I needed a sauce to go with my chicken satay. While I made a peanut sauce for my Vietnamese Summer Rolls, I wanted this one to be more Indonesian. Out went the hoisin sauce and the fish sauce. Palm sugar is a common Indonesian sweetener—and is lower on the glycemic index than white sugar. I also had that fresh pineapple I was planning to grill, so in it went.
Karl’s California Fusion Peanut Sauce
Filed under California Fusion, Sauces and Spices, Vegan, Vegetarian
Miriam bought me some really good balsamic vinegar and I decided that I would use it for my Fourth of July dinner. Actually, she bought me two bottles, some Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia (the really good stuff—“do not use this in a salad dressing!”) and some BalsaMela, a Balsamic apple vinegar. I decided to use the second vinegar to dress my bean medley.
Karl’s Green and Wax Bean Medley
Filed under Sauces and Spices, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
I decided to experiment with pickled green pepper (Piper nigrum ). This is a new spice for my family, so I plan to go cautiously. When I did my surf and turf for Miriam’s birthday I discovered just how good a tri-tip could be with simply salt and pepper.
Karl’s Salt and Pepper Tri-tip
with Green Pepper Sauce
Filed under Barbeque, Beef, California Fusion, Holidays, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
Jan and I were watching a BBC documentary series called The Spice Trail, detailing the sources, history and uses of six common spices. One of the spices detailed was black pepper. It turns out that the ornamental pepper trees of my youth have nothing to do with the spice on the table.
Karl’s Green Pepper Sauce
Filed under California Fusion, Sauces and Spices, Vegetarian
More than forty years ago, I visited my second cousins in “Pleasant Valley,” Arizona. While I was there I had one of the most memorable meals of my life, biscuits and beef jerky gravy served with a side of fresh pinto beans. While biscuits and gravy is a standard Southern/Western dish, I have never had—before or since—as good as I had that day.
Karl’s Biscuits and Beef Jerky Gravy
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Sauces and Spices
I wanted something a bit different to go with my latkes Monday night. Jan made a Drambuie sauce to go with the mousse she made for Father’s Day. I thought it made for a very tasty sauce and that it would complement the flavor of pears very nicely. Most of the alcohol in this sauce will cook off, leaving only the sweet flavor.
Karl’s Drambuie Pear Sauce
Filed under Breakfast, California Fusion, Desserts & Treats, Sauces and Spices, Treats, Vegan, Vegetarian
Adapted from a Food Floozie recipe
Jan wanted a sweet sauce to go with her low-sugar chocolate mousse.
Jan’s Low Sugar Chocolate Mousse
with Drambuie Butterscotch Sauce
Filed under Desserts & Treats, Sauces and Spices, Treats
It’s Father’s Day and I get to make what I like. This means barbecued lamb. Like for my birthday, I decided I would go Moroccan.
Karl’s Moroccan Ras el Hanout Barbecued Lamb
Filed under Lamb, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
I made a tajine for my Father’s Day dinner to go with my Moroccan lamb. I had a zucchini on my counter that I wanted to use before it spoiled, but I thought that a soft squash like this would not stand up to the long cooking time of a tajine. I decided it would be much better barbecued separately. Since I had already blended Ras el Hanout for the lamb it seemed an obvious spicing.
Karl’s Zucchini Ras el Hanout
Filed under Barbeque, Sauces and Spices, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
I have made the Moroccan spice blend Ras el Hanout before. For this Father’s Day, I wanted a Moroccan blend that was just a little bit simpler than 29 ingredients. Looking at my old recipe, I cut out the more obscure spices and adjusted the quantities. To be called a Ras el Hanout the blend should have at least these eleven spices: allspice, black pepper, cardamom, cayenne pepper, cloves, coriander seeds, ginger, mace, nutmeg, turmeric, and white pepper. The quantities of each spice vary widely between blends I have found.
Karl’s Moroccan Spice Mix II (another “Ras el Hanout”)
Filed under Sauces and Spices, Vegan, Vegetarian
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 