Remoulade Sauce 2.0

I believe there�s a very old remoulade video floating around the channel somewhere, but after making some to go with our salmon cakes, I figured it was high time to share an updated version. Better known as tartar sauce, this easy and adaptable condiment isn't just for fish sticks anymore.

As I mentioned in the video, it was originally invented to go alongside meat, so it comes as no surprise that it�s excellent on everything from grilled pork chops to double cheeseburgers. And when it comes to sandwiches, as long as you have some of this sitting around (should last at least a week), no mayo should touch your turkey on whole wheat. 

Regarding the dried tarragon reduction at the beginning; this is an old-school step that many people will skip, but if you can find dried tarragon, I really think you should give this method to try, as the flavor is quite different than if fresh is used. With condiments like this, every single ingredient is �to taste,� so be sure to adjust according to yours, especially when it comes to the pickle combination.

If you�re going to serve with something on the spicy/tangy/savory side, you may want to include some bread-and-butter picklesfor sweetness. On the other hand, if you're doing something like fried scallops, which have a naturally sweet flavor, you may want to go with just dill pickles to balance the flavor. Either way, I hope you give this remoulade sauce a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 1 1/2 cup of remoulade sauce: 1 teaspoon dried tarragon

2 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoon anchovy paste

1/4 cup finely diced dill pickles

1/4 cup finely diced bread & butter pickles

1 tablespoon chopped capers

1 tablespoon minced green onions

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Fried Pastrami and Mustard Dressing � Keeping it Raw

This shaved asparagus salad actually started out as an asparagus wrapped with pastrami recipe, but when that didn�t work out, my wife Michele saved the day, and convinced me to go raw � and I do mean convince.

I really dislike under-cooked asparagus, and in virtually every video I�ve used it, I�ve pleaded with the audience to make sure the spears get to the sweet and tender stage. I�ve always felt that the main reason most people who don�t like asparagus, is that they grew up eating it crunchy, barely warm, and bitter.

However, when you shave it thin with a peeler, and give it a quick curing/pickling in the dressing, those harsh attributes mellow out substantially, and the sweet, grassy flavor comes through. In fact, it was so delicious that I contemplated serving it without the fried meat.  Happily, that passed.

Thanks to the pastrami�s aromatic spices, subtle smokiness, and peppery finish, it was a perfect match. Of course, you can substitute with bacon or ham; but the cured beef brisket was a nice change of pace to those much more common, pork-based choices.

Just be sure to not dress your raw asparagus until you�re ready to eat. The couple minutes it takes to fry the meat is all the marination time you�ll need. Anyway, peak asparagus season is almost upon us, and if you�re looking for a new way to enjoy it, I hope you give this shaved asparagus salad a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

24 large asparagus spears (save bottoms for soup)

salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

4 oz pastrami, sliced thin

For the dressing:

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (or regular rice vinegar with a pinch of salt and sugar)

3-4 tbsp olive oil, or to taste

Maple Walnut Cranberry Sauce � I'm Fine Now, But I Used to Be Nuts

It funny how certain food memories stick in your brain, and this maple walnut cranberry sauce is the result of one such remembrance. I can�t tell you when or where, but sometime during my formative years I saw a cranberry sauce loaded with chopped walnuts, and I totally freaked. 

Not outwardly, as I have a decent poker face, but inside I was like, �what the hell is that?� That�s how it was for me early in life. If I saw a food prepared differently from the way I�d always seen it, I just assumed it was a terrible idea. Like ketchup on a hot dog�okay, so I happened to be right that time, but generally it�s not a great attitude to have.

As I pondered this season�s annual Thanksgiving cranberry sauce, and which styles I hadn�t tried yet, I remembered how off-putting that walnut-studded version was, and I decided to face my demons. I�m happy to report, as usual, I was totally wrong. It works perfectly.

Besides the nuts, I really enjoyed the job the maple syrup did sweetening the acidic berries. I recommend using a Grade B maple syrup if you can find it. It�s darker and thicker, and boasts a stronger maple flavor, so it�s the preferred syrup for cooking and baking by those in the know (also know as, �Canadians�).

