Yum's yum Burger and Fry Sauce

Soooo YUM 

3 HEAPING TBS mayonnaise

3TBS gochujang sauce

1/2 TBS rice whine vinegar

1/2 TBS soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic (Jarlic)

2 cracks each salt and pepper

Symona's Enchalada Sauce & Spanish Rice

Put about 4 1/2 cups of water onto stove in a medium sized pot.  Turn heat to high to boil water.  

De-seed the dried peppers.  In a another bigger frying pan, toast the peppers, letting each side get dark.  Flip to other side and repeat.  

3 Ancho Peppers

4 New Mexico Peppers

3 Chile de Arbol peppers

Put toasted peppers into a big bowl.  Pour hot water on top of peppers to re-hydrate.  Should be about 4 cups of water poured into big bowl.  Let sit for 20ish minutes.  

In the same bigger frying pan that you used to cook the peppers, saute 1 medium onion in a few TBSP of vegetable oil.  After a few minutes of cooking the onion, add a few cloves of garlic.  Don't add the garlic too early or else it will burn.  Saute together until onions are translucent and cooked.  

Put the cooked onions and garlic into large blender.  Add the rehydrated peppers and 4 cups of hot water the peppers were re-hydrating in.  

Add 1 tsp salt

Add 1 cap full of distilled vinegar

Blend mixture for a minute or two to get enchilada sauce.  

*to make Spanish rice, use 3 parts chicken broth and 1 part enchilada sauce.  For example, 1 1/2 C chicken broth, 1/2 c enchilada sauce, then add the 1 cup rice and cook 20 minutes.   

Orange Dipping Sauce (for Coconut Shrimp & Spring Rolls)

 

1/2 c orange marmalade

1/4 c honey

1/4 c dijon mustard

4 drops hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

Mix orange marmalade, honey, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce in a bowl. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until serving time.

All Recipes

Mixed Berry Sauce

I made this sauce and put it over Valentines Day heart pancakes.  Its not too sweet and so delicious. You could put it over just about anything-granola, cheesecake, yogurt, pancakes, etc.  



2 c frozen berries
1/3 c sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
zest of one lemon
pinch of salt
1 tbs cornstarch

Combine all ingredients into a medium pot.  Set heat to medium high heat.  Bring mixture to a boil until desired thickness.  Enjoy!


Picture and Recipe Source: To Die For Recipes

Fish Taco Sauce

Thee best fish tacos I ever had was in Hawaii at a friends home.  Her husband Scott had just caught fresh ahi and fried it up with a little olive oil and pepper in a frying pan (no salt).  He said the biggest mistake people make when making fish is over-salting.  Serve fish with corn tortillas, chopped cabbage and this amazing dressing.  Cheryl makes the dressing to taste, so experiment!

All ingredients are to taste.

mayo-2 cups
lime zest-3 to 4 limes (maybe 3)
lime juice-4-5 limes (maybe 3-4)
cajun seasoning-1 to 2 tsp
minced garlic-2 tsp?
tobassco sauce- 1/2 to 1 tsp

Mix together.


Recipe Source: Cheryl Z in Hawaii

Yummy Alfredo Sauce

1/4 c butter
4 oz cream cheese

In a medium sauce pan, melt above ingredients and add 2-3 TBSP flour to thicken.  Cook for 1 minute or so oner medium heat.

Add and stir:
2-3 c milk (can use half cream and half milk if desired)

Add and stir:
1/2-3/4 c parmesan cheese

Add and stir:
garlic powder and salt to taste

Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat, stirring until thick and bubbly.  Delicious served over pasta and with blackened chicken.

Recipe Source: My SIL Charity
Photo Source: Tasty Kitchen

Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

One thing I am learning in the cooking world is that making your own sauces is not as hard as I originally thought it was AND its also tastes WAYYY better than anything you can find in a bottle (from my experience).  You also cut out all of the extra unnecessary preservatives.  Yes, it does take more time to stir together 3 ingredients than it does to open a bottle, but the money AND taste savings are well worth it.  I hope to be able to find more stir fry sauce recipes and will post them here.  For now, this is one that my kids love (because its sweet) and oh so easy.



Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar


Mix all ingredients and cook with stir fry veggies.  This sauce is thin and sweet.  You can double, triple, etc the amounts as needed.


Recipe Source:  Recipezaar.com
Picture Source: Stir Fry Sauces

Chicken Souvlaki

Huge Greek fans at this house.  I have another Greek chicken recipe on this blog (click on the "Main Dishes: Greek" tab to the right of the screen to view it).  This recipe is similar, but I like a little variety every once in awhile.  We buy Naan flatbread at Costco and I also whip up some tzatziki sauce.  Add fresh tomatoes, onions and cucumbers.  My kids love this meal, but they prefer to eat everything separate and leave off the sauce.  Easy Peasy!


