HOT! sauces – habanero, jalapeno

Wine Sauce for baking:

Grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 cup wine or 1/4 cup sherry,1/3 cup sugar, 2 eggs
Mix lemon, wine, sugar and yolks of eggs, stir vigorously over heat until the mixture thickens. Use a wire whisk and you might want to use a double boiler. Pour onto the whites of eggs beaten stiff. Serve with puddings or cakes. Very good used in a layered Mandel torte.

Zwiebelsauce – Onion Sauce

Melt 1 Tbs. of butter with 1 Tbs. of Olive oil. Chop up a few nice onions, fry till golden brown. Add some brown sugar and stir some more, add some water, one cup of chicken stock (or milk), one bay leaf, paprika, salt and pepper (I always use fresh peppercorns). Keep stirring, then add a touch of wine vinegar or lemon juice. Throw in a chunk of dark bread — crust cut off. Allow to boil up, then pass through a sieve. Serve over meat.

To make a thicker Brown add some flour to the butter first, then add the onion. 2 Tbs. butter — no oil. On all of these you can add a few drops of Maggi (I would love to figure out the ingredients — quite different from Worcester Sauce.) It can also be seasoned with a dash of white wine.

Chives, and a touch of horseradish, mustard and sour cream make a wonderful Russian Sauce.
Same process, 2 Tbs. butter, flour, less onions, add 1 cup beef stock instead and seasonings. Then the chives (or shallots), mustard and horseradish. Cook carefully over a hot but not boiling heat for a few minutes. Strain, add sour cream and a squirt of lemon juice. Allow to boil up and remove from heat.

Other variations include a generous addition of dill and yogurt is substituted for the sour cream.
Chives or Schnittlauch Sauce can also be used to augment or change the onion sauce.

I also love to make a Mushroom sauce.
Clean and slice a half a pound of mushrooms ( I like the brown mushrooms and use the stalks). Melt 1 Tbs. of butter and 1 Tbs. of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over fairly high heat. Add one chopped up onion and one garlic, brown. Add the mushrooms, a pinch of caraway or dill, salt and pepper and a dash of paprika. Drench with half a lemon and keep stirring. Add 2 Tbs. flour mix well, and some clear chicken stock (some add a sweet wine), simmer some ten minutes more then add sour cream to thicken. Do not boil.

For other recipes check out the Mushroom Soup Page

Raisin and Wine Sauce 
One of my mother’s favorites.

Soak 1/2 cup of raisins (for some reason we always used golden) overnight in half a cup of water and 2/3 cup wine. White wine for golden, burgundy for black raisins. Sift in 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp. dry mustard. 1 Tb’s. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp cloves (or five whole cloves — to be later removed) into saucepan. Slowly add the liquid strained from the raisins plus 1/4 C. cider vinegar and  a two inch piece of cinnamon bark. Gently boil for five minutes, stirring as you go — about five minutes or until thickened. Remove cinnamon and raisins and cloves. Great for Ham or pork dishes.

Raspberry Wine Sauce

1 bottle of a good Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon or other red wine.
12 ounces of raspberries, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp freshly ground sugar.

In a large saucepan combine the wine, sugar, berries and pepper. Bring to a vigorous boil and cook until only two cups remain. About 30 minutes of boiling. As the sauce thickens, stir with a spoon to prevent scorching. Strain the liquid through a sieve to remove any seeds. Refrigerate for a few hours before using. Black cap raspberries or wild blackberries make for an equally scrumptious sauce.  Use over tarts or over salads and even chicken or fish.

Another good sauce for Chicken:
Chop up a few onions with one inch of sliced and peeled ginger, 4 garlic cloves and heat in butter and oil, fry until brown — do not burn the garlic — usually 3- 4 minutes. Add 2 tsp coriander seed, 2 tsp cumin seed, 2 tsp curry, 1/2/ tsp turmeric for color and 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper. Slowly stir in the yogurt. This usually is the backbone for cooking a chicken within, adding tomatoes and other vegetables.
Check out Chicken satsiva orGeorgian Tkemali Chicken
But in can also be processed and strained to make a nice top dressing as well.

Pepper Sauce With Garlic: and for four people you’ll need:

1 TB olive oil
3 TB chopped shallots
1 tsp fresh chopped garlic
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup beef consomme
1 TB green peppercorns
1 TB Dijon mustard

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan until it’s hot. Cook the shallots and garlic for 1 minute. Strain off the oil and add your white wine and simmer one minute. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 5 minutes. The longer you let it simmer, the thicker it will get.

Die hard mushrooms fans: next time you’re cooking on the grill, buy a portabella mushroom. Remove the stem and grill with the steak. Slice it into strips and serve with your steak and this Pepper Sauce and a full-bodied red wine. 

Raspberry Wine Sauce

1 bottle of a good Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon or other red wine.
12 ounces of raspberries, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp freshly ground sugar.

In a large saucepan combine the wine, sugar, berries and pepper. Bring to a vigorous boil and cook until only two cups remain. About 30 minutes of boiling. As the sauce thickens, stir with a spoon to prevent scorching. Strain the liquid through a sieve to remove any seeds. Refrigerate for a few hours before using. Black cap raspberries or wild blackberries make for an equally scrumptious sauce. Use over tarts or over salads and even chicken or fish.

Russian Sauce
3 Tb’s. butter
2 Tb’s. flour
1 cup beef stock
salt and peppercorns
1/2 tsp. chives chopped
1/2 tsp. mustard, prepared
1 Tb’s. horseradish
1/4 cup cream 1 tsp. lemon juice   

Melt the butter, add flour slowly. Do not brown, gradually add the beef stock (or 1-2 bouillon cubes dissolved in boiling water). Stir in seasonings, (fresh peppercorns crushed) chives, mustard and horseradish. Cook  for a few minutes, then strain. Try to be just ahead of serving, add the cream and lemon juice and bring to a short boil. Reduce the heat but keep the sauce warm.Other additions making a different taste would be parsley or garlic or a bit of paprika instead of the horseradish.

I simply have to end with Senf sauce or Mustard Sauce.

Basically you make a simple butter sauce adding a small onion, chopped , 1 Tb’s. vinegar some sugar and salt and pepper. Then throw in 4 Tbs. of prepared mustard.  This needs to be cooked of course. The butter sauce is made of flour browned in butter over medium heat. One adds water, stirring constantly. Season as you see fit. 3 Tbs. flour, 4 Tb’s. butter, up to 2 cups water.

Of my neighbor who has since passed away, it was said “If there is such a thing as reincarnation, then I’d like to come back either as a light bulb in a tanning booth, or as one of Art’s horses.” I agree, though I’m not sure with which choice. He even gave them hot foot baths in the winter!