Hot sauce update

Last Saturday I prepared a new batch of hot sauce. This time I multiplied my original recipe by two and one-half times. Fresno chilies stood in for Serrano chilies, mainly because I couldn't locate red Serrano chilies locally. And I even managed to rub capsicum juices in my left eye!

I tasted the hot sauce on Sunday. Coming away with a good, strong medium heat profile, I thought the hot sauce has a lot of potential. My hope is that the sauce will mellow out as it ferments in the refrigerator.

HOT SAUCE, VERSION 2

Weigh about 1 pound chilies at the market if you don't have a scale at home. That will yield around 10 ounces chili flesh. Add just enough water to barely cover the chilies and onions in the skillet. You can locate ground arbol and pequin chiles at MexGrocer.com.

2-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
10 ounces red Fresno, jalapeno or Serrano chili peppers, stemmed and sliced
7-1/2 ounces sliced onion
1 ounce minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 to 3 cups water
1 tablespoon ground arbol chili pepper
1 tablespoon ground pequin chili pepper
1 cup distilled white vinegar

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add chilies, garlic, onion and salt. Saute 3 minutes. Add water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 30 minutes, or until peppers are very soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Ventilate room with exhaust fan if necessary. Stir in ground arbol and pequin chilies.

Puree mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth. With motor running, add vinegar in a steady stream. Adjust seasoning with additional salt if needed. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh strainer, then transfer to sterilized half-pint canning jars. Cover with air-tight lids. Age 14 days in refrigerator before using.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. This recipe prepares 4 cups hot sauce.

Pork tenderloin and apples with cider glaze

Apple cider glaze is amazingly good with pork roast, pork chops and chicken breast. Most recipes direct you to begin with fresh apple cider, then reduce it in a heavy skillet under high heat. A sweetener, such as maple syrup or honey, blends well with the succulent flesh of the meat. Vinegar or wine, mustard and herbs balance the flavor.

Last year I started reducing fresh unfiltered apple cider until it had a syrupy consistency. I've added it to homemade hotcake syrup, roasted Brussels sprouts, apple mahogany sauce and apple glaze. I typically purchase the cider in half-gallon bottles and reduce it over high heat to one-quarter its beginning volume (see recipe below). Apple cider is at its peak in the fall.

PORK TENDERLOIN AND APPLES WITH CIDER GLAZE

The recipe for apple mahogany sauce lists several ideas for a sauce such as this one. You can substitute pork chops or chicken breasts for the tenderloin. Saute the meat in a cast iron skillet or grill over hot coals as desired. Brush sauce on the meat during the couple minutes of cooking.

2-1/2 pounds pork tenderloin
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups apple cider reduction (click for recipe)
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced, 3/4-inch thick
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Rinse pork and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Coat all sides with thyme and rosemary. Melt butter in a 12-inch Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until browned on all sides.

Place lid on oven and arrange 10 charcoal briquettes under and 19 on lid (heat for 400 degrees F.). Cook 20 to 25 minutes until pork reaches 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Note size and shape will influence cooking time. Place pork on a platter and rest 10 minutes. Pour off any moisture (and reserve for future application, if desired).

Combine cider reduction, vinegar and mustard. Add apples and cider mixture to Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until apples are al dente and sauce has thickened to glaze consistency. If needed, thin glaze with a small amount (1 tablespoon or less) to apple cider or reserved moisture. Meanwhile, slice pork 1/2-inch thick. Spoon sauce over pork and place apples on either side. If desired, sliced pork can be served from Dutch oven (as pictured).

Makes 6 to 8 servings. Serve with roasted Brussels sprouts and rice pilaf.

Apple cider reduction

Apple cider reduction is used in several recipes at 'Round the chuckbox, as follows:

• Apple cider mahogany sauce
• Pork tenderloin and apples with cider glaze
• Roasted Brussels sprouts

I use Barsotti organic apple cider, a local El Dorado County, California, company that presses fresh apples at their Apple Hill plant. Barsotti juices can be purchased at many Northern California markets, co-ops and big-box stores, plus a number a local wineries and Apple Hill ranches.

