Two Easy Sauces For Spring!

French Vinaigrette

A wonderful recipe to have on hand in Spring,  not only for salads, but also to accompany asparagus and artichokes. Check out today's post on Lindaraxa's Garden.  Make sure you use Dijon mustard, Maille if you can find it or Grey Poupon which is readily available everywhere  This recipe is from David Leibowitz's blog.  For the original post go here

French Vinaigrette

Makes about 1/4 cup (60 ml), enough for one large green salad

Ingredients

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar

1/2 small shallot, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3T to 4T olive oil

fresh herbs, if desired

Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, vinegar, and shallot. Let stand for about ten minutes.

2. Mix in the Dijon mustard, then add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir well, then taste. If too sharp, add the additional olive oil and more salt, if necessary.

If you wish to add fresh herbs, it's best to chop and mix them in shortly before serving so they retain their flavor.

Grind the pepper after you have dressed the salad with the vinaigrette!

Storage: This dressing will keep for about eight hours at room temperature. If you want to make it farther in advance, it's best to add the shallots closer to serving so they don't lose their verve.

Hollandaise Sauce

Now this is my favorite, and if you follow my directions, you will get it perfect every time!  It is the trick I used to get my children to eat asparagus and artichokes when they were little. 

The two most important things, make sure eggs are room temperature and the butter is bubbling when you add to yolks. 

Hollandaise Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients

3 eggs

8 TB unsalted butter

1 TB lemon juice

dash cayenne

salt

Directions

Take the eggs out of fridge about 4 hrs. before you cook them. They must be room temperature!

Separate 3 yolks from white. Add yolks to blender. Melt 1 bar of butter in a skillet, add about 1/4 tsp cayenne, salt and pepper and cook until bubbly on medium heat. When the butter is about ready to come to a boil, start your blender on high and blend the egg yolks for at least 30 seconds. Slowly pour the bubbling butter into the eggs in a steady drip and squeeze 1 TB of the lemon juice. Stop! you are done!!! Pour into a glass bowl and keep warm on top of the stove. Taste it, if it needs more salt, pepper or lemon juice, add and stir with a spoon. keep warm near the stove

Homemade Applesauce

After you've had homemade applesauce, you'll never buy it canned again! So simple to make. If you want to can for future use follow this procedure. A great Christmas gift, start now!

Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds tart red-skinned apples, such as McIntosh or Jonagold
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small stick cinnamon
red food coloring, a few drops (if you must!)

Directions

Remove the stems from the apples, but do not core or peel. Coarsely chop the apples. Combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and 3 tablespoons of water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook until the apples are completely soft, about 20 minutes. Uncover, and continue to cook, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and pass the mixture through the fine-holed disc of a food mill. Discard the peels and seeds.

Refrigerate if not using immediately.

Cook's Note. This applesauce goes well with pork chops since it is not too sweet. If a sweeter sauce is preferred, add sugar to taste, while the applesauce is still warm.

Adapted from Food Network

Ted's BabyBack Ribs

If there is something I'm very proud of is having two children who are great cooks! My daughter Christina is the baker and her cookies are legendary not only in our family, but also with friends and neighbors. My son Ted, on the other hand, is the grill master. He used to be the burrito king but ever since he moved to Georgia he's developed into a great griller.

Last Christmas he got a smoker from his grandmother in law and since then, no one can touch him. About a couple of months ago, when I visited the family in Atlanta, he served me some of the best ribs I have ever had... no question!

Under his guidance and without a smoker I served these about a month ago and they were outstanding. If you don't have a smoker, he recommends cooking them in beer in a 250 degree oven sealed for about two hours. He makes his own rub (of course!) I had Emeril make mine. The barbecue sauce is all mine!

I am posting this early so you can start planning ahead for your Labor Day Weekend which is a week from tomorrow.

Ingredients

2 Slabs Pork Baby Back Ribs

1 can light beer

2 TB. Emeril's Rub for Pork

Barbecue Sauce (Recipe follows)


The night before you cook them, rub spice mixture over the ribs. I used Emeril's because it was the only good one I could find at the store I went to, but others will do too. Seal in tin foil paper and place in fridge. Before you cook then, open tin foil and pour 1 small can light beer. Reseal tight and place in the oven at 250 degrees for 2 hrs. Remove from the oven bring to room temperature and set aside until ready to grill. Remove from tin foil and place in a medium hot grill. Cook each side for 10 minutes. Brush barbecue sauce on one side and cook an additional 10 minutes. Do the same for the other side. You will be cooking a total of 40 minutes..10 mins. each side without sauce, 10 mins. each side with sauce. Let rest for 10 minutes. You can serve with leftover barbecue sauce on the side.


Barbecue Sauce

Makes 3 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
2 cups ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in mustard powder and red-pepper flakes; cook 30 seconds.

Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire, vinegar, molasses, and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.

I usually serve ribs with my potato salad and sliced tomatoes with balsamic and fresh basil. An Australian Shiraz or Argentinian Malbec goes well with it.