How to Make a Fast Sauce for Everyday Meals

We've all gotten to the point in meal preparation where we put it on the plate and realize that something's missing. The veggies are steamed perfectly, the entree's fine, the starch looks yummy. But it needs something else--a sauce to add interest and a little bit of elegance. You don't have to pull out the cookbook and let your plates get cold while you take another twenty minutes to whip up a Bechamel or brown sauce. You have things on hand that you can use to add a little zest to your plates.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Condiments
• Spices, savories
• Butter, oil or margarine
• Leftovers
• Food processor

1. Any pan drippings will make a quick gravy if you add a little flour or cornstarch and beat with a wire wisk while heating.

2. Process chicken or turkey giblets with hot chicken broth for a fast gravy if you've got one of those self-basted birds (the drippings always taste like vegetable shortening). Some celery salt and garlic powder flavor it nicely if you don't have a stalk to chop or a clove to mash.

3. Make a quick tartar sauce with salad dressing, finely chopped onion and sweet pickle relish. Add a pinch of horseradish to taste. Make a fast remoulade sauce with red chili sauce and mayonnaise. Add lemon juice for kick.

4. Process olive or canola oil until frothy to make a homemade mayonnaise. Flavor with a little bit of lemon or lime juice, mustard, ketchup or any condiment that gives you the color and taste you want. Use immediately.

5. Forget the heavy pasta sauces. Show off your pasta plates with a sauce using olive oil extended with a bit of margarine to make it glossy. Add chopped garlic, basil and an anise seed or two, toss and serve and they'll love it!

6. Quince jelly or leftover cranberry orange relish each make dandy glazes. Just thin with a little hot water, drizzle over a pork roast or duck and set under a broiler for a few minutes. If you're serving pork, try a quick mustard sauce, using pan drippings, mustard and honey.

7. Thicken a little butter or olive oil with parmesan cheese for fish. Flavor with lemon juice or honey mustard.

8. Make a dipping sauce for smoked oysters or other savory hors-d'oeuvres with salad dressing and a little milk.

Tips & Warnings

• Never be afraid to experiment. You can always throw it out and start again--or you may create a masterpiece.
• Keep dried parsley (better yet, grow a pot in the window) and onions on hand all the time. You can sprinkle the parsley on anything and minced or dried onions can be incorporated into all sorts of sauces to give interest.
• Use fresh garlic whenever possible, garlic powder when necessary and garlic salt only on popcorn.
• Extend your sauce with chicken or beef broth, soften your gravy by adding a little milk.
• Flour is a great thickener but don't add too much--the days of lumpy, clumpy gravy are long gone. Always start with a tablespoon and go from there.
• Before you dismiss any of these sauces, remember that great chefs experiment with strange stuff all the time and that yesterday's Coquilles St. Jacques, featured as the dinner special often becomes bijoux de la mer avec les pâtes for tomorrow's luncheon. Provided that all of your ingredients are fresh, no one will know that you forgot the sauce.
• Once you start cooking with common sense, your only problem will be that you can't remember how you make that super sauce that you made when the neighbors came over for pork chops last week.

[bmi57]

on 12/11/2007 A lot of great ideas and tips here. Thank you.