The purpose of a sauce is not to mask or disguise the taste of food. Its task is to enliven or enhance the flavor of food or offset it with a countering flavor, such as sweet and savory food combinations. Here are three different, unique and easy-to-make sauces that will impress your friends and family with your culinary expertise.
Garlic Lovers Sauce or Dip
Fresh garlic is a great, natural seasoning that makes almost any dish or food taste better. I have added sautéed garlic to fresh cooked spinach, crushed it into omelets and used whole cloves to add more flavor to chicken stock. I do not know of any food or recipe where garlic would not improve its taste—except perhaps crème brûlée.
The following garlic sauce is not just for garlic lovers; everyone appreciates a flavorful, tangy condiment with their food. There are two ways to make this sauce. The first is for the brave-hearted who love the taste of spicy tangy garlic. The second version is a softer more approachable garlic sauce. Either way this sauce is a perfect dip for raw vegetables, a spread for cold chicken sandwiches, leftover meats and other poultry or as a condiment for whatever your taste buds fancy.
Ingredients
8-10 cloves of crushed garlic
½ teaspoon of salt
1 egg
3 teaspoons of fresh lemon
1 cup of olive oil
Mix all the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a blender or food processor. Then with the blender or processor running, gradually pour in the olive oil. Note, as with making fresh mayonnaise the olive oil should be poured into the blender or processor very slowly to incorporate all the ingredients.
The amount of raw garlic determines just how tangy the sauce will be. One way to keep the garlic flavor and reduce its natural spicy taste is to first sauté the garlic cloves until they are light brown in color and then crush them for the sauce.
The finished sauce is a heavy, creamy emulsion of pungent garlic and lush olive oil. It is perfect as a dip or a spread for sandwiches. My wife Linda loves to spoon a dollop onto her omelet and also dip her steamed broccoli into it. No matter how the garlic lover’s sauce is used, it will energize any food it accompanies.
Savory Green Sauce for Fish or Seafood
This is one of my favorite sauces. I first tasted it in an enclave of Portuguese restaurants in Newark New Jersey; know as the “Ironbound” section of Newark. Green Sauce is a delicious mélange of onions, garlic and parsley simmered in white wine and fish stock or clam juice.
Savory Green Sauce is the perfect accompaniment for almost any broiled, grilled, fried or poached fish or seafood. It is a great flavor enhancer for broiled catfish, filet of sole or any fish that does not have much flavor on its own.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 or 2 tablespoons of flour depending on desired consistency
¼ cup of finely chopped onions
3-6 cloves of minced garlic, to taste preference
1 cup of chopped fresh parsley no stems
½ cup of inexpensive white wine, preferably Sauvignon Blanc
½ cup of fish stock or broth or clam juice
In a saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until they are soft but not brown. Slowly add the flour, constantly stirring the mixture to keep it from lumping. (This mixture of oil and flour is the basis for most sauces. Once the technique is mastered, a whole new world of wonderful sauces will grace your table.) Now slowly pour in the white wine followed by the fish stock, broth or clam juice while stirring constantly with a wired whisk or wood spoon. Be sure that all the liquids are room temperature before adding to the onion, and garlic mixture of olive oil and flour. Now add the chopped parsley and simmer on a very low flame or heat for about 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly until a thick and creamy consistency is reached.
This is a tasty, easy to make sauce. Feel free to adjust the amount of garlic and onions to your personal preference (the more the better).
