Artichoke Mushroom Cream Sauce

Doug and I made this for farfalle pasta with a little Tyson grilled and ready strips on the top. It was very flavorful and simple to make. And yes, I seem to be expanding my mushroom palate even more lately. I know. Be proud. :-) 

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/3 cup (about 3 oz) mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine or sherry
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3-4 oz artichoke hearts, either frozen and defrosted or marinated in water
• 3 tsp capers
• dash of garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Sauté mushrooms in butter until soft. Add wine and stir. Add broth, sour cream, and artichokes. Reduce by half (until the sauce coats the back of the spoon). Remove from heat and add capers. Season to taste.

NOTES: Doug and I ended up not adding any garlic (gasp!), salt, or pepper and it tasted great. If you decide to use this over meat like chicken or veal, you may want to sauté the meat in the pan first, remove it, and then cook the sauce in the same pan. It will help incorporate all the meat bits.

Also, apologies, I didn't really pay attention to how long this recipe takes so I'm gonna make some estimates below. 

Serves 2 (with 12 oz of farfalle pasta)

Total Time: 15 minutes

Recipe from the kitchen of Mom and Dad!

Vodka Cream Tomato Sauce

I love a good vodka cream sauce for my pasta. This one was ok, however, I don't know if it was worth the effort of making it versus buying it premade (sorry!). Sure, it's nice to try homemade once in a while, but I didn't think it was as flavorful as others I've had that are store-bought. Maybe you have ideas on how to improve and I'm open to them. Let me know! 

• 1/2 cup diced white onions
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• dash of red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put onions and garlic on parchment-lined baking pan. Moisten with olive oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Cook about 15 minutes, or until softened.

Place drained tomatoes, onions, garlic, and basil in blender. Blend until smooth. 

Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Add tomato mixture and cook 5 minutes. Add cream and vodka. Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add parmesan. Stir till creamy. Adjust seasoning with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Serve over mushroom or seafood ravioli.

Makes about 2 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Recipe from the kitchen of Mom!

Lemon Caper Sauce

We used this sauce on plain old pasta and topped it with garlic and herb shrimp sauté. It was amazing and I would definitely recommend. All pieces of that recipe were so quick to make.   

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp capers, drained
• 1 tsp finely chopped parsley
• kosher salt to taste 

Melt the butter in a small skillet or over low heat. Add the garlic, lemon juice, and capers. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking over low heat for about 30 seconds. Add the chopped fresh parsley and salt to taste. Stir and remove from heat. Immediately drizzle over cooked shrimp, fish, chicken, pasta, or potatoes. 

NOTE: I tried making extra and freezing it in a mason jar. When I thawed it months later, it looked...weird. Like it somehow got moldy. In the freezer?

Serves 2

Total Time: 5 minutes

Recipe from SauceFanatic.com

Copycat Rubio's Chipotle Cream Sauce

I used to have this as part of my Mexican Street Corn Bowl recipe but I look it up so much on its own that I figured I should separate it into its own post. I use this stuff on so many different things: frozen taquitos, burgers, and of course, my Rubio's copycat recipes. 

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 - 1 Tbsp pureed chipotle chiles (the more you add, the spicier it gets)
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together in a bowl to combine. Store refrigerated in a sealed container for weeks. 

Makes 1 cup of sauce

Recipe from www.food.com

Avocado Crema

I found this recipe when attempting to make homemade chicken taquitos. Based on a dish our family had at a local restaurant, we thought this might be a close approximation. The sauce ended up being really good and the boys used it as a dip and drizzle for other things (burgers, rice, etc.).

