Sauces

I always like to have a few sauces in my fridge, ready to use whenever I need something to compliment a meal or to use as a marinade. There’s some great commercial products out there that make things more convenient and keep in your fridge longer than anything you make yourself, the only benefit of taking the time to make your own sauces is that you control what goes into yours. It’s healthier and way cooler anyway.

Teriyaki Sauce

This is one of those versatile sauces. I personally love to use this one for stir-frys and to marinade salmon.

For a stir-fry simply mix with hoisin sauce.

For salmon, marinade for about 20 minutes, shake off excess sauce and bake at 350F for about

15 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

5ml Vegetable oil (Substitute with sesame oil if you have it)

½ Pineapple, fresh, cubed

25g Ginger, chopped

25g Garlic, chopped

½ cup Brown sugar

2 cups Soy Sauce

50ml Sake (optional)

50g Cornstarch

50ml Water

Directions:

1. Heat up your oil with medium low heat and sauté pineapple.

2. Add the ginger, garlic and sweat until the pineapple starts to release juices.

3. Add brown sugar and let dissolve before adding the soy sauce.

4. Bring to a simmer and with a fork, check the softness of the pineapple.

5. Blend together when pineapple is tender.

6. In a cup or glass stir together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry.

7. Bring sauce to a boil and add the slurry to thicken. Make sure that the sauce is boiling and add slowly while stirring until the consistency coats the back of a spoon.

(You may not need to add all the slurry or you might need to add more, it really depends on the chemical reaction between the cornstarch and the acidity in the pineapple, more acidic content = more cornstarch)

8. When you feel that the sauce is thick enough, simmer for a few minutes to cook out the starch.

9. Sift sauce for a smoother consistency.

(If the consistency is too thick you can correct by adding water.)

*Keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks and frozen for a few months.

Alfredo Sauce

This sauce doesn’t keep in the fridge for long so make it when you’re going to use it right away or within a few days. The benefit of learning to make this sauce is that while the ingredients may change, the process can be used for most cream based sauces. For example, substitute the parmesan with cheddar to make mac & cheese.

Ingredients:

5ml Vegetable oil

100g Garlic, minced

250ml Dry white wine

500ml Heavy cream, 35%

100g Butter

100g Flour, all purpose

Pinch Nutmeg

150g Parmesan

To taste Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. In a sauce pot, heat up the oil and garlic over medium low heat, just so that the garlic starts to get fragrant.

2. Add the wine and turn the heat up and reduce the wine by half.

3. Add the cream and simmer for a few minutes while you make your roux.

4. In a separate sauce pot, melt the butter over low heat.

5. Add the flour and mix together to a paste consistency.

6. Pour the sauce into the roux slowly, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming.

7. Add the rest of your ingredients and simmer for a few minutes.

8. Check and adjust the consistency if needed. Sauce should coat the back of a spoon. Adjust seasoning.

(Sauce will thicken once it cools down to remember to keep some extra cream to adjust the consistency when you heat it up.)

Marinara Sauce

I love this sauce because it’s simple and can be used in many ways. You can use it as a dipping sauce, added to chicken, ground beef or shrimp for pasta, or you can mix it with Alfredo to make a Rosè sauce. You can also add heavy cream to make a cream of tomato soup. And no, the name does not refer to the use of seafood products.

Ingredients:

5ml Extra virgin olive oil

150g Onion, sliced

150g Celery, sliced

50g Garlic, chopped

25g Oregano, dried

10g Chili flakes

1 can Crushed tomatoes

50g Basil, fresh, thinly sliced

To taste Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pot, heat up oil over medium heat and add onions and celery. Sweat until onions are translucent.

2. Add garlic, oregano and chili flakes.

3. Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

4. Blend the sauce well and return to pot.

5. Add Basil and adjust seasoning.

Let's talk pasta!

Easily a favorite and one of the things that I love about it is how versatile it can be. It can also be simple and easy without taking much time to make, as well as a great way to get your daily food groups requirement. These three recipes are some of my favorite to make, simple and full of flavor.

Chicken Carbonera, with sundried tomatoes & fresh basil

Served on penne

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 200 ml

Chicken breasts, sliced 2 (serves 3-4)

Bacon, diced 250 g

Bay leaf, optional 2

Onion, diced 150 g

Garlic, minced 100 g

Sundried Tomatoes, chopped 250 g

White wine (optional) splash (chardonnay, or substitute with water)

Flour, all purpose 300 g

Heavy cream, 35% 1 cup

Mozzarella, shredded 150 g (substitute with parmesan)

Fresh basil 50 g

Salt & Pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Boil some water and cook your pasta.
2. Heat oil over medium heat and add the chicken.
3. Add diced bacon and bay leaf.
4. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
5. Add sundried tomatoes and wine and bring to a simmer.
6. Add flour, stirring constantly until you get a light paste consistency.
7. Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer
8. Add the cheese and basil, slightly stirring until cheese is melted.
9. Add the basil, and season to taste.

Lasagna

This is a very easy recipe to put together and you could even freeze it to have it ready for those days when you just don’t feel like taking the time to cook anything.

