Stir Crazy, Posted: 7/11/07
The right sauce can bring out the best in food
I am not generally a huge fan of sauces. I canít remember ever having a bottle of steak sauce in my refrigerator. But there are cases where a sauce can make something good even better, or even make up for something not so good!
I made ribs on Saturday, and of course you need barbeque sauce on ribs. I used a recipe that includes ketchup and chili sauce. I used the Asian-style chili sauce with garlic, and it was a nice change from the hickory-smoked flavor of bottled sauce.
I also made a light sauce for fresh asparagus that included olive oil, lemon juice and orange juice. It was light and flavorful, and a nice complement to the asparagus.
Then I bought some strawberries that looked a lot better than they tasted, as is often the case this time of year. The weather gets warm and we expect the strawberries to taste like ones that are locally grown, and of course they donít. They werenít bad, but they werenít sweet enough to eat on their own.
A sauce to the rescue! I happened to have the ingredients for this dessert, and I am looking forward to making this again. I imagine angel food cake topped with this sauce and fresh berries. Itís good with just the berries, too.
---------------------------------------------------
Fresh Strawberries with
Grand Marnier Cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Grand Marnier liqueur
1 quart strawberries, hulled and cut into bite -sized pieces
In top of double boiler, scald milk, cream and vanilla. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until light yellow in color. Slowly add egg mixture to milk mixture, stirring constantly over low heat until sauce thickens. Stir in liqueur. Pour into lidded jar and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and mix with strawberries.
From CrÈme de Colorado Cookbook
Published by the Junior League of Denver
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com