• 1 large avocado, ripe
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• pinch of black pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth and creamy with no lumps. Taste and add additional seasoning if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Makes 1 cup

Total Time: 5 minutes

Recipe from EasySauceRecipes.com

Kalamata Olive Dip

I've been asked (ok, it was demanded) by my husband to post this recipe now, even though it's not its turn in the queue yet. So, here goes: There's a local restaurant called House of Juju. They have the most wonderfully delicious burgers. For a lot of people it's hard to pick which one to try when they first visit (I'd recommend the sliders so you can taste a few of them). My personal favorite is the Athena. Anyway, as a side to their burgers you can get their roasted potatoes and dipping sauces. They have a phenomenal kalamata dipping sauce for the potatoes and I was able to find a recipe online that is a pretty close copy-cat of it. Enjoy!

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, drain any juice
• 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped or minced
• pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a small blender. Pulse ingredients until combined. Store in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Makes about 1 cup

Total Time: 5 minutes

Recipe from www.TheWholeSmiths.com

Blenda Hollandaise Sauce

Couple things I'll start by saying: I have no idea who or what "Blenda" is. I keep wondering if my mom meant to write "Brenda" or "Blender" and got distracted? I'll ask next time I talk to her. Also, other thing: I've actually posted this recipe before but it was as part of another larger recipe. I like to split things like sauces or seasoning mixes from their original recipes so that it's easier to find when I want it for something else. I'll go back and update that recipe later. 

Why do we call it Hollandaise Sauce? Thank you Google for finding the answer. What's Cooking America has an entire section on sauce history. Here's their bit about Hollandaise Sauce:

History - Most historians agree that it was originally called Sauce Isigny after a town in Normandy, Isigny-sur-Mer, know for its butter. Today, Normandy is called the cream capital of France. During WWI, butter production came to a halt in France and had to be imported from Holland. The name was changed to Hollandaise to indicate the source of the butter and was never changed back. 

17th Century – Sauce Hollandaise, as we now know it, is also the modern descendant of earlier forms of a sauce believed to have been brought to France by the Heugenots.  It appears to have actually been a Flemish or Dutch sauce thickened with eggs, like a savory custard, with a little butter beaten in to smooth the texture.

So there you have it. A little history lesson with your cooking. 

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• dash of pepper
• 1 stick of margarine (use butter or canola-type margarine)

In a blender blend egg yolks, lemon juice, and pepper. Add melted butter while hot. Blend as you add for about 30 seconds. To reheat, use double boiler and don't overheat. 

Recipe from Kitchen of Mom

Jalapeno Ranch

Use this topping on your salads, tacos, or for dipping! It goes great with this recipe Shrimp Fajitas with Jalapeno Ranch

• 1 cup sour cream
  
• 4 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (about 2 Tbsp)
• 2 tsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Combine all dressing ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, blender, or magic bullet and blend until creamy and smooth.  

Total Time: 5 minutes

Recipe from 
natashaskitchen.com

Rémoulade Sauce

In the past, when I've ordered crab cakes at a restaurant, I feel like a lot of it comes down to the sauce that is served with it. I've never known what that sauce was called, but knew I wanted some with my first attempt to make crab cakes. So what did I do? I went on Pinterest and searched "crab cake sauce." All responses pointed to rémoulade.

What the heck is rémoulade? It's a French word, for one, and it's pronounced ray-moo-laud (emphasis on the last syllable). In the United States, many of the recipes are influenced by the Creole culture, but there are a lot of variations to the recipe. I chose the one that sounded the best on paper. I think I made a pretty dang good choice.

• 1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup mustard (Creole flavored, if possible)
• 1 Tbsp sweet paprika
• 1-2 tsp Cajun or Creole seasoning
• 2 tsp prepared horseradish
• 1 tsp pickle juice (dill or sweet, your preference)
• 1 tsp hot sauce (preferably Tabasco)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced and smashed

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. The rémoulade is better if left for a few hours to let the flavors meld. Keep refrigerated.

NOTES: I have no idea what Creole flavored mustard is. We just used Dijon, I think. Or Spicy Brown. Can't remember. Anyway, Doug also found that this sauce is delicious with corn dogs. Go figure.

Makes about 1 1/1 cups

Recipe from www.simplyrecipes.com