APPLE CIDER REDUCTION

8 cups unfiltered apple cider

Boil apple cider over high heat until reduced to one-fourth its beginning volume, stirring occasionally. Skim surface build up as it collects. Allow as little as 45 minutes and as long as two hours to complete the reduction. The quantity being reduced, size and shape of the saucepan and heat setting determine how long it takes. Freeze leftover cider reduction or use within seven days.

Apple cider mahogany sauce

Apple cider mahogany sauce may take several hours to prepare. But the rewards are great, both in terms of great seasonal flavor and pleasant aromas that waft through the house as you reduce apple cider into syrupy goodness.

This article is really about two sauces. First, you must reduce unfiltered apple cider to about 25 percent of its original volume. Once reduced, you can prepared the apple cider mahogany sauce.

While you can prepare sufficient quantity of the apple cider reduction for your current recipe project, I like to reduce a half-gallon or more at a time. This gives me a supply of syrup to use as I see fit.

Use the cider reduction as a stand-in for maple syrup or honey in almost any recipe. Let your imagination be your guide. The recipe for apple cider mahogany sauce is included below. Three weeks ago I braised pork butt in cider reduction and chicken stock and served it with roasted carrots.

My next project is to prepare Brussels sprouts by first roasting with caraway and mustard seeds, then braising in chicken stock and cider reduction. The cabbages will be good alongside bratwurst, fried potatoes and homemade sauerkraut.

To prepare the reduction, boil unfiltered apple cider (I use Barsotti cider) over high heat until reduced to one-fourth its beginning volume, stirring occasionally. Skim surface build up as it collects. Allow as little as 45 minutes and as long as two hours to complete the reduction. The quantity being reduced, size and shape of the saucepan and heat setting determine how long it takes.

Brush cider mahogany sauce on grilled pork chops (pictured above) or sautéed chicken breasts. Dip sliced tri-tip (roasted to medium doneness) or smoked brisket in the sauce, quickly sear on griddle and place on toasted French roll. You can use the sauce to glaze your favorite cuts of lamb, pork, poultry or fish.

APPLE CIDER MAHOGANY SAUCE

3 slices bacon, diced small
1/2 cup medium sweet onion, diced small
1 cup apple cider reduction
1 cup catsup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

In a medium saucepan or skillet, sauté bacon and onion until onion is tender. Drain bacon drippings from skillet. Add cider reduction, catsup, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in thyme. Adjust seasoning. Makes 2-12 to 3 cups.

Chipotle sauce for tacos

I prepare chipotle sauce at work as a low fat alternative to sour cream. It compliments tacos or taco salad nicely. Although I love sour cream, chipotle sauce has become my sauce of choice for taco salad.

When I first prepared the sauce at the beginning of February, I combined one-part low fat sour cream to two parts low fat plain yogurt. While the residents enjoyed the sauce, I felt the yogurt overpowered the sour cream. Low fat mayonnaise filled in today, mainly because I didn't buy sour cream.

The result was a smooth, slightly thick sauce. It's smooth feel compliments the spiciness if the taco flavorings. It had the right amount of heat from the chipotle chiles, and a distinct, yet subtle smokey flavor.

CHIPOTLE SAUCE

16 ounces low fat plain yogurt
16 ounces low fat mayonnaise or sour cream
3-5 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
8 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix ingredients until combined. Adjust seasoning and chill. If desired, scoop into 2-ounce portion cup with scant #24 disher. Makes 25 (1-1/3 fluid ounce) servings.

Avocado yogurt sauce

Every four weeks I prepare chicken burritos at work. Since the residents enjoy any meal with a south of the boarder flare, this is one of the more popular lunches. I rarely have leftovers as every one of the ladies come down for the meal.

To prepare, I add three cups of guajillo chile sauce, two tablespoons white vinegar and one cup tomato sauce to four pounds of sliced roasted chicken breasts. A handful of chopped cilantro finishes the dish.

