Two sauces to go!

One of my go-to books is The complete book of sauces by Sallie Y Williams. Dip in. Dish out. Spend half an hour making two sauces each week: dinners, lunches, and pasta or noodles for a quick stir-in snack. Thank you Sallie!

Pepper and mushroom

This is good with steak, and I also used it this week with fettuccine, tossed with continental sausage pieces and steamed vegetables: some sliced artichokes and queso blanco on the side. I also used it as a savoury spread on toast for breakfast. That’s what sauces are for!

Ingredients

• .25 cup olive oil
• 1 portobello mushroom, chopped
• 1 20ml can pepper corns (including brine)
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 cup lamb stock
• .5 cup chopped shallots

Method

Sauté garlic until it is translucent, not brown. Add mushrooms and continue over medium heat until the mushrooms soften. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.

Yields: 1 cup

Sticky marinade

This is perfect for roast or barbecued pork ribs. Also very good for roast carrots. For a vegetarian main, substitute vegetable stock or a dry white wine for the chicken stock.

The trick for the carrots is to par-boil them first, and then put them in the marinade, which lets them absorb the flavour.

Before serving, toss the carrots in chopped parsley and lightly toasted slivers of almond. Cracked pepper. Yum!

Now, back to the sauce…

Ingredients

• .25 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• .25 cup brown sugar
• .25 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon smokey paprika

Yields: 2 cups

I have ribs and carrots separately marinating for a Father’s Day lunch tomorrow.