Sauces Posts
Spicy Chipotle-Lime Ketchup
This dip was a hit this weekend when we had folks over to watch the fight. I served it as one of the companions to my Crispy Sesame Chicken Nibbles. The cold, garlicky ketchup was a perfect balance to the crunchy crust and moist chicken. A healthy dose of lime juice and zest give the [...]
Rustic Cranberry Bacon Chutney with Rosemary and Port
This stuff is so good, it’s evil. It’s smokey and sweet. It’s dotted with bits of bacon and rosemary. It’s bursting with unexpected orange flavor that’s followed by a refreshing tartness from the cranberries. I could eat bowls of this. No lie. This is the kind of dish that folks either love or hate, depending [...]
Hot Buttered Rum Pecan Sundae
The topping for this sundae has all the rich, buttery flavor of pecan pralines—without the time or trouble involved in candymaking. Basically, this recipe makes a mini-batch of pecan candy by superheating a small amount of butter and brown sugar in a large pan, cooking the nuts in it, then flavoring it with a little [...]
Garlicky White Beans, Two Ways: Dip & Creamy Soup
I have a great—and relatively newfound—love for white beans. (See? I do eat more than meat.) Here are two of my favorite ways to prepare them. The first recipe is for a thick dip that’s fragrant with garlic and lemon. The second is a creamy, spinach-laden soup that uses the dip as a base. A [...]
Quick Meat Ragout with Orecchiette
This is a rich and hearty sauce that you can make in just about the amount of time it takes to boil a pound of orecchiette. Honest. Italian for “little ears,” orecchiette are those nickel-sized round noodles that look like tiny hats or flying saucers. Just because it’s a quick sauce doesn’t mean it’s short [...]
Brown-Sugar Cranberry Sauce
Ever since I was a kid, cranberry sauce has always been one of my favorite things about the fall. Most of the time, my mom made homemade cranberry sauce. Now, she’s an amazing cook. Sometimes, though, if I was lucky and she didn’t have time, she’d bust out that ubiquitous canned cranberry sauce log. (Come [...]
Rib of the Week: Ruby Lacquered Pork Ribs
Ah, pork. It goes so well with so many things—including fruit. So, as I was eyeing the package of pork spare ribs in my fridge last night, I noticed I had leftover raspberry sauce from the Rustic Raspberry Vodka-tini I made the other night. It’s basically fresh raspberries, sugar, and a little liquor. You can [...]
Peachberry Ice Cream Drizzle
I love vanilla ice cream. It’s kind of boring, but it’s true. I love Haagen-Dazs. I love Brighams. I love almost everything in between. Give me a Hoodsie cup on a hot afternoon or a dish of plain French vanilla, any brand, in the evening, and I’m a very happy mouse. Vanilla ice cream is [...]
Labor Day Special: Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
At the risk of needing to rename this blog The Thirsty Mouse, here’s my recipe for Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. This is what I’ll be putting on my pork ribs this Labor Day weekend. It’s quick and easy to make, as barbecue sauces go. (Barbecue purists beware: File this one under “halfway-homemade,” since we’re starting with [...]
Crab Rangoon Dip
Crab rangoons have to be one of the best appetizers ever made. (In fact, we probably have one of the only dogs on the planet who comes running when offered one.) My mother’s hot crab dip is basically a dippified version of a crab rangoon filling. It’s amazing with fresh crab—or canned (so shoot me, [...]