I'm ready to portion the chicken and sauce onto large flour tortillas after heating it for about 10 to 15 minutes. Mexican rice, lime wedges, chopped onions, diced tomatoes, shredded chedar cheese and sour cream are available on the counter. I let each resident assemble and fold her own burrito with these fixin's.

Although the residents enjoy the full-bodied flavor of sour cream, it adds too many calories to their diet. Avocado yogurt sauce gives me a flavorful alternative to sour cream. And the yogurt adds a nice tang to the sauce.

It goes without saying that the yogurt-based sauce is the healthier of the two. The residents enjoyed the sauce. The avocados were an added bonus since I rarely buy them. It was the perfect marriage of flavor. The rich creaminess from the avocado offset the tangy goodness from the yogurt.

The avocado yogurt sauce gave the residents two added benefits. They enjoyed a rare chance to enjoy the smooth richness of the avocado. And the yogurt shaved a healthy dose of calories from their diet.

AVOCADO YOGURT SAUCE

Use as a dip or substitute for sour cream. Yes, you can substitute Mexican crema or sour cream for yogurt for richer flavor. Remember that this variation boosts the caloric count by about 60 percent, from about 50 calories per ounce to 80 (there are 2 tablespoons in each fluid ounce of the sauce).

3 medium avocados
2 cups plain yogurt
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup whole cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

Puree ingredients in food processor until smooth. Adjust seasoning. Serve 2 tablespoons per person. This batch makes about 3-1/2 cups.

Asian-style barbecue sauce

Here's a barbecue sauce recipe that I've prepare at work several times over the past month. I've posted it at the request of a staff member.

Use in sauce place of traditional barbecue sauce. The posted recipe will marinade 5 or 6 racks of spareribs.

At work, I use red wive vinegar in place of the sherry wine.

ASIAN-STYLE BARBECUE SAUCE

Tahini is a ground sesame seed paste, with a consistency that's similar to peanut butter. You can find in the ethnic foods aisle of your grocery store.

1-1/8 cups honey
1-1/8 cups hoisin sauce
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup tahini
1 cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
1/4 cup Sriacha hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Combine all ingredients in a smaucepan. Heat to blend flavors. Makes about 5 cups.

Asian-style sauce for vegetables

Here's a quick Asian-style sauce that I use at work to flavor steamed vegetables. I use 1-1/2 to 2 cups sauce to flavor four pounds of cooked vegetables, which will feed 25 residents in my program.

ASIAN-STYLE SAUCE FOR VEGETABLES

If desired, add sauteed minced fresh garlic and ginger in place of the powdered versions. Adjust the amounts of soy sauce, oyster sauce and lemon juice to suit your taste. Substitute sherry for all or part of the lemon juice if desired.

3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
Granulated garlic, to taste
Ground ginger, to taste
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup cornstarch

Combine, stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic and ginger in a saucepan. Heat to boiling. Combine lemon juice and cornstarch. Slowly pour cornstarch mixture into stock. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened. Check seasoning. Makes about 1 quarts sauce.

Chicken breasts with sun-dried tomato and mushroom sauce

Here's a recipe that I modified from a Campbell's Soup magazine add. I worked it up to 25 servings, which is the number of residents that I feed at work. I also added extra mushrooms to the sauce to boost its flavor.

CHICKEN WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO AND MUSHROOM SAUCE

25 (5-ounce) chicken breasts
1/2 medium onion, diced fine
1 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
1 (50-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
3-3/4 cup water
1-1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 cup basil leaves, chiffonade
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1-1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a one or more skillets or saute pans over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until it's well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken waiting hotel pan.

Heat about 1/4-cup olive oil in skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and cook onions are soft and mushrooms begin to brown. Stir soup, water, tomatoes, vinegar and basil into onion and mushroom mixture. Heat sauce to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Pour sauce over chicken in the hotel pan and place in 350-degree oven. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken and sauce over the eggs noodles or steamed rice. Garnish with the cheese and sliced basil.