(I doubled the recipe below for my family and we had plenty of leftovers)
Chicken Souvlaki

1 TBS + 1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
10 oz boneless chicken breast, cut into strips


Prepare marinade and add to chicken.  Let sit at least 15 minutes in fridge (I like to do the prep work in the morning and let it sit in the fridge until I am ready to grill that evening).  Thread chicken on skewers and grill chicken over hot coals or on a broiler pan (I grill them) 4-5 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  Turn frequently (if I am running short on time, I don't do the skewers and just grill).

Top with tzatziki sauce:


Tzatziki sauce: Yield 1 ½ Cups
-make a few hours ahead of time so the flavors have time to mix

16 ounces plain yogurt (the brand "Mountain High" works really well because it is thick)
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
pinch kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 TBS olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
5-6 mint leaves, finely minced (optional)

Recipe Source:  My Sister in law Heather (I think)
Picture Source: Closet Cooking

Cranberry Salsa

My friend Jodi and I recently threw a baby shower for our friend Angie.  Since its Christmas time, we had the theme "Santa Baby" which turned out adorable!  One food item we had was this delicious cranberry salsa.  Jodi made the snowman out of cream cheese, rolled into balls and put the cranberry salsa around the edge of the plate.  She put the crackers on another plate next to the snowman and salsa.  It was easy and so delicious.  


D. Family Cranberry Salsa:

Bag of Whole cranberries

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

1-2 Jalapenos diced (start with one, add more if needed)

1 bunch cilantro 

6-8 green onions

1 t cumin (I always use 1 Tablespoon)

Up to 1 cup sugar (to taste)

8 oz cream cheese

boil whole cranberries until they pop open

dice jalapenos, cilantro, and green onions together in blender

put the boiled cranberries, canned cranberries, and mixed greens in a bowl.  Add cumin and sugar to taste.  Mix well.

Pour over block of cream cheese.

Serve with crackers

Source: Jodi D.

Top Picture Source :Whats Cooking America

Snowman Picture Source : Six Sisters Stuff

Homemade Pizza Sauce

throw in a bunch of fresh basil and this sauce is soooo good!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• Pinch of crushed red pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until desired consistency. I leave mine slightly chunky. You can adjust the seasonings to taste. This recipe is open to interpretation. Use what you like and it will be delicious.

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Photo Source: I Am Simply Tia

Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Ok, so my husband and I are HUGE Greek food fans. We loved going to the Greek festival when we lived in Salt Lake City. We moved to Henderson and found a cute little Greek Cafe called "Manna Mediterranean" off of Gibson and American Pacific. We loved going there, but to pay $7.00 for a gyro was just getting too expensive for us being poor medical students. I went home and found this recipe from the Foodnetwork. It is usually made with lamb, but I didn't know where to find specialty meats so I improvised and used ground turkey. It worked just as well, was cheaper and still tasted GREAT! This dish is yummy served with Greek Cucumber Salad too.

Gyro Meat with Tzatziki Sauce
1 medium onion, finely chopped or shredded
2 lbs ground lamb (ground turkey works well too)
1 TBS finely minced garlic
1 TBS dried marjoram
1 TBS dried ground rosemary
2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Gyro Meat:
1. Process the onion in a food processor for 10 to 15 seconds. If there is any juice from the onion, drain and discard. Return the onion to the food processor and add the lamb, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper and process until it is a fine paste, approximately 1 minute. Stop the processor as needed to scrape down sides of bowl. It also works, although not as authentic, to mix thoroughly all ingredients with hands in a mixing bowl.

2. *Press meat mixture firmly the into bottom of a wide pan. Place lid on pan and turn stove to medium heat. Let meat cook for a few minutes, so the meat cooks together and is not crumbly. Using a spatula, cut the meat into bigger pieces and turn over. The meat is done when the juices run clear, about 10 minutes or so. Serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, lettuce, tomatoes and feta cheese.

*Note*This way of cooking the meat was easier than the directions given from the Foodnetwork. If desired, here is the link to the Original Source at The Foodnetwork for their directions.


Tzatziki sauce: Yield 1 ½ Cups
-make a few hours ahead of time so the flavors have time to mix

16 ounces plain yogurt (the brand "Mountain High" works really well because it is thick)
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
pinch kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 TBS olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
5-6 mint leaves, finely minced (optional)


1  . Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.



Other Ingredients to Make the Gyro Complete:
Mediterranean pita bread (I found this at The Sunflower Farmers Market)
tomatoes, sliced
onions, sliced in rings
lettuce, shredded
feta cheese


Photo Source: Oasis Restaurant