Odd Flavor Sauce

Before you ask, I don’t know what makes this sauce odd flavored or why it’s called odd flavored. All I know for sure is the sauce tastes good on the lamb burgers I made last night, which is what I was going for. You can use it on any protien. I have also used it on pasta and rice. Just add a little at a time, it is very strong flavored and too much can overwhelm whatever you are using it on.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

From Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes

3 TBS soy sauce

2 TBS tahini or almond or peanut butter

1 TBS Chinkiang vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 TBS sesame oil

2 tsp sugar

1/4 kosher

3 TBS oil

1 scallion, chopped

1TBS minced fresh ginger

1large clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp chili flakes

1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, crushed

Combine  the soy sauce, tahini, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and salt in a small, heat proof bowl, mix together until well combined. 

Heat a small skillet over medium heat, add oil and heat until the oil shimmers.  Toss in the scallion, ginger, garlic, chili flakes, and peppercorns.  Immediately remove from the heat and stir for 10 seconds, until the scallion and everything smells toasted,  Pour the oil and scallion, ginger, garlic mixture into the tahini mixture and stir until combined. Once cool store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Nuoc Cham AKA Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

I spent two days trying to get a decent picture of this sauce but they all turned out kind of yucky looking so I decided to post without a picture. I don’t want you to pass by this recipe because the picture looks like muddy water. This sauce is really good. I made it as part of a breakfast recipe I will post soon. The breakfast recipe tasted okay. It wasn’t something that I would have put in my regular breakfast rotation. When I doused the sausage patties in this sauce like the recipe suggested the sausage patties went from just okay to FREAKING AMAZING!!!!!! I can’t wait to try this sauce on other things and see what it does for them.

I did some research into what else this sauce might go with and found the following things go well with this sauce.

1. lettuce
2. shredded carrot
3. cucumber
4. shredded cabbage
5. sweet green bell peppers
6. grilled chicken, pork or beef
7. grilled or poached shrimp
8. sliced red onion or shallots
9. scallions
10. cilantro
11. Thai basil (regular basil can be substituted if you can’t find Thai basil
12. mint
13. Birds eye chilies
14. noodles or salads

I will be playing around with this sauce for a long time.

Nuoc Cham

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes

1/4 Cup fish sauce

2 TBS water

2. TBS lime juice

1 TBS brown sugar

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp sambal oelek

In small jar, combine all the ingredients and shake until mixes. If necessary, thin with a little water. If you like things spicy, add a little more sambal oelek.

Chic-fil-a Sauce (Whole 30)

Today I thought I would share something with you that is making me very happy, in hope, that it would make you very happy too. Meet the newest member of my flock, Ella Rose. She is a cockatiel who joined our flock 10 days ago.

Like Pepper, the parakeet who joined the flock a few weeks ago, Ella is very young. Unlike Pepper, Ella is not afraid of me. Except for the very brief, where the hell I am I fear she showed the day I brought her home, she hasn’t been afraid of anywhere I have taken her or anything I have asked her to do.

My male cockatiel, Beau, has become Ella’s fierce protector. I don’t know if this is because Ella is young or if it is because Beau thinks Ella is his mate. All I know is it is hilarious to watch Beau flip his lid when he doesn’t like something I am doing with or to Ella, like scratching her neck feathers. Beau tries to chase Ella away from me, when that doesn’t work because Ella likes getting her neck feather scratched. Then Beau tries to chase me away so I just stop which doesn’t work because Beau is not the boss of me, he stomps off in a huff and does the bird equivalent of pout.  It’s just so dang funny,

On to today’s recipe,  Chic-fil-a is probably my favorite fast food place.  Before Covid, I used to stop there after work on the last day of my work week and treat myself to a grilled chicken club and large waffle fries before doing my grocery shopping for the week.   Since I can’t do that anymore and don’t know when I will be able to again,  I have been looking for suitable replacements I can make at home.  While the stuff I make at home won’t be exactly the same as what I get at the restaurant, it is dang close, and still very delicious.  Today I have a the sauce recipe for you.  My next recipe will give you a Chic-fil-a grilled chicken recipe to use it on.  Although, sauce is very good on many things.  I have used it as a spread for chicken burgers, a salad dressing and mixed it into my tuna salad instead of plain mayo.  I am sure you will be able to come up with ideas as well.  Enjoy.

Chic-fil-a Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Grass Fed Salsa

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 TBS yellow mustard

2 TBS BBQ Sauce

1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp coconut aminos

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well Use a sandwich or spread or as the dressing for a salad.

Wing Sauces, 2 Ways

Today is the first day I have actually felt like eating all week so I decided to make one of my favorite things ever, air fryer chicken wings.

I usually just season them with magic mushroom powder or plain salt and pepper and eat them straight out of the air fryer, no sauce needed.

Today I was feeling extra so I made, not one but two, wing sauces. Both sauces take things you already have around the house and only take as long to make as it takes to melt the butter or ghee. Seriously, they are done in under 2 minutes.

Garlic Parmesan Wing Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Delish

2 TBS melted butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp parsley, minced

3 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Toss your cooked wings with the sauce and enjoy.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Sauce (Whole 30)

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Inspired Taste

2 TBS melted ghee, use regular butter if not Whole 30

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 1/2 TBS Frank’s hot sauce

In a small saucepan, melt the ghee. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well and heat through. Toss your cooked wings with the sauce and enjoy.

What to Do With Leftover Egg Yolks #3 Hollandaise Sauce

There are a lot of things I wonder why people buy instead of making themselves, things like spaghetti sauce, iced tea, hard boiled eggs, gravy, bread and about a million other things. There is one thing, however, I never thought twice about buying instead of making myself. I always buy those little chemical laden packets of hollandaise sauce mix.

I think I was reluctant to try making homemade Hollandaise sauce because I watched too many you tube videos that showed chefs making Hollandaise sauce with double boilers or blenders and that is just too many dishes to wash for this solitary cook.

After a lot of researching, I finally found a recipe that only required a saucepan, whisk and the ability to concentrate on a task from beginning to end. Once you start making the sauce you don’t want to leave it or it will curdle beyond saving. Fortunately, for those of us with short attention spans, the sauce only takes about 5 minutes to come together.

Hollandaise Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Ingredients
3 egg yolks
2 TBS water
pinch of salt
6 TBS butter, softened
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
pinch cayenne pepper
Put the egg yolks, water and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over very low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until light, foamy, and slightly thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter 1 tablespoons at a time. Return to the heat and continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and bright yellow. Add lemon juice then taste and adjust the seasoning. About half a cup of sauce

If the yolks begin to curdle, remove from the heat and continue to whisk for a minute before returning the pan to the heat.