sauce Archives - Retro Food For Modern Times

English is meant to be one of the most descriptive and eloquent languages in the world. Why then, do some phrases sound so blah when contrasted to their foreign counterparts? Take Green Sauce, this week’s dish o’ the week. How much better would it sound if it were called Salsa Verde or Sauce Verte or even Pesto?

All of these suggest a zing, a zippiness, a brightness that plain old Green Sauce totally fails to convey. However, out of everything I made from The Meatball cookbook, the green sauce was an absolute standout highlight which I will make over and over.

This stuff is like crack. Seriously, make it once and you will want to smear, drizzle, spread this over EVERYTHING. And here’s the thing – it’s good with everything. Here are some of the stuff I have eaten it with outside of the meatballs:

Steak
Roast chicken //Poached Chicken
Pasta
Bread
Fish or any white seafood – lobster, crayfish, prawns, scallops
Baked and boiled potatoes

And it’s not just me. Everyone in the book club who made this sauce agreed it was the bomb!

It’s also a good way to get rid of some of the herbs you have used in other recipes that might otherwise go to waste. I have added tarragon and mint into the mix and it was delicious both times.

Make it. Make it today. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

Oh yeah, the meatballs were good too! These are the chicken, cheese and corn balls.

No real recipe fails this week – just me failing to make some Banana Buttermilk Pancakes (which have been top of my list for weekend breakfasts) for maybe the tenth week in a row. I’ve given up, I’m making a saffron and pistachio kulfi with the buttermilk as we speak.

This week I am looking forward to cooking:

After the meatfest that was meatball week, I am looking forward to making some salads and this Cucumber, Pistachio, Grape and Feta salad from Australian Gourmet Traveller is hitting every button I have.

So is this Shaved Asparagus, Cured Beef and Manchego Salad but I’m not sure if I can be arsed curing my own beef. Does that make me lazy? Or is that asking too damn much? What is a good substitute? I was thinking I could use pastrami. Suggestions gratefully accepted!

Hmm…there’s buttermilk in that dressing. Maybe the banana pancakes are back on the menu.

In the oven at the moment is Vincent Price’s Champagne chicken for the #treasurycookalong over at Silver Screen Suppers, it is smelling delicious!

In Other News I Am

Listening To

I have downloaded but am yet to listen to The Message Podcast. I’ll let you know how that one works out.

Reading

Still on Orphan #8. Had a moment this week sitting in the doctor’s waiting room to get my foot x-rayed whilst reading about a woman who had her whole life destroyed by x-rays and briefly wondered if I should make a run for it. Sadly, the most I could have managed was a slow hobble.

Reading/Listening

For some reason my computer decided to wipe all the files for Life After Life. Which is a shame because I was really enjoying it. I’m not totally upset though because I think it is something I will like even more by actually reading it.

I have switched to audio reading Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and I am loving it. I think Jon Ronson is brilliant and have read (nearly) all of his books and never been disappointed. There is something about those smart witty British boys (Ronson, Alain De Botton, Louis Theroux) that does it for me BIG time. I am also totally loving that Jon Ronson is reading the audio himself. I would recommend this to anyone who has any online presence (this means you) in terms of how to behave on the old dub-dub-dub that we all share.

Niki Sengit’s The Flavour Thesaurus is a book I have dipped in and out of for years. I am now reading it cover to cover. And loving it too. I can’t tell you what I enjoy more, her scalding wit or the great recipe suggestions.

Watching

I watched Best in Show earlier today and it was as funny as ever. I had totally forgotten some of the mad random bits of hilarity such as Eugene Levy’s two left feet. Utterly watchable!

I have a real hankering to go back and watch some early XFiles. I have yet to scratch that particular itch but it’s there….

Here is the Green Sauce Recipe and if you are only ever going to act on one thing from this blog make this green sauce.

It comes from this book:

Green Sauce – From Meatballs The Ultimate Guide by Matteo Bruno

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

50g (a large bunch) flat leaf (Italian) parsley, leaves picked
50g (a large bunch) basil, leaves picked
1 clove of garlic
35g blanched almonds
10g anchovies
Juice of 1 lemon
120ml extra virgin olive oil
25 parmesan cheese, finely grated

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Instructions

Blitz the herbs, garlic, almonds, anchovies, lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper in a food processor for around a minute or until a smooth sauce has formed.
Add the parmesan and blitz for another minute.