Lemonade pork chops

Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is one of a handful of Food Network TV Shows that I regularly watch. I look forward to the show each Monday and Friday.

Unlike most FN shows, Triple D captured my interest from the beginning. It, and companion shows like chef Robert Irvine's Dinner: Impossible, help me charge my culinary batteries each week.

These establishments all share a common thread. Many are run by chefs who have a passion for scratch-made food. It's fun to get a behind-the-scenes peak in the same restaurants that I love to visit.

I view Triple D though the eyes of a professional cook, often recreating the dish in question. The process gives me a chance to explorer new flavor combinations, especially new ways to flavor and present old standbys.

Late last April I watched the "Surf 'n Turf" episode on the show, where Guy visited the Gold-N-Silver Inn in Reno, Nevada. The lemonade pork chops impressed me the most.

Here's my rendition of the pork chop dish:

LEMONADE BARBECUE SAUCE

4 lemons, quartered
1/2 cup sugar
1 quart catsup
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 medium onion, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper

Process lemons and sugar with 3 cups water in food processor or blender until smooth. Press mash through strainer and discard pulp. Pour lemonade into medium-size saucepan.

Add remaining ingredients to lemonade in saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until flavors blend, about 1 hour.

Yield: 4 quarts

LEMONADE PORK CHOPS

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons seasoned salt
25 pork chops, 5 ounces each
2 quarts lemonade barbecue sauce

Combine flour and seasoned salt in a shallow pan. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels to remove any moisture. Dredge in seasoned flour. Shaking off excess flour.

Heat oil in heavy skillet or on griddle. Lightly brown chops on both sides. Layer in a 12x20x2-inch hotel pan.

Pour barbecue sauce evenly over chops. Cover pan with double layer of aluminum foil. Bake in a 350-degree oven until pork chops are fork tender, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Skim excess grease before serving.

Each person gets 1 pork chop.

Real railroaders eat quiche

Yes they do! And in case they don't, just serve biscuits and gravy too. Blog No. 22 shows you how to bake the quintessential egg pie ...

To quote a popular cliche: "Real railroaders eat quiche."

I approached the menu for the annual Christmas working breakfast at the El Dorado Western Railway this week with a bit of uncertainty. On one hand, my experience with the crew told me not to worry. They've eaten every dish that I've handed to them in the past three years.

But I was still concerned. I found the recipe for the creamy Southwestern quiche on the Growlies Recipe Exchange and Party Planning Board website. A reader wrote:

I have a question about this recipe which I made recently. First of all, it wasn't done in 30 mins at 350 so I stuck it back in the oven for 20 more mins at 400.... Then it came out fine. However, I would like to know the best way to handle this for future reference. The recipe is excellent and I think it's the best brunch recipe I've ever made. But I don't want to overcook it because it could get dry.

I quickly found the recipe on the Growlies for Groups website. Since the recipe looked promising, told her that I'd bake a pie Thursday evening, which I did.

A search of comparable recipes on the Internet told me her problem was timing. The pie needed 15 to 20 additional minutes in the oven.

Then I found the identical recipe on a travel website. The site attributed the quiche, called cheese and egg brunch pie, to the 1890 Williams House, a bed and breakfast inn in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

After testing the recipe Thursday for dinner, I agreed the Growlies reader. The creamy, smooth texture of the quiche will please any railroader, this one included.

I served the quiche with grilled sausage links and biscuits. To be safe, I added sausage gravy at the last minute.

The gravy turned out to be a wise addition to the menu as I dropped one of the two quiches that I baked. The crew enjoyed the gravy, and it stood in for the ruined quiche.

And, for the record, they enjoyed the remaining quiches as well.

SOUTHWESTERN QUICHE

In the outdoors, bake the quiche in the pie pan inside a 12- or 14-inch Dutch oven. Add coals for 350 to 400 degrees.

