Sauces & Spreads Articles

Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016

Deglaze a pan by moistening and then scraping up the browned bits of food that stick to the bottom of the pan. These deglazed browned bits are loaded with flavor. By deglazing the brown bits, you can transform them into a delicious sauce:

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Apple butter is kind of a cross between a jam and homemade applesauce. The rich flavor and wonderful aroma of this apple butter can transform a plain piece of toast into something decadent. Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour, 10 minutes Processing time: 15 minutes Yield: 6 half-pints 8 large apples (about 4 to 4 1/2 pounds) 3 1/2 cups apple cider 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon kosher or pickling salt 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3-inch cinnamon stick Peel, core, and slice the apples. Place the cider in a 5- to 6-quart pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the apple slices and reduce the heat. Simmer the fruit, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir the fruit every 10 to 15 minutes to prevent sticking. Stir in the sugar, salt, and the ground and stick cinnamon. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, about 20 to 25 minutes. The consistency should be like applesauce. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Prepare your canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the jars and lids hot. Ladle your hot fruit into the prepared jars, leaving headspace of 1/4 inch. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive tool. Wipe the jar rims. Seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands. Process the filled jars in a water bath for 15 minutes from the point of boiling. Remove the jars from the boiling water with a jar lifter. Place them on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels away from drafts. After the jars cool completely, test the seals. If you find jars that haven’t sealed, refrigerate them and use them within two months.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You can find all kinds of sauces for food, but sauce serves one purpose: to enhance the dish it's served with. Think of a sauce as a primary liquid and flavored with ingredients and seasonings. For example, your sauce can be based on wine or stock, enhanced with thyme and pepper, and finished with a swirl of butter. Sauce isn't the same as gravy, which is ususally made from the drippings of roasted meats or vegetables and then thickened. Here are the basic kinds of sauces: White sauces: Usually contain milk or cream White butter sauces: Based on a reduction of butter, vinegar, and shallots Brown sauces: Based on dark stocks like lamb or beef Vegetable sauces: Made from cooked, puréed vegetables, such as tomatoes Vinaigrettes: Made up of oil, vinegar, and seasonings Hollandaise: Based on cooked egg yolks and butter Mayonnaise: Based on uncooked or slightly cooked egg yolks and oil Dessert sauces: Typically made with fruits or chocolate and sugar, or have a caramel, butterscotch, or nut base

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Basic brown sauce derives from the 19th-century espagnole sauce, whose major ingredient was Spanish ham. Most brown sauces are based on a reduced stock of beef or veal. So, brown sauce is usually a meat-based sauce. The term stock means a liquid that results from boiling bones, water, vegetables, and seasonings. The more you reduce the liquid, the stronger the flavor. Extra flavor also comes from browning the bones first in the oven. You most often create a brown sauce by deglazing a pan in which you cooked meat of some sort. You add stock or wine to the pan (after removing the meat), stirring until it thickens. You therefore incorporate the flavor (and small, crunchy bits left in the pan) into the sauce you make.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Egg-based sauces are (you guessed it!) based on eggs rather than on meat stock or butter and cream, although most egg-based sauces also contain butter, stock, and/or cream. Here are the two most common egg-based sauces: Hollandaise sauce: Your first introduction to hollandaise probably came when you went with your parents to a fancy brunch that included eggs Benedict. Hopefully, you didn’t get those eggs Benedict from the buffet steam table, because egg-based sauces don’t have a long buffet life. Béarnaise sauce: A savory variation on hollandaise, this sauce goes well with salmon, fillet of beef, or any other rich meat. Egg-based sauces are typically rich, and a little goes a long way. But they’re also very versatile, changing with just a few different herbs, vegetables, or cream into all kinds of variations. But most of them start with your basic hollandaise sauce.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When pears are ripe, get busy making this flavorful pear chutney. This recipe for pear chutney calls for a spark of heat from cayenne pepper to balance the sweetness from golden raisins and brown sugar. The chutney makes a great dipping sauce for homemade egg rolls or an accompaniment to roast pork. Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours Processing time: 15 minutes Yield: 4 pints 3 pounds pears 2 cups apple cider vinegar 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar 1 onion 1 cup golden raisins 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper Peel the pears with a vegetable peeler or a paring knife. Remove and discard the core and stems. Dice the pears into 3/8- to 1/2-inch pieces. Place the vinegar and brown sugar in a 4- to 5-quart pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Finely chop the onion. Add the pears, onion, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine. Return the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat, simmering the mixture until it thickens and the liquid reduces by 1/3 to 1/2, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Prepare your canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the jars and lids hot. Ladle the hot chutney into the prepared jars, leaving headspace of 1/2 inch. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive tool. Add more chutney, as necessary, to maintain a headspace of 1/2 inch. Wipe the jar rims. Seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands. Process your filled jars in a water bath for 15 minutes from the point of boiling. Remove the jars from the boiling water with a jar lifter. Place them on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels away from drafts. After the jars cool completely, test the seals. If you find any jars that haven’t sealed, refrigerate them and use them within two months.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Most white sauces, in all their incarnations, are based on a roux (a flour-based paste). White sauces vary in what you add to the roux. The most common type of white sauce is a béchamel sauce (pronounced besh-ah-MEL). Béchamel sauce, with its buttery, faintly nutty flavor, is the base of hot soufflés and such homey dishes as macaroni and cheese and pot pies. You can modify béchamel in many ways to suit the dish it garnishes. For example, if you’re cooking fish, you can add fish stock to the sauce. If you’re cooking poultry, you can add chicken stock. A velouté (pronounced va-loo-TAY) is essentially a béchamel made with a stock (fish or chicken) in place of the milk, which gives it extra flavor. Sometimes, you enhance a velouté before serving by adding a little cream (for a smoother texture) or some fresh lemon juice (for a little tartness).

