Chinese Style Duck Sauce

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There are many Chinese Duck Sauce recipes online and in cookbooks; many of them include an equal amount of Chinese Plum Sauce to the fruit jam. This version omits the plum sauce and suits my taste: complex, fruity, and tangy with a hint of heat, but without the weird artificial coloring you get in the packets of take-out Chinese duck sauce. Play with this basic recipe until you have the version you like. It makes a great dipping sauce for chicken wings, fried spring rolls, or egg rolls. Mix it 50/50 with Bourbon Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce for a terrific basting sauce for barbecue ribs. Give it a try.

Homemade Chinese Style Duck Sauce

Ingredients:
 • ¾ cup apricot jam (or peach jam)
• 4 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger (or grated)
• a pinch of cayenne powder (optional, to taste)

Preparation:
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a small food processor and pulse a few times until you have the consistency you desire.
2. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving so the flavors can meld.
3. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
4. Will keep in an airtight glass container in your refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Avocado Pickles →

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Who doesn’t love the delicious, creamy, umami-goodness of avocado? In addition to being wonderful and satisfying to eat, avocados are also a nutritious source of vitamins and healthy fats for your diet. More than a distinctive flavor, it is the creaminess of avocados and how they complement many other more flavorful foods that makes them so appealing, so when I saw this recipe for Avocado Pickles on the Delish.com website, I knew I had to try it. The brilliance of the recipe is while maintaining the creamy avocado texture, the pickling process also maintains the pretty pale avocado green color, and brings all 5 Tastes flavor to the fruit slices making them delicious additions to salads and creamy-tangy garnishes for many appetizers. If you’re an avocado aficionado like me, you should give Avocado Pickles a try.

AVOCADO PICKLES
Ingredients:
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 5 sprigs of cilantro
• 1-2 under-ripe avocados, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, set aside to cool.

2. In a mason jar or other glass jar with a tight-fitting top, place red pepper flakes, garlic, cilantro, and avocado slices. Pour the cooled pickling mixture into the jar and seal tightly with a lid.

3. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2021 Copy and paste to print the recipe. AVOCADO PICKLES Ingredients: • 1 cup distilled white vinegar • 1 cup water • 1/3 cup sugar • 1 tablespoon kosher salt • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes • 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced • 5 sprigs of cilantro • 1-2 under-ripe avocados, peeled and thinly slicedDirections: 1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, set aside to cool. 2. In a mason jar or other glass jar with a tight-fitting top, place red pepper flakes, garlic, cilantro, and avocado slices. Pour the cooled pickling mixture into the jar and seal tightly with a lid. 3. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2021
Copy and paste to print the recipe.

AVOCADO PICKLES
Ingredients:
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 5 sprigs of cilantro
• 1-2 under-ripe avocados, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, set aside to cool.

2. In a mason jar or other glass jar with a tight-fitting top, place red pepper flakes, garlic, cilantro, and avocado slices. Pour the cooled pickling mixture into the jar and seal tightly with a lid.

3. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Mango Salsa →

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Photo: c. foodblogchef 2020

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2020

Sweet, spicey, tart, crunchy, this salsa is a perfect compliment to the richness of grilled salmon. Try it and you’ll be hooked!
Serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 10-ounce mango, peeled, pitted, diced

  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

  • 2 teaspoons minced seeded serrano chili

  • 1 teaspoon grated lime peel

  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

  1. Combine first 7 ingredients in small bowl; mix in 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Season salsa with salt and pepper.

Portuguese Red Pepper Paste →

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This traditional Portuguese condiment provides a distinctive flavor profile to many Portuguese dishes. Essential for “Porco Alentejana” or Mussels with Linguiça and Roasted Potatoes, and Turkey Kale and White Bean Soup. It is also great used as a marinade spread on grilled chicken or pork, to flavor seafood, or added to soups and sauces. It only takes a few minutes to make, keeps in the fridge in a sealed jar for up to 6 months, and will add an exciting new dimension to your culinary repertoire.