5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces cottage cheese
1 (4-ounce) can green chili peppers
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese (2 cups)
1 (9-inch) pie shell, unbaked

Combine eggs, flour, cottage cheese and chili peppers in a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Stir in butter, baking powder and cheese.

Pour filling into pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake 20 to 25 minutes until set. Let rest 10 minutes.

Cut each pie into 6 or 8 wedges, as desired. Serve with spicy yogurt sauce (recipe follows).

SPICY YOGURT SAUCE

Adjust cayenne pepper to taste.

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lime

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate. Makes 1-1/4 cups.

Chicken thighs in gravy

When I first planned the menu for Saturday's Home and Garden Show, my thought was to serve hot turkey sandwiches to the crew. I wanted to spread a layer of sausage stuffing on the bread for the open faced sandwich. A couple slices of turkey and a generous ladle of gravy would top the bread and stuffing.

Once at the market, I realized that I'd have to change direction. The stock of fresh turkey products was slim last Friday night. Two drumstick packages wasn't enough to feed 17 hungry volunteers.

Although I looked forward to fixing hot turkey sandwiches, I settled on chicken breasts. At $2.99 per pound, the chicken breasts became an attractive alternative.

CHICKEN THIGHS IN GRAVY

Instead of printing a traditional recipe, I've written the instructions in a pictorial format. Tonight's dinner is essentially the same dish that I cooked for Saturday's event. Here, I used a package of 12 chicken thighs in place of the breasts.

For chicken thighs, I removed the skin and trimmed the fat with a pair of kitchen shears. Seasoning the chicken with any seasoning mixture that compliments the finished product. Kosher salt and ground black pepper work well for most dishes. I used a mixture of kosher salt, ground black pepper, garlic granules and paprika here.

To sear, pour 1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, sear chicken in hot oil in batches. It takes no more than 5 minutes per side when the skillet is heated to the right temperature. Adjust the heat as needed to avoid burning the chicken.

I used an older Lodge #12 skillet here. The skillet, which has a 13-1/2-inch diameter, will hold about 8 thighs or 6 breast halves without over-crowding. Once brown on both sides, remove chicken to a waiting platter. Pour off and save the fat. Add enough vegetable oil to bring it to 1/2-cup.

Next, heat 4 ounces (about 1/2-cup) oil in 12-inch Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 8-ounce mirepoix to hot fat and saute until browned. An 8-ounce mire poix is a mixture of 4 ounces chopped onion, 2 ounces chopped carrot and 2 ounces chopped celery. Browning the mirepoix will add a robust element to the gravy.

Remove mirepoix if desired and discard. When left in, most chefs strain the mirepoix out at some point to enhance the gravy's appearance. In my experience, many home cooks leave it in. The choice is yours.

Add 4 ounces flour to the fat and stir to make a roux. Brown roux to desire color over medium heat.

In the camp kitchen I add a slightly cooled roux to hot chicken stock while vigorously whisking. This ensures a smooth, lump-free gravy. I reverse the process when working outdoors to save a step. Slowly pour hot stock over the roux, while vigorously whisking to prevent lumps from forming.

Place chicken thighs in gravy, being careful to prevent splattering. Simmer gravy for 30 to 45 minutes, until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes or buttered eggs noodles.

Alfredo sauce with cream cheese?

This video come to YouTube from chef Frank Terranova's "Cooking with Class" segment on NBC 10 News in Providence, R.I. Navy culinary specialist Chad Loveland of the USS Springfield (SSN 761) shows the Johnson and Wales University chef how to make Alfredo fettuccine with cream cheese in place of traditional heavy cream.

Camp 2008 -- Chicken tender sandwich with tomato-basil sauce

The first meal went off with few problems last night. Since I've written about the meal for the past few years, I won't discuss the meal in detail. Click the blogs about the opening night meal for 2005, 2006 or 2007.

I tried something different with the chicken tenders this year. Instead of serving the baked tenders with barbecue sauce on the side, I made two sandwiches using steak rolls from Smart and Final.