Ingredients:

Pasta sheets, cooked

Bolognese sauce (recipe in previous entry)

Ricotta cheese 500 g

Spinach, stemmed 1 kg

*Mozzarella cheese, shredded enough to form a thin top layer

Fresh parsley just enough to garnish

Directions:

1. To layer the lasagna start with a layer of meat at the bottom, pasta, ricotta cheese & spinach, pasta, meat, and coat with cheese.
2. Cover aluminum foil and seal tightly.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350F
4. Cook lasagna to an internal temperature of 160F. If you don’t have a thermometer you can use a butter knife, just poke in the middle and with it touch just underneath your bottom lip to feel the heat.
5. Remove aluminum foil and brown the cheese slightly.
6. Garnish with parsley

*You can use your favorite cheese, or a combination here. Play around with it and find something you like. I like a combination of mozzarella and asiago.

*Mediterranean Vegetable Penne

One of the benefits of this dish is that it takes very little time to make. You can chop all your vegetables the day before and have ready to just throw together.

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 100 ml

Red onion, sliced 1 half

Garlic, minced 100 g

Roma tomatoes, diced 2 (substitute with sundried tomatoes)

Canned artichokes, drained 1

Canned black olives, drained 1

Dry white wine 50 ml

Fresh basil, thinly sliced 60 g

Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped 60 g

Parmesan cheese 40 g

Salt & pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat and add the onions.
2. When onions are soft, add garlic and tomatoes and sauté for about a minute.
3. Add the canned vegetables and wine and bring to a simmer.
4. Finish with the fresh herbs, cheese and season to taste.

* Mediterranean cuisine can be described as a fusion of the foods from all the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Given the geography, the cuisine of these nations have influenced each other over time and evolved into sharing common principles and ingredients, making this type of cuisine very flexible.

"Meez"

Let’s kick things off by talking a little bit about “Mise en Place” or simply, Meez, literally meaning, put in place. This is the philosophy that drives any professional kitchen and there’s no reason why you can’t apply it at home. This includes everything from getting your pots, pans and utensils ready as well as cutting all your meats and vegetables beforehand. The more prepared you are the easier things will flow when you actually come to cook your meal.

Something else to think about when cooking any meal is to start by cooking the item that will take the longest. This obviously goes without saying but you would be surprised by how often it gets overlooked.

So with that in mind, here’s a two simple recipes that require little to no Meez.

Chicken & Snow peas stir-fry with Shitake Mushrooms
Served on a bed of white rice

White Rice

*Converted rice 1 cup (serves 2-4)
Water 2 cups
Salt 2 grams

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Cover and reduce temperature to a simmer. (on most domestic stoves the ideal simmering temperature is 2)
3. Simmer the rice until tender or most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat and allow excess moisture to evaporate, approximately 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid if necessary.
5. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.

Stir-fry ingredients:

Vegetable oil, or sesame oil if you have it
Chicken breasts, cut into strips (depending on the size of the breast, estimate about half to a full breast per person)
Shitake mushrooms, sliced (substitute with button mushrooms)
Snow peas, cut into halves
Soy sauce
Mirin sauce (substitute with brown sugar, pineapple juice or honey)

Directions:

1. Heat your pan with medium heat and add your oil.
2. Sauté chicken, making sure chicken is cooked before adding the rest of your ingredients.
3. Add shitake mushrooms and snow peas and sauté for about a minute. These items don’t need much cooking time.
4. Add Soy and mirin sauce and bring to a slight simmer.
5. Serve on bed of rice and garnish with sesame seeds, if you have any.

*On choosing rice:

Converted rice is parboiled to remove surface starch. What that means is that while the cooking time is longer, it retains more nutrients and flavor.

Instant/quick cooking rice is done by fully cooking then flash freezing milled rice. While this gives you the advantage of a quick cooking time, the process removes some of the nutrients and flavor from the rice.

Bolognese (or quite simply, tomato & meat sauce)

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 15 ml
*Lean ground Beef 3 lbs
Bay Leaf 2 (optional)
Garlic, minced 20 grams
Oregano, dried 5 grams
Thyme, dried 5 grams
Basil, dried 3 grams
Onion, medium diced 500 grams
Celery, small diced 500 grams
**Crushed tomatoes 1 can (540 ml)
Tomato paste 1 can (284 ml)
Granulated sugar To Taste (optional)
Salt & Pepper TT

Directions:

1. In a medium sized sauce pot, brown the meat in the oil.
2. When beef is cooked, add the garlic, herbs, onions and celery. Sauté until vegetables are soft (Until onions are almost transparent)
3. Add tomato product and bring to a simmer over medium to low heat. (You don’t want the temperature too hot here because the natural sugars in tomatoes will cause the sauce to burn and stick to the bottom. Always watch your heat)
4. Season with sugar, salt and pepper until desired taste. (I try to always leave this until the end, adding by small increments to avoid over seasoning)
5. Serve over your favorite pasta. If you’re looking for something a bit healthier for you, use whole wheat pasta. It contains fiber and proteins and just generally tastes better.

*You can substitute ground beef here with ground chicken or pork for a leaner option.

**The amount of crushed tomatoes here is used simply as a guideline. If you want more volume or a thinner texture then add more crushed tomatoes or tomato juice.