Portuguese Red Pepper Paste
Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons sweet paprika

  • 2 tablespoons sweet smoked paprika

  • 1/4 cup dry red wine

  • 8 to 10 garlic cloves

  • 2 crumbled Turkish bay leaves

  • 3 tablespoons store-bought or homemade tomato paste or 1 tablespoon double-concentrate tomato paste

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • 7 sprigs cilantro

  • 5 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (16 g)

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

  • Few dashes Piri-Piri sauce or other hot sauce to taste

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation:

  1. In a food processor, combine the sweet paprika, sweet smoked paprika, wine, garlic, bay leaves, tomato paste, lemon juice, cilantro, parsley, salt, pepper, and piri-piri or other hot sauce.

  2. Pulse until the garlic and herbs are minced, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

  3. With the motor still running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream and continue whirring until the mixture comes together in a slick, homogeneous paste, 1 to 2 minutes.

  4. Use the mixture immediately or spoon it into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate. Best if used within 3 months; keep for up to 6 months.

https://leitesculinaria.com/83003/recipes-red-pepper-paste.html


Habanero Hot Sauce →

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Photo c. foodblogchef 2020

Photo c. foodblogchef 2020


This is my first batch of hot sauce with many more to come. My brother-in-law grew and sent me a bunch of Habanero peppers along with his recipe for making hot sauce. I compared the finished sauce to two good store-bought brands and was pleased. This hot sauce is a bit fruitier with less vinegar upfront and finishes with a nice slow burn. My beta-tasters are giving it good reviews. For capsaicin kings and queens who like a hotter sauce, leave in the seeds, or substitute a couple of Ghost peppers or Scotch Bonnets for Habaneros. For hot sauce lovers, experiment, and this will become a family heirloom recipe! Let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 Habanero peppers (use rubber gloves to seed the peppers or suffer the painful capsaicin consequences)

  • 4-6 carrots chopped

  • ½ onion chopped

  • 4-5 roasted garlic cloves

  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar

  • juice from ½ lemon

  • 1 bay leaf

  • ¼ teaspoon each of cumin and coriander (optional)

  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt to taste

  • 2 teaspoons of honey

Preparation:

  1. Roast the garlic until soft and set aside (a cast iron skillet on your stove top works well

  2. Saute the cider vinegar, lemon juice, carrot, onion, spices, bay leaf, and peppers

  3. When carrots are soft, remove the bay leaf, and put everything including the roasted garlic into the blender.

  4. Add the salt and honey to taste.

  5. Blend until smooth, add enough water to make the consistency you want.

  6. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

  7. Cool and bottle. (keeps refrigerated for up to a year)

To bottle:

1. Put your bottles into boiling water for ten minutes.
2. Remove from hot water and cool.
3. Fill with sauce and cap.

Porchetta Spice Dry Rub →

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Photo: c. foodblogchef 2020 Copy and past to print the recipe. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons crushed fennel seeds 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 2 teaspoons dried sage 1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary 1 teaspoon granulated garlic 1 teaspoon Kosher salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to crush the fennel seeds, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Mix all the ingredients well. Rub on meat and hour or more before cooking.

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2020
Copy and past to print the recipe.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons crushed fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to crush the fennel seeds, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Mix all the ingredients well. Rub on meat and hour or more before cooking.

Excellent on beef, pork, or lamb.



Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons crushed fennel seeds

  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

  • 2 teaspoons dried sage

  • 1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary

  • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic

  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt

  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to crush the fennel seeds, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Mix all the ingredients well. Rub on meat and hour or more before cooking.

Romesco Sauce →

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Rich colorful Romesco sauce features almonds, olive oil, peppers, and tomatoes….ingredients widely used in Spanish cuisine. It’s not surprising almonds and olive oil are popular ingredients in many Spanish dishes: Spain the number one producer of olive oil in Europe and second to the United States in producing almonds. Serve the sauce with fish or shell-fish and/or grilled vegetables, or on crostini. It is also an excellent dip for crudités (assorted raw vegetables).

