Not all Tartare is created equal

So lets continue with the sauces theme...Im hearing you Manu.

Have you gone to a restaurant and ordered fish and chips only to get the watered down nasty tasting tartare sauce on the side..you know the ones I mean. If you're lucky the tartare looks white with little flakes of indiscriminate ingredients through it, but generally the sauce has a brownish tinge and either one tastes nothing like the capers, gherkins and other things that are supposed to go into tartare.

Ill ask for an aioli or anything else at that point and as always hubby will reach for the tomato sauce.

Call me a purist but a good tartare is thick and creamy with well chopped small chunks of all things good. On that basis alone I make my own tartare. Its not actually hard and can be made with your good store bought mayo as the base. For me though when I make it with mayo I use the lemon mayo in my earlier blog. Ive also made it with creme fraiche and for a low fat option with non fat yogurt.At the end of the day it all comes down to seasoning in my view any tartare can be fantastic with the right amount of salt and pepper added. At some point Ill probably do a whole blog on seasoning.  I fear too many nutritionists and doctors of old have made us fear salt. Moderation not elimination is the key if you ask me!

Right so off my soapbox..Whats in tartare?

A recipe I have used for a mayo based tartare is:

1/2 cup of mayo
2 tablespoons gherkins diced up
2 tablespoons minced onions (I prefer red onions for color but white are fine)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of capers (rinse them first before putting them in)
1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard
pinch of sea salt and pepper to taste

Im fussy so I chop the gherkins and capers up myself..you can just put it all in a food processor and pulse it till its chopped but not pureed i.e. don't blend the crap out of it. I always rinse the capers because they are stored in brine which is salty and can make the sauce taste terrible. If you don't like capers, leave them out they are not to everyones taste.  I sometimes put some dill in too. I have also heard of people replacing the mustard with horseradish. So its all down to preference.

For a low fat option Ive made this tartare with yogurt:

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons minced onion (again I prefer red onions for a contrasting color)
2 tablespoons gherkins chopped
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers (rinsed)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
pinch of salt and pepper to taste

I don't process the yogurt tartare preferring to chop up and then mix together in a bowl. Its really yummy and great on a hot day with a lovely fillet of panfried fish..yummm bring on summer!

Talk again soon

Me xx

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Hollandaise or Mayonnaise?

So where to start? Lets work with the basics of sauce..as Manu on MKR says.."Wheres the sauce??" In this house there has to be a a sauce of some kind with a meal. No sauce will lead to lots of complaints and the men in this house reaching for the tomato sauce in default.

What sauces then? This question was answered by my son Raiden.

My son was watching me make lemon mayonnaise the other day. We got on the topic of mayonnaise versus one of his favorite sauces hollandaise (son does love eggs benedict).  Simplistically I said oil versus butter. Mayonnaise uses oil in the emulsion and hollandaise uses melted butter. I know there are no doubt many other differences but to a novice cook this is a simple answer.

Then there is the way you make it.  I admit Im not a fan of beating things over hot water while ensuring that the water doesn't hit the bowl and trying to slowly pour the butter or oil in..I don't have 5 arms and Im really quite clumsy. I needed an easier way. I found it in a good blender.

So for mayonnaise. I love mayonnaise with a zing of lemon or some herbs or rocket. You can make the mayonnaise simply without the lemon in this recipe if you choose but you will need an acid so include some mustard and or some white wine vinegar to the mix instead. Also I use canola because its not as strong taste wise as say olive oil.

My lemon mayo:

3 egg yolks
1 clove of garlic crushed
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp salt
1 cup of canola oil

Place all the ingredients bar the canola oil into a blender and give it a whiz quickly until mixed. Then slowly add the oil in a slow stream while the blender is running and process until the mayo thickens.

Thats it. Put your mayonnaise in a clean jar or container and it will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. This recipe is great with fish and chicken dishes.  I use it in burgers and well generally anything that requires dipping :)

My hollandaise:

3 egg yolks
1 clove of garlic crushed
juice of 1 lemon
splash of white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
150 to 200gm melted butter

I melt the butter in a jug in the microwave first.  I then let it sit on the bench to cool slightly as I find that  putting boiling hot butter into the mix risks the whole thing curdling.

You may also be wondering why I put lemon and white wine vinegar in? Basically Im covering the bases to ensure there is sufficient acidity in the mix. My lemons aren't strong enough sometimes and if there isn't enough acidity all the butter in the world won't make this sauce thicken.  But Im not a fan of too much vinegar so I mix with lemon to ensure the flavor of the sauce isn't overpowered by the vinegar.

Back to the recipe. Place all ingredients bar the butter in the blender and whiz it quickly to mix. Then slowly pour the slightly cooled butter in a slow stream while the blender is running and process until the hollandaise thickens.

Hollandaise is harder then mayo to make because of the heat of the butter. If it starts to curdle throw it out. If it won't thicken then there may not be enough acidity. I have saved a sauce by putting a further splash of vinegar in and adding more butter but generally that is the exception not the rule. In such situations you may be better off starting again. Note whether in a blender or over a pot this is the curse of hollandaise.  Don't be afraid to try it though as nothing is better then home made hollandaise.

Like mayo you can flavor your basic hollandaise. Sometimes I put a little cayenne pepper in the blender when making if Im using with roast veges or if serving over seafood I put some dill in the blender.

All I can say is have a go with both recipes and experiment :)

Me xx

The here and now

Now Im a busy mom and wife. I am a lawyer and my husband and I love and breed french bulldogs. We also have a dog product retail business Top Dog Direct. So its all go.

Our son is almost 18 and about to head out into the world. He can cook basic things - I wasn't going to let him leave without the capacity to at least feed himself.  But talking to him and his mates he seems to be one of the few. And its not just boys. Girls are leaving home without the knowledge of food. They muddle through of course but I think it would be good for them to have a helping hand.

This blog and the books Im developing are for those who don't have a lot of time or for parent who just want their kids to be able to sustain themselves.  For the young adults who have moved out of home..2 minute noodles just won't cut it every night you are responsible for cooking the flat tea and certainly not if you want to impress someone!

How it began

Ive had two moms in my life; the one who gave birth to me and the one who raised me. Both were great parents (my birth mom is still alive and we are very close), but good cooks they were not.

Growing up I thought that boiled was the standard for cooking. My adopted mom boiled everything - steak (sirloin no less) and her white sauce was so thick I could stand a spoon up in the pot. My birth mom was a professional woman who didn't have a lot of time to cook.  Everything went into one baking dish and went under the grill. A gravy (if I was lucky) or tomato sauce on the side.

Cooking for me when I was young was a case of self preservation..it became a passion later.