't make more dishes than necessary.)
~Mix well to combine.
~Store in the fridge for at least half an hour to develop the flavours. (Really the longer the better, but sometimes that just doesn't work out.)

Enjoy...on fish, burgers or as a veggie dip!