So, if you�re looking for new and exciting cranberry sauce recipe this holiday season, I hope you give this a try. You�d be nuts not to. Enjoy!

Maple Walnut Cranberry Sauce Ingredients:
(makes about 2 cups)

1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries, washed

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1/4 cup port wine

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

pinch of salt

1 cup chopped walnut, toasted a light golden-brown

Salad Lyonnaise � A Super Salad from a City of Meat

How great is Salad Lyonnaise? Lyon is considered the meat capital of France, and yet the city�s most famous, and reproduced dish is probably this simple frisee salad. Now that�s some delicious irony.

Don�t worry�this salad is far from vegan. The mildly bitter greens are dressed in a shallot and Dijon dressing, it�s spiked with a generous handful of crispy lardons, or bacon in my case, and topped with a runny egg.

By the way, unless you�re some kind of crazy person, you�re going to need some crispy croutons or crostini to finish this masterpiece off. Here�s a link to the ones I used for this, sans Parmigiano-Reggiano. You�ll also want to taste and adjust the dressing to your liking. I use a 2-to-1, oil to vinegar ratio, as I think you need some acidity to cut the richness of the bacon and egg yolk, but you may not want it as sharp.

As I joked about in the video, this is so tasty, it may be the only salad that has a chance to be picked as someone�s last meal. There�s good, and then there�s death row good. Anyway, I�ve been dying to film this old favorite, and I really hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

For 4 generous portions:

2 heads frisee lettuce, aka curly endive, or use arugula

8 oz bacon (or pancetta if you want to experience something closer to real lardons)

4 large eggs

1 tbsp chives

For the dressing (makes extra, about 3/4 cup total):

1 generous tbsp minced shallots

1 generous tbsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 cup lightly flavored olive oil

The Old Empty Mayo Jar Dressing Trick � Scrap the Scrape!

They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade; but what about when life gives you empty mayonnaise jars? Mayonade? No, of course not. We�re going to make salad dressing instead, and �scrape the scrape.�

I�ll often add a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise when I make a vinaigrette, to help emulsify things, as well as provide a little extra creaminess to the dressing. With that in mind, when I get down to the end of a jar, I don�t scrape, I shake.

I�m posting the ingredients I used below just in case you�re curious, but this post isn�t really about a recipe, but simply a tip for using up the last of that mayo without all that annoying butterknifing. Now, I just need to work on a recipe for using up the last of the dressing clinging to the inside of the jar. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 1 1/2 cups of dressing:

1 empty mayo jar, with at least 1 tbsp of mayo inside

1 clove minced garlic

1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley, thyme, and chives)

1/2 cup wine vinegar

1 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

pinch of Herbes de Provence

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Peanut Dipping Sauce � To Serve or Not to Serve with Beef Satay

As promised, here�s the new and improved peanut dipping sauce recipe we just featured in the beef satay video. Of course, now I�m finding out that real beef satay is actually served with a sweet, spicy rice vinegar sauce, but that�s another video, and a rather easy one at that. Stay tuned.

There are no great mysteries here � mix it up, and then taste, taste, and taste. Peanut sauces are like snowflakes, and you really should twist the formula to suit your palette. You can add all kinds of fun stuff like lemongrass, ginger, Thai basil just to name a few. If peanut allergies are a concern, I�ve had this done with almonds, and it�s not bad at all.

One big tip if you make this ahead. It will harden up in the fridge, and you�ll need to get it back to room temp before serving. I usually just microwave for a couple seconds, and it will be back to its gorgeous, shiny, flowing self. I hope you give this delicious all-purpose dipping sauce a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes about 1 1/2 cup Peanut Dipping Sauce:

3/4 cup smooth all-natural, pure peanut butter

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 lime, juiced

sriracha or other hot chili sauce, to taste

1 small can (5.6 oz) coconut milk

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Grilled Sea Bass with Chili Lime Dressing � More Than Just a Nice Piece of Bass

While this is technically a recipe for sea bass, it�s really much more than that. This tasty technique represents a glimpse into my warm weather culinary habits. At least three times a week, I�ll toss some kind of lean protein on the grill, and finish it doused in some sort of dressing or vinaigrette.