The first was served with barbecue sauce. To improve the sandwich, you can serve it with sliced tomatoes, onion and lettuce. About two-thirds of the campers took the sandwich with barbecue sauce.

I introduced a simple tomato-basil sauce with sauteed red and green bell papers. The sweet peppers adds a lively fruity element to the sauce. About 32 of the 135 campers took the sandwich. We'll definitely serve it next year.

CHICKEN TENDER SANDWICH WITH TOMATO-BASIL SAUCE

Bake the chicken tenders in a convection oven until the breading is crisp and brown. This adds a crunchy element to the sandwich. Substitute a sauteed chicken breat if desired.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 large red onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large red bell peppers, sliced
2 large green bell peppers, sliced
2 (28-ounce) cans chopped plum tomatoes in puree
2 bunches fresh basil
6-1/4 pounds chicken tenders
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
25 French or Italian rolls

Heat olive oil in a saucepan and saute onion and garlic until translucent, being careful not to burn. Stir in sliced peppers and gently cook until softened. Stir in tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer gently to blend flavors. Makes 2 quarts sauce.

Place pre-cooked chicken fillets on sheets pans. Using a convection oven, bake 12 to 14 minutes or until thoroughly heated in a 375-degree F. convection oven on high fan.
Briefly warm French rolls.

To build each sandwich, split open one roll. Set 2 tenders (about 4 ounces) on the bottom piece and spoon 1/4-cup sauce over chicken. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese over sauce and close sandwich. Make 25 sandwiches.

Meatballs with White Caper Sauce

Holiday office party vittles come to you in post no. 11 ...

Too much food! That's the only way to describe the office progressive potluck today.

In case you're wondering what it is, the instructional email provided this guidance: "A progressive meal is eating one course at one location, then moving on to another location for your next course. No need to carry your plate from location to location – each food station will be equipped with plates, utensils and beverages."

Our wise potluck planners made full use of gravity. Appetizers were spotted on the sixth floor. After perusing some 30 to 40 dishes (including my meatballs with white caper sauce), revellers rolled down to the third floor break room for the main event. Dessert and coffee ended the rolling potluck on the first floor.

Each floor was a meal unto itself. After eating full plates on six and three, we welcomed the smaller dessert plates in the first flour executive offices.

Most of my co-workers wallowed back to their cubicles and attempted to work for the rest of the afternoon.

An appetizer recipe

I began my search for an appetizer recipe yesterday afternoon. I knew that my shopping list had to be in hand when I stepped off the bus. This recipe adapted from a recipe published on the Restaurant Hospitality magazine website.

Meatballs with white caper sauce appealed on several levels. First, it was relatively easy to prepare. The meatballs came together in less than 30 minutes.

It took another 20 minutes in the oven to finish the meatballs. The 67 meatballs (my wife snagged one!) fit snugly in a 3-quart Rubbermaid container. The sauce came together in about 30 minutes. It traveled to work in a second container.

The recipe added a certain "wow" to the Christmas festivities at work. I enjoy bringing dishes to potluck meals that are a little out of the mainstream -- at least out of the potluck mainstream.

Caper sauce has a long history in European culinary circles. It often accompanies boiled mutton, fish and meatballs. Caper sauce seems to have its origins with the savory veloute sauce -- a stock-based white sauce made with veal, chicken or fish stock.

Most modern examples, like chef Hans Aeschbacher's recipe from Restaurant Hospitality, use the creamy bechemel sauce as the base for caper sauce. The simplest way to prepare the sauce is to add two tablespoons of drained capers to one cup of white sauce, hollandaise or mayonnaise. The added zip will surprise you.

MEATBALLS WITH WHITE CAPER SAUCE

You're looking for a light to medium white sauce -- one that coats without clumping or pooling between the meatballs. For a richer sauce, whisk two or three pats of soft unsalted butter into the warm sauce just before serving.

