That would be me. After I buy all my fresh ingredients, I head for the heart of the supermarket where they keep all the intriguing bottles, jars, cans, boxes, bags, tubes and packets of just about everything. I have tried to analyze my obsession/addiction. I think it comes from the time I spent as a magazine food writer. We got every new food and cooking item to taste and test before they hit the stores. Or, maybe I should blame heredity; my mother has always had a collection of her own.
I have mustard in every shade from very green (lots of tarragon) to deep purple (lots of Burgundy). I have red currant jelly, apricot jam, bergamot jelly, fig preserves, Oxford marmalade, ginger preserves, clover honey, hymmetus honey and huckleberry honey. I have ground red peppers, plum sauce, Thai fish sauce, toasted sesame oil, black bean and garlic sauce and pickled ginger. My spice selection simply doesn't bear thinking about. I have all the standard stuff as well, like pickle relish and ketchup. I even have a sauce called Cackalacky.
Whenever someone opens my fridge, their first words are, "Look at all those jars!" My pantry runneth over as well. I know a lot of what I buy in jars, etc. has ingredients I don't really need. In my saner moments, I remind myself of this, but then my obsession takes over. I realized the full extent of my problem just recently when I as "Americanizing" a British cookbook for a publisher over there. This involves, among other things, converting imperial and metric quantities into American cup and spoon measurements. Having lived and worked in the U.K. once upon a time, I know a lot of that by heart, but certain ingredients just have to be weighed on a scale and then transferred to a cup to see how much gets filled up. Well, every time I had to check an ingredient, however obscure, I seemed to have it on hand.
The time has come to do something with my collection before everything is way past its shelf life. Besides, I have to make some room. There is probably something new arriving on the stores' shelves right this minute that I will just have to try.
The Recipes:
Devil Sauce and Rub
This is great for ingredient pack rats like me. The recipe calls for just about everything on hand. It, in turn, will keep for weeks in the fridge once prepared. Use it on grilled or baked chicken or pork tenderloin, ribs (both pork and beef). It even makes a good dipping sauce for shrimp. Brush it on before baking or grilling and if you want, dilute it with a little water or broth to make a more pourable sauce.
Sauce:
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons steak sauce (any variety)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 level tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons plum sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Large dash of Tabasco
Rub:
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry or chili powder
Mix all the sauce ingredients and leave to stand at least 30 minutes before using. Mix all rub ingredients and rub over poultry or meat. Grill the poultry or meat and baste with the sauce. Add a little water or broth to the sauce and bring to the boil before serving.
Ginger Sesame Chicken - serves 4
Finally, another way to use up those ginger preserves I bought. You can actually substitute 2 tablespoons of honey mixed with 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger if you want to. For more sauce to serve with rice, triple the sauce ingredients.
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoon ginger preserves*
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
4 scallions, cut in strips
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Combine remaining ingredients except canola oil, sesame seeds and scallions. Heat canola oil in a wok or skillet and add the chicken pieces. Stir-fry until lightly browned. Pour over the sauce ingredients. Cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is cooked through and sauce reduces slightly. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions to serve.
*Look for ginger preserves in the jam section or gourmet section of most supermarkets. The preserves are imported from the U. K.
Honey-Glazed Pork with Ginger Grapefruit Sauce - serves 4
The tang of grapefruit cuts right through the richness of pork. Besides, I have far too much honey, not to mention 3 kinds of soy sauce in my pantry. Let's use them up, along with the pickled ginger.
1 1/2 lb piece boneless pork loin
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Sauce:
2 pink grapefruit
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup grapefruit juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Lemon juice to taste
Pinch salt and pepper
Pickled ginger*
Set oven to 450 F. Place pork loin in a roasting pan. combine honey and soy sauce and brush over the pork. Reduce heat to 325 F and roast pork for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. Remove peel and white pith from the grapefruits and slice them into 1/4 - inch thick rounds. Cover and set aside. When the pork is done, combine brown sugar, grapefruit juice and soy sauce in a saucepan. Mix cornstarch and water together and whisk into the grapefruit juice mixture. Place over moderate heat and bring to the boil, whisking constantly until thickened and cleared. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Slice the pork 1/2 - inch thick and arrange on a serving platter. Top with grapefruit slices and scatter over at least 8 pieces of pickled ginger. Coat with the sauce and serve immediately.
*Available in the Asian ingredient section of most supermarkets.
