Archive for the ‘Condiments, Dressings, Sauces & Marinades’ Category
Strawberry Jam
May 28th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Oh, farmer’s market strawberry guy. How can I resist you when you offer me half priced strawberries if I take the less than gorgeous ones off your hands? There is no way. I cannot resist the urge. I end up going home with two large overflowing flats of berries, more than enough to stuff my freezer and make 4 batches of jam. Good thing the reject berries taste just fine frozen in my smoothies, as well as smashed up and smeared over bread. Farmer’s market strawberry guy, I still love you.
Posted in 
Barbecue Sauce
Making food from scratch means you have to find as many recipes as possible that don’t take too much work. This is one such recipe. Unlike most BBQ sauce recipes that require long slow simmering, this is the “mix and you’re ready” type. Keep some in a jar in the fridge and you’re ready to grill anytime. Take that, KC Masterpiece!
Abuelita’s Salad
My Abuelita makes this simple, tasty salad. As basic as it is, I usually get very positive reviews from people.
Chimichurri
I’ve had this sauce at Argentinian restaurants and it is amazing. I favor this as a dipping sauce for bread or spooned over grilled steak or chicken. It is amazingly delicious!
Soy Sauce Marinade
This marinade can be used on chicken or beef. Tri tip comes out nice with this sauce. Serve marinated meat with brown rice and stir-fried broccoli.
Thousand Island Dressing
My mom used to make us Thousand Island dressing by mixing mayo, ketchup, and a bit of milk. While I still enjoy (and indulge in) that recipe on occasion, here is a more complex and sophisticated version.
Honey Lime Dressing
The key to a good salad is in the dressing. The great thing about salad dressing is you can mix up a batch on a whim and make it to your liking.
This is a dressing that I have made, from experimentation. All ingredients are to taste, but I’ll try and approximate amounts.
Ranch Dressing
I love this ranch recipe. It tastes like restaurant-style ranch to me and I receive high praises when I make this for people. I prefer to make it with buttermilk, but sour cream can be used in its place.
Homemade Mayo
Making mayo is an art I’ve been trying to master for a while now and I still consider this recipe a work in progress. I have been trying to replicate a “Best Foods” flavor, since that’s the taste I prefer. This isn’t the same, but I think it’s pretty good.
You can use a blender, food processor, or whip by hand, but a stick blend is far and away the biggest help in mayo making. I was never successful making mayo until I got one.
This recipe makes 1 cup of mayo. The mayo keeps about 2 weeks in the fridge.
Taco Seasoning
This is a close match for packaged taco seasoning but without all the preservatives. I mix up a double or triple batch of this and keep it in a small jar with my spices.