MEATBALLS:
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1-1/2 pounds lean ground pork
6 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups dry Italian flavored breadcrumbs
1-1/2 cup onion, finely diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

WHITE CAPER SAUCE:
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/2 cup minced onion
1 ounce unsalted butter
1 ounce all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup small capers, drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Combine beef, pork, eggs, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Add more bread crumbs if needed to form balls that hold their shape. Shape meat mixture into 1-inch balls with a 1-ounce ladle or no. 30 disher. Bake in 350°F oven 18-20 minutes to medium-well doneness, until not pink in center and juices show no pink color.

Meanwhile, combine wine and onion in medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat 5-7 minutes, or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Add cream and cloves and reduce further by 1/2. Reduce heat to medium. Add milk to wine-cream mixture while stirring.

Make a white roux with butter and flour. Slowly whisk in roux and cook until until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat. Strain if desired for smooth sauce. Add capers, salt and pepper. Combine meatballs and sauce. Serve banquet-style in chafing dish or from steam table. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 65 to 70 meatballs.

Kelly Ripa on Cranberry Sauce

Kelly Ripa made an important observation on cranberry sauce this morning on the Live with Regis and Kelly.

Her conversation with Regis went something like this:

Did you know that one tablespoon of canned cranberry sauce has as much sugar as eight doughnuts! You know, I make my own cranberry sauce and no one eats it. If it isn't shaped like a can, they won't eat it.

Okay, I doubt you can pack that much sugar into a tablespoon of cranberry sauce. I don't see how anyone can eat the canned stuff. But her point is well-taken.

Most cranberry sauce is a sugar-laden cranberry-flavored jelly concoction at that. It's a "strained jellied or semi-jellied product prepared from clean, sound, mature cranberries sweetened with high fructose corn syrup/corn sweetener and water," according to USDA.

I don't know what attracts people to canned cranberry sauce. Maybe it's the ridges. Or maybe it's the fact that any real cranberries have been strained out and the remaining sauce jellied.

I'm not a big fan of cranberry sauce. I'd rather top my turkey with braised red cabbage. But I appreciate the effort parents put into introducing children to "real" food. It's a tough battle, but I've found that children respond to old-fashion recipes, especially when you serve them often.

Tartare Sauce

I had a request from a World War II veteran trying to locate the Navy recipe for tarter sauce.

Norman Scott wrote: "A friend, now 84 years old, was in the navy long ago aboard a carrier and when fish was served he thought the tarter sauce was exceptional. He now fishes for fun in Ontario, Canada, and would dearly like to have the recipe for tarter sauce. Other than buying old USN cookbooks, is there a way I can find an old tarter sauce formulation?"

Here's the recipe for tartare sauce (yes, that's the correct spelling for the recipe):

TARTARE SAUCE

1/2 cup capers
1/2 cup chopped olives
1/2 cup chopped pickles
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 gallon mayonnaise

Combine capers, olives, pickles, onion and parsley. Stir into mayonnaise. Mix well. This recipe makes approx 1/2-gallon. Serving size is 1-1/2 tablespoons.

Source: Cook Book of the United States Navy, 1944, page 218.

More on "The Complete Guide to Making Sauces"

I can't find any information on The Complete Guide to Making Sauces on the Internet.

The publisher's website at Alibris also draws a blank. A search for author Christine France yields 53 books that she wrote or co-wrote. Titles include everything from Chocolate to Low Calorie Desserts to The Barbecue Book. Tomatoes is another popular theme.

But no The Complete Guide to Making Sauces. She did write a book on Salsas, Dips, Dressings, and Marinades, as well as Cook's Book of Sauces.

Quick and Easy Sauces: Over 70 Delicious Recipes to Transform Sweet or Savoury Dishes is the closest title to the book that I purchased at Borders.

Since the tag line for The Complete Guide to Making Sauces says, "Transform your cooking with over 200 step-by-step great recipes for classic sauces, toppings, dips, dressings, marinades, relishes, condiments and accompaniments," I suspect that this book is a compilation of her prior cookbooks on everything related to sauces, salsas and the like.