What’s going on in your life / kitchen? What was the best thing you made this week?

What are you looking forward to making next week?

What are you reading, watching, listening to?

Please share!

Have a fabulous week everyone!

Happy Cooking!

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It’s that time of year where there seems to be a glut of strawberries on the market. I believe it’s also called super delicious happy yum time – or is that just me? Whatever you want to call it, my greengrocer was selling five punnets of strawberries for $5 so after doing a little dance of joy (which looks scarily like this):

Snoopy’s Happy Dance

I loaded up my cart. So, get out your maraccas and pile some fruit high on your head, today we are channelling our inner Carmen Miranda’s and getting a little bit fruity!

Speaking of whom, I had always just thought of her as the lady with the fruit on her head.

But wow!!!!! Who knew she was so amazingly, stunningly gorgeous?

So…how about you all keep channelling the inner. And I give the outer a shot?

But first, I’ve been obsessed, not only with real fruit but things that look like fruit for some months now.

First came my little Daiso fruit dishes:

Then the Mozi Measuring Cups:

I am so not using these for measuring!!! Imagine serving a dip in the Big Pineapple? Awesome!!!!

I’m easily amused aren’t I?

But it does pretty good loaded up with stuff does it not?

Put ’em together and what have you got?

Unfortunately we were all out of bibbidi-bobbidi-boo’s

But I did manage to make an absolutely knock your socks off Strawberry Habenero Sauce.

Ok, Mum, I know you read this and I know, in your world, a fairy dies every time I swear…

You might want to skip the next few paragraphs. Come back at the next photo, we’ll be good by then.

Ok – she’s gone now hasn’t she?

For the rest of us. When I say this sauce is the motherfucking bomb, I honestly mean that you could probably use it to detonate explosives.

This won’t just knock your socks off, it could possibly take your ankles with it. And having said all that, it’s also sweet and herby and so, so, good you’ll be wanting more even whilst you are calling for a fire extinguisher for your taste buds,

It may well be the most fucking hot thing I have ever eaten. In my life. And let’s bear in mind my Sri Lankan background. I’m not alien to hot and spicy.

But, seeing as she’ll be dying to come back…here’s that next photo:

The original recipe called for 12 habaneros and a cup of strawberries. As you can see, I had 5 habeneros and thought I might have to top it up with a few little scud chillies (totally unnecessary). I also ended up using nearly 4 punnets of strawberries – that would be 4 times the cup required in the original recipe.

I also had some rosemary, which as you will see, was not at it’s prime. So I threw a couple of springs of that in too. Waste not, want not right?

After about an hour it looked like this:

Then I threw in a couple of sprigs of tarragon, took it off the heat and let it sit until it cooled.

You can choose to puree this as you see fit. I put half in the blender and left the other half chunky.

The resulting sauce is capital A awesome even if I do say so myself. One of the best things is that it actually has a visible three step taste process.

The first taste is the strawberry sweet which is accompanied by a sound of “I thought you said this was..?”

This is followed by a “Mmmm” as the herby notes of the rosemary and tarragon kick in.

The final is a gasp for air and a kind of popping of the eyes as the chili kick hits.

This is when you can act like an absolute arse and say “Oh…you began to say something earlier…..?”

Or just pass the person a glass of water.

Your choice.

I’m going to be spending my week working on special Easter treats for all of you. Stay tuned….these are going to be…I don’t even know the word…retro awesome /possibly revolting

Time will tell.

Hope your week is fabulous.

Strawberry Habanero Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

5–12 Habanero Chillies (I used 5, the original recipe called for 12)
4 x 250 punnets strawberries
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 Lemon (juice only)
2 Shallots
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/8 cup sugar
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of tarragon

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Instructions

Combine all ingredients except tarragon in a pan and cook for or 1 hour.
Add tarragon and turn heat off. Leave on hob for 1 hour.
Puree in a blender.

First up,

Retro Food For Modern Times

Tag: sauce

The Dishiest Dish – Green Sauce

This week I am looking forward to cooking: