Favorite Sauces

[Grissim Connery]

I read some of that giant pesto thread and it was enticing. I made a peanut/ginger/lime/etc. tai sauce last night that made my day. What are your guys fave sauces (please include ingredients). I find that it's hard to find an intense sauce that doesn't contain at least one nightshade, nut, or dairy element. Any good options that have none of these or just 1? Preferably non-dairy.

[Tony Ferous]

Mustard! Check for sodium content though. And wheat if your adverse...

[Gittit Shwartz]

Tahini! Just posted this on another thread but here it is again:

Traditional tahini sauce (dressing for salad and grilled meat):
Mix 1 part tahini with 1 part lemon juice and cold water combined, and salt to taste. At first as you mix it it will oddly seem to start getting thicker. Keep mixing until it smooths out.
Even better: put the above ingredients in a blender with a clove of garlic, parsley, cilantro and mint.

Tahini is sesame seed paste. You can do the same with almond butter, but it won't be as intense.

[Scott Kustes]

Gittit, so 1 part tahini and a half part each of lemon juice and water?

[Gittit Shwartz]

Scott, the basic formula for sauce consistency is one part tahini to one part liquid, 1/4-1/3 of which should be lemon juice. So for example, 1 cup tahini, juice from 1 lemon, 3/4 cup water. You can also make it thicker for dipping/spreading.

Link to some more delicious ways to use tahini and the secret to Ido's superpowers:
http://www.cathletics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3054

[Garrett Smith]

My favorite sauce of the moment:

1 heaping tablespoon almond butter
1 heaping tablespoon brown miso
1 heaping teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
Splash(-es) of wheat-free tamari, to taste
Lime juice to thin sauce to desirable consistency

Always add anything with miso or tamari at the end of cooking, in an attempt to preserve the probiotics. It's also best to add garlic at the end as well. Remember that the sauce will "thin out" in the heat, so you can leave it a bit thicker before it gets stirred in. If you need more sauce, the easiest thing is to simply add more miso.

I get the almond butter, crushed garlic, and crushed ginger at TJ's, everything else is from Whole Foods.

I've been using this on grassfed ground beef and broccoli dishes lately. Man, it is really good.

If I had the time, I'd totally do a cooking blog.

[Darryl Shaw]

Pistou is nice; it's the French version of pesto and is made by pounding together garlic and basil in olive oil to make a thick paste. Pesto is good too as long as you leave out the Parmesan.

http://www.epicureantable.com/articles/apistpest.htm

[Xuan Mai Ho]

I make a similiar sauce to Garrett's except I use Tahini instead of the almond butter and leave out the tamari and lime juice.

To thin it, I usually use just a little bit of hot water. I use it to top steamed broccoli or steamed greens.

[Frank Needham]

Real mayo and heavy whipping cream as a base, then add any flavoring or seasoning you like. Addition could be any of the following: horseradish, wasabi, mustard, tomatoe concentrate, dried onion soup, etc, etc. Dipped steak in mayo/cream last night it was way good.

[Craig Brown]

1 part Ponzu Sauce
1 part rice vinegar
Sambal Olek (or shriracha or other chili sauce) to taste.

This is a killer dipping sauce, stir fry sauce, meat marinade...