Cookoff Plans for Next Weekend, Part 2

I enjoyed the pot roast with the red wine and sun-dried tomato sauce. Roasted carrots, potatoes and crimini mushrooms complimented the tender meat.

At this point I saw several options for the sauce. Since electric or battery-powered appliances are banned from the cookoff, a hand-powered food mill seemed to be the most efficient way to puree the vegetables for the sauce. I dropped this idea because I didn't want to purchase another kitchen gadget for the chuckbox.

My other option for the sauce was to thicken the broth with cornstarch or a roux. Flour would add about 30 minutes to the process, making the total time for the recipe from 3-1/2 to 4 hours. This is impractical because contestants only have four hours from the cook's meeting to judging time. Cornstarch is simple, but it doesn't appeal to me.

With pot roast off of my short list of main dish recipes for the cookoff, I turned to my original two selections -- a layered Mexican casserole or a lasagna. The Mexican casserole was quickly ruled out because it's the dish that propelled Bill and DeAnn Johnson into Dutch oven cookoffs some 10 to 12 years ago.

(Their enchilada pie supreme is can be found in IDOS's 5 Year Taste of Dutch IDOS Convention Recipes, 2000 to 2004 on page 79. See http://www.idos.org for purchase details. The unmodified recipe is available at DiscussCooking.com.)

Thursday afternoon I switched the TV to Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals on the Food Network halfway through the episode (Family & Company Frendly). Rachel had rolled a ricotta cheese filling with spinach and crimini mushrooms in wide lasagna noodles. She topped the roll-ups with a Garganzolla sauce and mozzarella cheese and zapped the lasagna under the broiler to give color.

Rachel's spinach and mushroom lasagna roll-ups with Garganzolla sauce gave me an idea. Since I favor a rich tomato sauce over the Garganzolla sauce, I'll roll the ricotta cheese mixture in par-cooked lasagna noodles to form the roll-ups.

A couple spoons of marinara sauce and a slab of mozzarella cheese will top the roll-ups. I'll then bake them under intense heat from a pile of charcoal briquettes to melt the cheese and give it some color. Steamed asparagus will make a simple garnish for the dish.

I'll discuss my choice for the bread dish tomorrow ...

Chicken Breast with Balsamic Raspberry Reduction

I prepared this recipe for my family Saturday night at the in-law's house. I was down picking my wife and son up from a short spring break trip to see mom and grandma. I also served a red bean salad and sautéed asparagus.

This recipe comes from one of my many professional recipe sources. At work I read Foodservice Director, Food Management and Restaurant & Institutions. The trade journals often publish recipes in themed articles. The chicken breast with balsamic raspberry reduction recipe came from an article on low-fat cooking ("Low Fat -- Still a Factor?" by Nancy Berkoff, RD in the February 15, 2005 issue of Foodservice Director).

Many of these recipes are written for employee dining rooms. I reason that they should appeal to the general public as well. If you eat these dished in the cafeteria, you should welcome them at home.

CHICKEN BREAST WITH BALSAMIC RASPBERRY REDUCTION

The chicken breasts will cook more evenly if you pound them to one-half-inch thick. Although I received rave reviews from the family, raspberry preserves are not my favorite. Try apricot preserves, plum jam or current jam as an alternative.

I also found that this recipe makes a lot of sauce. Unless you enjoy more that 2 to 3 tablespoons per portion, cut the sauce ingredients by one-half.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups minced red onions
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
10 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2-1/2 cups raspberry preserves or jam
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon orange zest

Pour vegetable oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss chicken with basil and place in skillet. Cook chicken until thoroughly cooked, turning once. Remove chicken to platter. Tent with aluminum foil.

Reduce heat to medium. Sweat onions 3 minutes or until translucent. Place preserves, vinegar, pepper and zest in skillet and combine with onions. Allow mixture to reduce by 1/2, stirring to avoid sticking. Strain if desired. To serve, discard foil and drizzle reduction over chicken.

Note: This recipe works equally well with boneless turkey breast, portobello mushrooms or extra firm tofu.