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Onion marmalade? For Christmas? You bet. Gift recipients will love this delicious sweet and savory onion condiment that’s slowly cooked to release all the natural sweetness. Its flavor also gets some help from raisins and brown sugar and a little tang from balsamic vinegar. Sweet onion marmalade goes particularly well with ham and pork, but a naked hamburger or hot dog would also savor its cover. Don’t overlook it as an appetizer on crostini or Melba toast. And, yeah, you could just slather it on French bread. Sweet Onion Marmalade Preparation time: 35 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours Yield: 6 cups 6 pounds (about 9 large) Vidalia or other sweet onions 1-1/2 cups water 1 cup golden raisins 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 4 teaspoons paprika (not hot) 2-1/2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons caraway seed 1/2 teaspoon pepper Peel and trim the onions. Cut them in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Separate the slices into individual pieces. Combine the onions and the water, raisins, vinegar, brown sugar, paprika, salt, caraway seed, and pepper in a large saucepot. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours, until the onions are very tender. Stir often in the beginning and then less frequently when the onions start to reduce in volume. When the onions are very tender, increase the heat to medium-high and reduce the liquid to about 1/2 cup, stirring if necessary. Cool the marmalade slightly. Ladle into jars that have been thoroughly washed with hot, soapy water. Cover with clean lids. The marmalade keeps in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. You can divide the recipe into half-pint or pint jars depending on how many gifts you need. Quantities can vary each time you make this recipe due to variations in produce, so have an extra jar or two on hand. Tell the recipient of the marmalade that the marmalade must be kept refrigerated.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Flavored oils in pretty bottles make wonderful, inexpensive Christmas gifts. The light oniony flavor of chive-flavored oil enhances salad dressings. But don’t stop there. Try dipping bread in it. Brush it on fish or poultry before grilling. Pour some in a pan before you scramble eggs. Even drizzle some over a baked potato. Include some of these suggestions on the gift tag so the recipient will know how versatile this present is. You’ll have to plan ahead with this gift as the flavors need two weeks to develop. Chive-Flavored Oil Special equipment: 2-cup glass jar with screw top, funnel, paraffin (if desired) Preparation time: 5 minutes Yield: 1 cup 1 cup good-quality olive oil 1/2 cup dried chives You can blend any combination of your favorite dried herbs in place of the chives. Use the basic proportions of 1/2 cup dried herbs to 1 cup olive oil. You can also add dried red pepper flakes for a little zing. Combine the oil and chives in a glass jar. Although many recipes call for fresh herbs in oil, fresh herbs can cause bacterial problems. Dried herbs are recommended here for safety reasons. You can sprinkle fresh chopped chives over a salad, potato, or into the serving portion of oil to enhance the flavor. Put the top on the jar and let it sit for 2 weeks in a cool place (not the refrigerator). After that time, taste the oil. If you want it stronger, let it sit for another week. Before giving, strain the oil and pour into a gift bottle, using a funnel if necessary. Close the top and seal with paraffin, if desired.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Béchamel sauce and its variations go with all kinds of foods, including poached and grilled fish, chicken, veal, and vegetables. The thickness of béchamel sauce varies from dish to dish. Create a basic béchamel that you can fancy-up however you like: Heat 1-1/4 cups milk over medium heat in a small saucepan until almost boiling. If the milk is hot when you add it to the butter and flour, there’s less chance that the béchamel will be lumpy. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat Don’t let the butter darken or burn. Add 2 tablespoons flour to the butter and whisk constantly for two minutes. You’re cooking the loose paste, or roux, made from the butter and flour. The roux should reach a thick paste consistency. Gradually add the hot milk while continuing to whisk the mixture vigorously. Keep whisking until the sauce is blended smooth. Reduce the heat and simmer for three to four minutes, whisking frequently. The béchamel should have the consistency of a very thick sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste, and whisk well.