Bittman - How to cook everything: simple recipes for great food

Chapter 1: Sauces, Condiments, Herbs, And Spices

In the last ten years, nothing in cooking has changed as much as the way we season and accompany our food. This explains, in large part, why this chapter now appears here, in the front of How to Cook Everything. Sauces and seasonings have become easy, international, and omnipresent; they're much more important in everyday cooking than they used to be.

Until relatively recently, most popular sauces were French and downright intimidating. Often thickened, usually fat laden and stock based, almost always complicated, these old standbys now seem staid and tame.

In the last ten or twenty years, though, we've adopted a more straightforward approach to adding flavor, most of it decidedly un-French. From salsas to pesto to vinaigrette (yes, it's Frenchbut it's raw) all the way to chutneys, cooked vegetable and fruit sauces, yogurt sauces, and the huge variety of chile pastes and spice pastes and blends, we have at our disposal a host of easy-to-make, easy-to-understand, and incredibly useful preparations.

The result is that you can take the blandest recipes you can findsteamed chicken or fish, plain rice or pasta, even a slice of toastand find fifty different accompaniments for each, creating a powerfully flavorful dish every time.

Spice blends are crucial to this new approach to seasoning, especially if you're interested in exploring global cuisines. Easily assembled, with a long shelf life, they're perhaps the ultimate convenience food, whether used on their own or in a sauce or condiment. Some store-bought sauces and spice blends are bound to be staples in your kitchen. (There's a good recipe for ketchup here, but the reality is you're not likely to rely on it exclusively.) Even though there are decent bottled condiments, most homemade sauces and spice blendsfrom curry and chile powder to simple salsaare far superior and, because they are customized, far more likable than anything you can buy.

Essential Recipes

Here is a handful of super-fast and almost ridiculously easy sauces based on ingredients you probably have on hand. Some are served cold or at room temperature. Most you can make ahead and store in the fridge for a bit. And all can be varied to go with virtually anything you make, at any time of year.

Essential Recipes M Fast M Make Ahead M Vegetarian

Five-Minute Drizzle Sauce

Nothing could be easier or more versatile. All you have to do is boil some pasta or rice or broil a piece of chicken or fish, then get this going while it cooks. I'll start you off with the base recipea kind of warm vinaigretteand a handful of variations, but no doubt you'll soon come up with even more ideas.

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter

1 tablespoon minced onion, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, or lemongrass

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or mild vinegar, like balsamic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the oil or butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is warm or the butter is melted, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens (turn the heat down if it starts to color), a minute or two.

Stir in 2 tablespoons water and the lemon juice and sprinkle with some salt and pepper; maintain the heat so it bubbles gently for a minute or two. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.

Variations

Spiced Five-Minute Drizzle Sauce

Along with the onion or other aromatic, add a pinch of any spice (such as ground cumin, coriander, or saffron) or spice blend like chili powder or curry powder (to make your own, see the recipes under ), or a small cinnamon stick or piece of vanilla bean.

Herbed Five-Minute Drizzle Sauce

Just before serving, stir in some chopped fresh herbs: 2 tablespoons of milder herbs like parsley, basil, chives, cilantro, or mint or 2 teaspoons of more potent herbs like rosemary, tarragon, sage, or oregano.

Fiery Five-Minute Drizzle Sauce

Along with the onion or other aromatic, add 1 tablespoon minced fresh chile (like jalapeo or Thai) or a whole dried chile (chipotle is wonderful; whatever you use, remove it before serving) or a sprinkle of hot red pepper flakes or cayenne.

Sesame-Soy Five-Minute Drizzle Sauce

Replace the olive oil with 2 tablespoons each of dark sesame and peanut oil; replace the lemon juice with soy sauce. Along with the onion or other aromatic, add 1 tablespoon sesame seeds or finely chopped peanuts if you like. Finish by adding 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves just before using if desired.

Miso Five-Minute Drizzle Sauce

Scrap the whole main recipe and do this: Combine cup miso, cup sugar, and cup mirin (or 2 tablespoons honey mixed with 2 tablespoons water) or sake (white wine or even water is okay too) in a small saucepan. Bring almost to a boil to dissolve the sugar, then just keep warm until ready to serve.

Ten-Minute Juicy Drizzle Sauce

Almost any high-quality juice works heretry carrot, tomato, orange, or pomegranate, for example. Omit the lemon juice and water. In Step 2, stir in 1 cup fruit or vegetable juice instead. Bring the mixture to a boil and adjust the heat so it bubbles steadily. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the juice reduces by half and thickens almost to a syrup, about 5 minutes. Add herbs (see the first variation) if you like and serve.

5 Other Super-Fast Sauces Or Condiments

Fresh Tomato or Fruit Salsa

Salsa Fresca Or Pico De Gallo

Makes: About 2 cups

Baking Time: 15 minutes

Salsa fresca (also known as pico de gallo or, in Mexico, salsa mexicana ) is fast, tasty, useful, and simple. It's fantastic with chips or grilled meat or fish but also simply cooked grains, eggs, and veggies. And if you double the recipe, you can serve this like a chunky gazpacho and eat it with a spoon.

To take this in an unusual direction, replace the tomatoes with a couple cups of fruit: Apples (especially tart green ones), peaches, pears, and plums are the obvious choices, but seeded grapes, pineapple, orange or grapefruit segments, and even cherries or berries are all wonderful.

2 large ripe fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped (about 1 cups)

large white onion or 3 or 4 scallions, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic, or to taste

Minced fresh chile (like jalapeo, Thai, or less of habanero) or hot red pepper flakes or cayenne, to taste

cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley leaves

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine everything but the salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

If possible, let the flavors develop for 15 minutes or so before serving, but by all means serve within a couple of hours.