Quick sauces (or are they condiments)

In my last post, I mentioned how hard it is to keep foods like cauliflower interesting.  It’s cauliflower (and broccoli, and asparagus, etc.).  They’re healthy, and they’re good, but if you’re cooking for one or two, a head of cauliflower is going to get real old real fast.  One way around that is to keep a bunch of sauces (or condiments) on hand to liven up your basic steamed/roasted vegetable.  I’m not sure of exactly where the boundary is between a sauce and condiment. There’s probably a culinary distinction that provides clear guidance as to whether tartar sauce is a sauce or condiment and precisely where the boundary between hollandaise and ponzu runs, but I don’t really care.

You could stock the fridge with sauces from the supermarket, but I stopped doing that a while ago.  For one thing, the sauces I make usually taste better than what I can buy.  For another, commercial sauces usually have far more salt and sugar than is healthy and all that salt and sugar gets in the way of the flavors that are supposed to be part of the sauce.  Now sometimes, commercial sauces are pretty good and can’t be improved upon.  I’ve never come even close to making a good sambal that could beat what’s available in an Asian grocery.  Another factor is time and effort.  Homemade mayonnaise is magnificent but it is also a heck of a lot of work.  You can decide whether or not it’s worth it.

But here are a couple of quick sauces/condiments that can add interest and flavor to even the most mundane main courses or vegetables. None (except the last one) take more than 3 minutes to make.

Let’s start with jamming on a mayonnaise theme.  Take some mayonnaise and add some kind of spicy, pepper based spice (beri beri, Old Bay, powdered Harissa, and smoked paprika are all good and all have different twists).  Add some sherry vinegar and a little salt and pepper and you’ve got a terrific spicy sauce for seafood or vegetables.

Or for a quick homemade tartar sauce, start with mayonnaise, add some chopped up pickles, capers, salt, pepper, and lemon juice, whisk together, and there you go.  This has a strong enough flavor to work on vegetables as well as fish.

For something that works with meat, start with a basic vinaigrette.  I like sherry vinegar as an acid, so we’ll start there, but white wine vinegar or lemon juice could work as well.  Add a little mustard and some salt and pepper, then slowly whisk in olive oil in the proportion of 3 parts olive oil to one part vinegar.  Once that’s done, if you add some fresh herbs you’ll have a delicious sauce for any kind of meat, fish, or vegetable.  Pick any two or three of tarragon, oregano, thyme, chervil, parsley, chives, or marjoram and use enough so that the result is actually kind of thickish.

Finally, here’s one that takes a little work but is worth it. I’ve taken this from James Peterson’s Cooking. Finely dice some red onion, jalapeños, red bell peppers, and dried chorizo.  Cook for ten minutes or so in canola oil and during that process, the fat in the chorizo is rendered and combines with the oil.  When the chorizo is cooked and the vegetables are soft, take off the heat.  When it cools down, add sherry vinegar to make the vinaigrette.  I always  have some of this in my fridge to brighten up at least one portion of any meal.

Recipe – Spicy mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbl smoked paprika (or beri beri powder, harissa powder, Old Bay seasoning)

1 tbl sherry vinegar

Salt & pepper

Whisk ingredients together until smooth.  More vinegar can be added if a thinner sauce is desired.

Recipe – Homemade tartar sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbl chopped pickles or gherkins, chopped fine

1 tbl capers, chopped

1 tbl lemon juice

Salt & pepper

Whisk ingredients together until smooth.  More lemon juice can be added if a thinner sauce is desired.

Recipe – Herb vinaigrette

1 tbl sherry vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper

3 tbl extra virgin olive oil

1 tbl tarragon, chopped

2 tbl parsley, chopped

1 tbl thyme, chopped.

Mix vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Slowly whisk in olive oil.  Whisk in herbs.

Recipe – Chorizo vinaigrette

1 jalapeño, seeded & diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup dried chorizo, diced

1/4 cup canola oil

3 tbl sherry vinegar

salt & pepper

Heat oil in a small saucepan and add vegetables, chorizo, salt, and pepper.  Cook for about ten minutes, until fat has rendered from chorizo and vegetables are soft.  Let cool.  Add vinegar and refrigerate.