IslandMix

sauces are a big part of cooking and can change mediocre to outstanding in many cases (ever been to chick fil a? whatchu know about that polynesian sauce mixed with the tabasco, mayo and mustard!!!! perfect for the fingers or sanwhiches!))


and they can make simple ingredients incredibly versdatile


post your favorties!


tomato sauces

for pasta (these come from my austrian dad, they have a lot of italian influence in vienna...)

fry together in good olive oil(remember good olive oil cannot be fried to high a heat):

onion, then add garlic after the onions cook for a bit, then bayleaf, dried rosemary, dried basil, (if using fresh herbs, add them later)

if u are using meat like chicken, ground meat, meatballs, etc add it now to brown a little

for an all'amatriciana (famous italian dish that uses cured pork) omit the rose mary

and first fry finely chopped up baon, pancetta or salt pork to make some of the fat come out, then remove bacon and set aside

then add the onion, garlic, bayleaf and basil (if using dried basil) also add a whole peperoncini or more to taste (pickled italian hotpepper)

now for both sauces, u add your tomatos (add cured pork at this point for the all'amatrichana)

either use canned peeled tomatos that are crushed or peel tomatos yourself and chop them up finely

u can add a spoonfull of tomato paste if you want

simmer all of this

if using fresh herbs, add them to the end

u can add chicken stock or beef stock (or the powdered bouyon)

u can remove the pepperoncini before serving, or give it to someone who will like it.

bolognese style (from the city in italy) add grated carrot before adding the tomatos...

bolognese sauces typically have meat that is cooked with the sauce

milano style meat dishes usually bread the meats (like thin pounded chicken, beef or veal) and saute and do not cook the meats with the sauce




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chinese sauces, learnt from a taiwanese girl while we made dumplings!

in china sauces like this are used for dipping dumplings or pieces of meat or vegetables

they almost always have soy sauce and many times are just soy sauce

add ins:

crushed garlic

crushed red pepper

ginger

chinese rice vinegar

sesame oil

green onions (chopped)

experiment with the above to see what you like

in american chinese cuisine, honey or sugar is often added to this sauce... i dont know if this goes back to china or not...

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brown sauce (guyana)

i dont know if this is like a browning from other islands. it is basically a real dark roux... i got it from my friends mom who uses it to season dishes with chopped up ground meef or chicken (like a yam pie or stuffed veggies or stuffed dumplings or breads)

grind up onions in a food processor until they make a paste, or chop them up finely if u dont have a processor

get equal parts fat and flour (i like using butter or animal fat)

cook the onions in the fat, stirring every now and then to prevent browning, u are cooking them and evaporating the water at this point, the more water u evaporate, the better.

add the flour after a while and stir until it makes a paste

turn heat to medium low, this takes time....

mash the paste down so it is spread out in the pan, cook for 10 seconds or so and stir it up again and mash it down again

u keep doing this

the idea is to almost constantly mix it up, move it around, and mash it down so it slowly, evenly browns without burning

after a long time, a lot of the water will be evaporated so u have to be very careful of burning it

add crushed up garlic at this point (when it is a good brown like a light caramel)

keep stirring and mashing until it gets dry and crumbly

at this point it should look like golden to rich brown breadcrumbs

it needs to be a rich brown

but you can go to the next step if you want, since at this point, it is VERY close to burning!

u slowly add your liquid. if you add to fast, the sauce will be lumpy, so start with just a few spoonfulls and mix it up

keep adding the liquid (water or stock)

until it is a consistency that u like

then season with some hot sauce, a little ketchup, and bouyon (if you want)

then simmer for 30 minutes

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jamaican sauce for corned beef

(i usually do not have mint jelly, so I add a drop or two of peppermint extract, and use raspberry jelly or orange marmalade... peppermint extract is VERY strong!)

1 cup ketchup
6 tbsp red wine vinegar
6 tbsp honey
6 tbsp mint jelly
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp prepared mustard (i like dijon)
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

heat all ingredients to boiling, stirring constantly, cool and bottle

raisin chutney (from an old indian cookbook)

this one is good with salty dishes, especially curries!

1 cup raisins
1 1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vinegar

grind all up in a food processor until smooth!


honey mustard sauce

dijon mustard and mayonaise (more or less half and half)

honey to taste

olive oil if you want to add that clean slightly fruity taste

whip it up

additions include horseradish, hot sauce, or cayenne pepper



a good sauce for fried chicken, boiled shrimp or whatever


half and half mayo mustard blend

a dash of hotsauce

a spoonfool of cocktail sauce (shrimp sauce) sauce

im pretty sure this is the "secret" mix they use at guthries, the famous fried chicken joint here in town!!!!

more asian sauces

in hong kong, they dip dim sum like meatballs and little egg rolls into worcestershire sauce

in thailand, for fried meat like chicken, they mix ketchup with worcestershire


and when I cook pot stickers or other little chinese dumplings i blend in soy sauce and worcestershire with some mayonaise!

Do you dream about food?

no, strangely enough i do not.

but I have had dreams about MAKING or COOKING food

yeah right, i know you dream about giant dhalpouries chasing you around and when they catch you, you fall into a huge bowl of chicken curry and then you wake up dont lie

maybe, but if a dhalpuri was chasing me, would I want to run? I guess it would depend on who made it.