Sauces and Spice Blends

Ingredients
1 small onion, roughly, chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, halved
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups red wine
4 cups beef broth
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2 packages unflavored powdered gelatin (5 teaspoons)

Instructions
1. Process onion, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic in food processor into ¹⁄₈-inch pieces, 10 to 12 one-second pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

2. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until simmering; add beef and tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until beef is well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add vegetable mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until any released moisture has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Add wine and bring to simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add beef broth, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns; bring to boil. Reduce heat and gently boil, occasionally scraping bottom and sides of pot, skimming fat from surface, until reduced to 2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan, pressing on solids with rubber spatula to extra as much liquid as possible (you should have about 1 cup stock). Sprinkle gelatin over stock and stir to dissolve. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring stock to boil. Gently boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to ¹⁄₂ cup, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. (Leftovers can be frozen for up to a month.)

Comments
This recipe is from the Cook’s Illustrated 2011 Annual and I believe it was described as being a quick cheat for demi glace.  I doubled the recipe, since I don’t like making (recipes that call for partial packages of things, in this case, the 8 ounces of ground beef.  That means that, for a pound of ground beef, a bottle of wine, and two boxes of beef broth, I was left with ONE cup of this stuff.  One.  It also took significantly longer to do all the reducing due to the increased volume. 

The verdict?  So not worth it. 

Shown here in Pan-Seared Steaks with Herb Sauce and Spaghetti al Limone.

Cook’s Illustrated 2011

Ingredients
1 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of kosher salt
6 sundried tomatoes (Not the kind in oil.  If using sundried tomato halves, double the amount.)
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions
1. Puree all ingredients in mini chopper until well combined or mince everything with a knife and stir together. 

Comments
This recipe is from A Good Appetite and it was great!  I love making compound butters for steaks because they’re such an easy way to add a little bit of extra kick.  A great steak doesn’t need much to make it perfect, and compound butters are a super simple way to attain perfection.  Really great compound butters, like this one, are also delicious on bread!

Shown here with random grilled steaks and Butternut Squash Orzotto.

Internet - A Good Appetite

Ingredients
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¹⁄₂ tablespoon soy sauce
¹⁄₃ cup olive oil
¹⁄₂ teaspoon oregano
¹⁄₂ teaspoon basil
¹⁄₂ teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients in a shallow sealable container or ziptop bag. 

Comments
This marinade recipe is from food.com and I used it for a 1-2 pound London broil.  I marinated it for somewhere between 12 and 24 hours, then Art grilled it until it was perfect.  The marinade was delicious, the meat was super tender, there was a ton of flavor and we had a hard time not eating the entire broil in one sitting. 

Shown here with Sweet Onion Pie.

Internet - food.com

Ingredients
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¹⁄₂ cup water
¹⁄₂ cup soy sauce
2 cups pineapple juice (or water)
8 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¹⁄₂ teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons honey

Instructions
1. In small bowl, combine cornstarch and ¹⁄₂ cup water.  Stir to dissolve cornstarch.

2. Combine soy sauce, pineapple juice, brown sugar, ground ginger, garlic powder, and honey in small saucepan.  Bring to simmer over medium heat.  Once brown sugar has melted, add cornstarch mixture and simmer, stirring, until sauce thickens to coat back of spoon.  Remove from heat and cool. 

Comments
This is the teriyaki marinade from the recipe I posted a while back for Stuffed Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce.  It can be used as a sauce or a marinade for just about anything.  It’s shown here with grilled chicken. 

Shown here with Garlic Noodles.

Internet - The Boogie Blog

Ingredients
2 cups pineapple juice
2 inches fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 -2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and minced (I just used one.)
¹⁄₄ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
3 tablespoons vinegar (I used pineapple balsamic but apple cider or even white would well.)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
1. Bring pineapple juice, ginger, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro to boil in medium saucepan. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced. Add ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Comments
This recipe is pulled directly from the recipe for Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  I made the sauce by itself to go along with a smoked pork shoulder.  Delicious!

Shown here with Smoked Pork Shoulder.

Internet - Simple Comfort Food

Ingredients
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 ¹⁄₂ cup chicken or beef broth
2 tablespoons sour cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. Mix flour, paprika, and chili powder in a small bowl. 

2. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes.  Add bell pepper and garlic and cook for 6 more minutes, stirring often. 

3. Sprinkle flour mixture over top of vegetables and stir to coat. Continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add tomato paste and cook for two more minutes. 

4. Slowly add broth, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.  (Add more broth if you’d like a thinner sauce.)  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.  Add sour cream and season well with salt and pepper. 

5. If you’d like a smoother sauce, puree some or all of the sauce in a blender or with an immersion blender. 

6. Stir in cooked meat of your choice and serve over rice or egg noodles.  (I used leftover rib steak.)

Comments
This recipe is from Kayotic Kitchen which is one of my favorite food blogs.  Lance has been asking me to attempt to replicate the stroganoff from his youth, which is quite different from what I think of as stroganoff.  I finally did some hardcore googling based on his memories and a conversation he had with his mom which led me to this recipe of Kay’s. 

And I achieved victory!  Lance was very pleased with the result and I’ll definitely be making this recipe again in the future.  This sauce, made with chicken broth, would work very well with chicken breast slices.

Internet - Kayotic Kitchen

Ingredients
1 stick (¹⁄₂ cup) butter, softened
3 cloves garlic, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¹⁄₄ teaspoon black pepper
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients in small bowl. 

2. Place butter onto plastic wrap and roll the mixture up in the plastic, forming into a log.

3. Refrigerate until firm.  When ready to use remove plastic wrap and slice into rounds.  Top hot steak with butter just before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from About.com.  While I do believe that a really great steak doesn’t need anything to make it better, I do love a good compound butter from time to time and this compound butter rocks. It was deliciously garlicky and went extremely well with the steaks.  It also went well served on bread the next day.  If you’re looking for an easy way to dress up a basic steak, this is it. 

Shown here with Pan Seared Rib Eye and Butternut Squash Risotto.

Internet - About.com

Ingredients
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
4 cloves garlic, minced
³⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¹⁄₂ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
¹⁄₂ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 bay leaf, broken in half

Instructions
1. Stir together vinegar, water, garlic, salt, red pepper, and black pepper until salt has dissolved. 

2. Whisk in oil until combined, then whisk in parsley.  Add bay leaf and let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.  Discard bay leaf and stir sauce before serving. 

Note: You can mix the ingredients except for the parsley and bay leaf in a hand blender if you’d like. 

Comments
This recipe is from epicurious.  I’ve wanted to make chimichurri for quite some time and finally decided to give it a try when Art suggested grilling up some flank steaks.  The sauce was delicious on the steaks!  Tons of flavor from the red wine vinegar, parsley and garlic.  I would make this again in a heartbeat. 

Shown here with grilled flank steak and Balsamic Potato and Zucchini Casserole.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
Pinch of salt plus additional salt and pepper, to taste
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
¹⁄₂ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¹⁄₂ cup olive oil

Instructions
1. Combine garlic, salt, egg yolk, lemon juice and mustard in blender cup for a handheld immersion blender.  Blend until garlic is chopped and ingredients are fully combined.  Slowly drizzle in oil, a few drops at a time, while continuing to blend.  Add additional salt and pepper if desired.  Chill, covered, until ready to serve. 

Comments
I’ve never made aioli before but I decided it would work well as a sauce for sweet potato fries.  This recipe is from epicurious.com but the original called for a lot of hand whisking which is a thing I’m not super fond of.  I opted to skip the hand whisking and make it all with my hand blender.  The aioli was thick, garlicky, rich, and delicious.  I wish that I had made extra to spread on my burger. 

Shown here with the most delicious burger ever and Sweet Potato Fries.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
1 cup soy sauce
¹⁄₂ cup water
¹⁄₄ cup plus 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
¹⁄₄ cup green onion, thinly sliced

Instructions
1. Stir together soy sauce, water, vinegar, and sugar until sugar is dissolved.  Just before serving, stir in green onion.

Comments
This recipe, from epicurious.com, makes two cups of dipping sauce which was more than enough for the six zucchinis worth of Tempura Squash.  It’s a cinch to make and is the perfect accompaniment for tempura veggies. 

Shown here with Southwest Asian Grilled Flank Steak and Tempura Squash.

Internet - Epicurious