Lamb Chops with Mint, Rosemary and Red Currant Sauce - serves 4
Mint and rosemary are classic with lamb. Red currant jelly is a classic English accompaniment to lamb. In fact, it is often served like mint jelly is here. When I was in culinary school our instructions were to never salt anything before broiling and of course, those rules have stuck. Try this marinade/sauce with pork, chicken or turkey, as well.
8 loin lamb chops
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup red currant jelly
1/2 cup red wine
Salt
Heat broiler or grill. Spread garlic over chops and sprinkle with pepper. Combine mint, rosemary and jelly and whisk until no lumps remain. Grill chops, basting several times with the jelly mixture. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Combine remaining jelly mixture with red wine and bring to the boil. Simmer until slightly thickened. Serve with the chops.
Spicy Potatoes - serves 4
There was a wonderful tapas bar not far from the magazine offices in London where I used to work. Once a week, without fail, we used to go there for lunch. This is a version of one of the irresistible dishes we always ordered. This one calls for Cackalacky Sauce, though, a North Carolina specialty that actually has sweet potatoes in it. There is also a sauce called Yam Good Sauce that has much the same composition. Knowing my addiction, I can't believe I don't have that one, too!
2 or 3 russet potatoes, depending on size
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon paprika
15.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 - 5 tablespoons Cackalacky sauce (or ground red peppers)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley or cilantro
Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Coat with 2 tablespoons of the oil and place in a roasting pan. Roast for about 40 minutes, turning frequently until golden and soft when pierced with a knife. Meanwhile cook the chopped onion in the remaining oil for a few minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients, adding 3 tablespoons of Cackylacky sauce or red peppers. Cook until onion is softened. Taste and add more Cackylacky sauce or red peppers, if desired. Season with salt and pepper. Place potatoes in a serving dish and pour over the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.
Frozen Orange Marmalade Yogurt - makes 6 cups
I'm always buying orange marmalade when visitors come from the U. K. It never gets completely used up, so I'm also always looking for a new way to do that.
1/2 cup bitter orange marmalade
3 cups plain low-fat yogurt
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange extract or orange flower water
Extra orange marmalade (optional)
Stir the marmalade to loosen it slightly. Combine all ingredients and transfer to an ice cream maker. Process according to the manufacturer's directions. Spoon into a container, cover tightly and freeze. Warm extra orange marmalade gently until liquidy. Drizzle a tablespoon over each serving of yogurt.
Clams with Garlic Black Beans and Basil - serves 4 as an appetizer
Unless I am going on a Thai cooking spree, a bottle of fish sauce can hang around an awfully long time. The same goes for a jar of garlic black beans and chili. Both of these are available at Asian markets and sometimes in supermarkets that have a gourmet or Asian section. I used to grow Thai or holy basil in my herb garden, but have none at the moment, so I've suggested sweet basil as an alternative that also works.
3 lbs cherrystone or mahogany clams, rinsed or scrubbed as necessary
2 tablespoons oil
6 tablespoons light soy sauce
6 tablespoons garlic black bean sauce with chili
3/4 cup water
1 cup fresh basil leaves (sweet or Thai)
3 tablespoon fish sauce
Clams can be gritty, so you might want to scrub their shells and rinse very thoroughly. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and add the clams. Add the soy sauce, black bean sauce and water and basil bring to the boil. Cover the pan and leave to steam 5 minutes or more until shells open. Stir occasionally. Discard any clams that do not open. Add the fish sauce and serve immediately.
Chili Monkfish - serves 4
Ground hot peppers come in a jar and they are packed in vinegar, but that makes them great for marinades. They are also good for cooks like me who start coughing when they start chopping fresh chili peppers. I don't know why it happens, but it stops me from chopping them in front of anyone. If you like, double the marinade and save half of it to serve as a sauce at the end. The marinade and method works with fish like grouper and with shrimp or scallops, too.
1 3/4 lbs monkfish
3 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons ground hot peppers
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 cup water or clam juice (optional)
Trim any purplish-gray membrane off the monkfish. I usually remove the reddish line that runs down the middle of the monkfish tail, but I'm probably the only one. Cut monkfish into 1 1/2 -inch chunks. Mix the oil, peppers, honey and lime juice and whisk well. Add the monkfish. If making double quantity marinade, use only half to marinate the fish. Leave for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove and thread monkfish pieces onto skewers. Broil or grill skewers for about 6 minutes per side, basting frequently. If making a sauce, combine the other half of the marinade with the water or clam juice and bring to the boil, whisking occasionally, until thickened. Place monkfish skewers on serving plates and pour over the sauce. Serve with rice, if desired.
Next Time: Dinner on a Stick