When you consider the wide variety of meats and seafood, and the countless combinations of herbs, peppers, vinegars, and spices, you�re not just looking at a summer�s worth of stellar dishes; you�re looking at a lifetime�s worth.

This kind of operation always suffers from over-thinking. Don�t try too hard to come up with these adaptations, just let it happen. By the way, this is always a fantastic way to use up the last tablespoon of whichever bottled vinaigrette is languishing in the back of the fridge.

I always get concerned comments when I use sea bass, since there have been over-fishing issues, but this was labeled �Sustainably Produced� at one of those well-known, national markets. I didn�t do any independent research to verify, but if you can�t trust a giant corporate grocery chain, who can you trust?

Like I said, this will work with all kinds of things, and the more you use this style of cooking, the more you�ll want to use it. The dressing took five minutes, and the fish took maybe ten. That leaves plenty of time for savoring the long days ahead, which is why I hope you try this soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 (4-oz each) sea bass filets

vegetable oil and salt to taste

For the dressing:

1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced, mashed or grated of microplane

zest of one lime

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp sambal or other chili paste/sauce

2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

2 tbsp Asian fish sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

cilantro leaves
roasted parnips, click here for recipe

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Homemade Ketchup Because You�re Crazy Like That

I want to be very clear that I�m posting this copycat recipe for ketchup only because I�ve received countless food wishes for it, and not because I think it�s a great idea. It�s not even a good idea.  

This tweet I posted yesterday sums things up nicely,  �Making some homemade ketchup. Sure it costs more, and doesn't taste as good as store bought, but at least it takes a really long time to do.�

Of course, we�ve made lots of things that are generally better not homemade, like French fries and fried chicken, but this is much different. For most Americans, ketchup is one of our first taste memories, and if the flavor profile is even the slightest bit off, our brain computes this as �ketchup fail.�

Having said that, I�m very proud of how close this ketchup does come to those name brands in terms of taste, texture and color. I�ve never had a tomato paste-based ketchup that I liked, so I decided to cook down crushed tomatoes instead. This would require many hours of stirring on the stove, but by using the slow cooker, we take most of the labor out of the process. Sure it'll still take many hours to reduce down to a ketchup, but it will only require giving it a quick stir every hour or two.

As I joke about in the video (not really a joke), you�d have to be crazy to make your own ketchup, but despite my warnings, I know in my heart that many of you will give this a try nonetheless, and that makes me happy. Enjoy!

Ingredients to make 3 cups of Ketchup:

2 cans (28-oz) ground tomatoes (you can also used crushed, or just crush whole plum tomatoes)

2/3 cups white sugar

3/4 cup white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon onion powder (not salt!)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not salt!)

1 3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

1/8 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

1 whole clove

* Cook on the high setting in an uncovered slow cooker until the mixture is reduced by about half and very thick. By the way, my �high� setting isn�t very high, so it took like 10 hours, but don�t rely on a time. Simply cook until it looks like mine did before I strained it.

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Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing � Chicken Wings Sold Separately

Some of you might think I�m posting this creamy blue cheese dressing recipe while on vacation, just so I don�t have to answer questions as to why it took five years for this popular food wish to appear. And, while I don�t have a great answer for that, I do have a �grate� answer.

That�s right, a cheese grater and a wedge of frozen blue cheese is real the secret behind a perfect creamy blue cheese dressing. Not only is crumbling blue cheese a messy operation, but those larger chunks sink to the bottom, and don�t become one with sauce. 

Using this technique produces a dressing exploding with the funky goodness of whichever blue-veined cheese you decide to use. I used a Maytag blue cheese, but any of the World�s great blues, like Roquefort or Stilton, will work beautifully. I hope you give this great method a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes about 3 1/4 cups Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing:
 *Please note: everything in this recipe is �to taste,� so adjust to your liking!
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
cayenne to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 ounces frozen blue cheese, grated

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