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.

In praise of a hardworking freezer

Freezer jolly good fellow

In my bachelor world, my freezer is generally well stocked, literally. Stocks of various kinds, my beautiful all-purpose tomato salsa, a meal or two ready to go. And bags of frozen vegetables.

Yes! I admit it.

This is a bachelor food blog after all - not a stuck-up fine dining blog (although I do think my dining is fine…)

I do not plate: I dish out! I do not partake: I chow down!

Having freezy things handy, enabled me to whip up a very well received veg casserole for my boys last night between school finishing and evening trumpet lessons. And it kind of went like this…

Potato-layered vegetable casserole

(I dedicate this to my niece, Lauren, who has been a vegetarian for years and for whom, as a very thoughtful fishing expedition snack, I produced several pieces of lovingly purchased roast chicken)

Ingredients

• 3 medium Desiree potatoes
• 500g frozen winter vegetables
• 1 cup all purpose tomato salsa
• .25 cup vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (aka the Empire in a bottle!)
• .25 cup grated parmesan or other sharp cheese
• Pinch smokey paprika
• Olive oil, salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 160º

Wash and thinly slice potatoes, leaving the peel on. Place these in salted, boiling water for about 5 minutes. You want them to soften, but retain their shape. The time will depend on how thinly they are sliced. I use my hand V-slicer, which I love! Drain the potatoes when done - don’t cover, it’s important to let them steam off.

Toss the frozen veggies (don’t let them thaw) together with the salsa, sauce and stock.

Oil a deep baking dish.

Starting with a layer of potato, a drizzle of olive oil, a little pepper. Then the veggie mix. And so on.

Top it off with a couple of layers of potato. Sprinkle with cheese and finish with paprika.

Place in oven for 30 mins. Raise heat to 200º and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the potato topping gets brown and crispy.

Serves 4 as an accompaniment, 3 as a main.