More on condiments

When you are cooking for one or two, condiments are important. When you are cooking in limited portions, there are only so many ways that you can prepare your protein or veggies.  While I’m the first one in the “great ingredients simply prepared line,” I also rely heavily on condiments and sauces to provide variety and dimension to the basic grilled/steamed/sauteed/broiled stars of the show. They also can serve to tie the different elements of a meal together.  Broiled turbot may not have anything to do with sautéed broccoli, but with the right sauces or condiments, the two can complement each other in a satisfying whole.

I first wrote about condiments a while back (here) and want to revisit the topic today. I was thinking about this yesterday when I was looking in the refrigerator thinking about what to make for dinner and was taken aback by how much space was taken up with sauces, toppings, dressings, and the like, both store bought and from my own kitchen. I was able to construct a nice meal with some basic fish and veggies by adding flavor through things I already had on hand.

 Diversion – There are a handful of store bought basic condiments I try to always have on hand – mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, horseradish, Chinese hot oil, sriracha, tabasco (or a variant), and Greek yogurt. I’ve tried making some of these myself but not always successfully. Every once in a while I feel a pang of guilt when I buy mayonnaise. Homemade mayonnaise is delicious but it takes some work, has a color that some people thing is weird (commercial mayonnaise is white, homemade is yellow), making it can create a mess in the kitchen, and my success rate is only about two to one.  It’s just so much easier to open a jar, especially when you consider that most of the time I’m going to be adding a bunch of stuff to it negating the taste difference.

So I pulled together some of the things I’ve made recently so I could take a picture and share them with you.  I’ll talk about them going clockwise from the top.

Quick tomato sauce

This time of year, the markets and groceries are all featuring fresh tomatoes from the farms of South New Jersey.  It’s August – tomato season.  For a large part of the year, canned tomatoes are actually preferable to the tomatoes you can by in the grocery store but in August, you really do need to use fresh.

This is the fastest way I know of preparing a tomato sauce and it is amazingly versatile. I’ve used it as a sauce on fish, green beans, mushroom and leeks, and chicken.  Not pasta yet, but give me time.

Ingredients

2 large tomatoes, cut into medium chunks

1 (or more to taste) sprig thyme

1 small onion, diced

1 garlic clove, sliced thinly

1 tbl olive oil

Directions

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil on medium low until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and thyme and cover.  At about five minutes, stir with a wooden spoon, poking and crushing the tomatoes.  Repeat this poking/crushing every 2-3 minutes until you’ve reached the consistency you want.  Serve.

Chipotle Mayonnaise

This depends on the availability of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  In my neighborhood, they are in the Mexican section of Whole Foods but the local Acme doesn’t carry them.  When I can’t find ingredients I need in my local groceries, Amazon can be a pretty good resource.

This mayonnaise can be used as a topping for grilled or broiled meats, vegetables, a salad dressing, or a sandwich dressing.

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise

2 chipotle peppers

1 tsp adobo sauce from the peppers

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbl lime juice

1 tsp dried cilantro (or 1 tbl of fresh, chopped and packed tightly)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix everything together in a small blender or food processor. Chill for a bit before using to let the flavors meld.

Curry Mayonnaise

This turned out to be a surprise when I tasted it.  I thought it would be a little sharp and biting but it turned out to have a little bit of sweetness to it and not as much of an edge as I expected.  It is a great salad dressing (and a killer cole slaw) as well as an accompaniment for all the usual things where you might want to use mayonnaise.

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbl minced ginger

1 tbl curry powder (almost any commercially available curry powder will do)

1 tbl sherry vinegar (optional, if you want a thinner texture)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Whisk everything together.  Chill for a bit before using to let the flavors meld.

Horseradish Dill Sauce

Probably because of the yogurt, this comes out a bit more liquid than the usual mayonnaise based sauce.  Nevertheless the bite of the horseradish and the freshness of the dill work really well together on fish or vegetables.  I’ve also used it successfully as a salad dressing.

Ingredients

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (actually, any thick yogurt will do, but a goat’s yogurt or regular yogurt may produce something that is a little too liquid)

2 tbl horseradish

1 tbl dill, freshly chopped and tightly packed

1/4 cup lemon juice (optional – the lemon juice adds a nice flavor but could also make the sauce a little too liquid)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Whisk everything together.  Chill for a bit before using to let the flavors meld.  This really needs to sit for a bit.  It will take a while for the dill to make itself known, so if you can wait a few hours before using, do it.