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019 - Romesco Sauce Ingredients

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019 - Romesco Sauce Ingredients

Yield: about 2 cups

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium red pepper, and

  • 1 orange or red Cubanelle pepper roasted, peeled, seeds and membranes removed

  • 3 medium tomatoes or 4 Roma tomatoes (about 3/4 pound)

  • 2 thick slices (about 2 ounces) baguette or country-style bread, crusts removed, lightly toasted

  • 2 large garlic cloves, peeled

  • ½ cup toasted almonds, or a combination of almonds and skinned toasted hazelnuts (I use ¼ c. of each)

  • 1 to 2 teaspoons pure ground smoky ancho chile powder, or regular chili powder to taste (*Note: 1 tsp. is mild; 2 tsp. has a bit of heat)

  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika or Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón) (*Note: use regular paprika if you use smoky ancho chili powder; use the smoked pimentón with regular chili powder.)

  • Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

  • 2 tablespoon sherry vinegar

  • ¼ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, as needed


Preparation:

Preheat the broiler and cover a baking sheet with foil.

  1. Lightly toast the bread and nuts and set aside.

  2. Cut the tomatoes in half, core, and seed them; do the same with the peppers and quarter them.

  3. Place the tomatoes and fresh peppers skin side up on the baking sheet and place under the broiler at the highest setting. Broil for two to four minutes, until skin is charred. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. The skins on the tomatoes should peel off easily; you may have to scrape off the pepper skins after a few minutes. (see *Note about peppers)

  4. Add the garlic cloves to a food processor and process until the garlic is chopped and adheres to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine, and scrape down the sides. Add the toasted almonds (or almonds and hazelnuts), bread, and chile powder to the bowl and process to a dry paste.

  5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the peppers, tomatoes, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper, and process until smooth.

  6. With the machine running on slow, add the vinegar and olive oil in a slow stream, beginning with the smaller amount of olive oil and adding more until you achieve the consistency you want. Increase the speed and process until well mixed and scrape into a bowl.

  7. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt or chile as desired.

  8. Allow the sauce to stand for an hour or more at room temperature to meld the flavors before using.

  9. Left-over sauce will keep in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container for several days.

*Note: if you don’t want to bother roasting, peeling, and seeding the peppers, an acceptable substitute is a 12-ounce jar of Roasted Peppers, drained and patted dry. Proceed as above.

Beef Marinade →

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This is a flavorful marinade to use with any lean cut of beef that can benefit from tenderizing (eg.Flank Steak, Sirloin, Round). The acid in the marinade tenderizes the meat and the other ingredients lend great flavor to the grilled beef. Marinate the steak 4 hours or longer. Note: use a dry rub like Montreal Steak Rub or Coffee Rub to add flavor to more tender, marbled cuts of beef like Porterhouse, Strip, or Rib Eye. If you’re not preparing a sauce for Filet Mignon, the filet will benefit from the flavor of a dry rub as well. Bring the meat to room temperature before placing on the grill. Cold meat cooks unevenly on the grill and will be tougher than meat that has been brought to room temperature before grilling. To prevent flare-ups on the grill, don’t forget to pat the meat with paper towels to remove excess marinade.

Ingredients:

  • ½ c. olive oil

  • 1/3 c. soy sauce

  • ¼ balsamic or red wine vinegar

  • 2 cloves of crushed/minced garlic

  • 2 tablespoons Lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 teaspoons dry mustard

  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

  • ½ teaspoon. sweet basil (see note)

  • ½ teaspoon thyme (see note)

*Note: you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon each of rosemary, thyme and fennel broken-up with the back of a spoon, or coarsely ground with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.

Adapted from: Weber Grill Cookbook