Older Bolder Life

Stronger | Leaner | Sharper | Longer - From Older Bolder Fitness

Recipe: Sauces

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Sunday: Two Quick Hollandaise Sauce Techniques

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Several friends and clients have been asking lately what method we use to make hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is not something most of us would eat everyday, though in the Primal, Paleo, and keto worlds, it’s an indulgence that’s packed not only with great flavor but a load of good fats (never forget that good fat are your friend) as well.

For years we’ve been using Kenji L’s method he posted on Serious Eats years ago, and find it just about foolproof. Here’s his video, with his recipe posted here…

Our compadre Chef Libby in Austin shared the following video with me a couple of months ago, and I have to admit, the NO-blender 5 Minute Hollandaise technique has worked wonders for us as well…

There is of course the classic whisk in the butter by hand technique, demonstrated in the first video above, though I can’t imagine ever going back given the consistent and much more simply attained results from these two techniques.

Of note, there’s a fairly wide variance of recommendations as to how many egg yolks one should use per unit of butter (classically one per 2 ounces from most resources that I’ve read lately), though 2 yolks per stick of butter (or even one large) seem to work wonders.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Sunday: Quick Meatza-Pizza Sauce No. 1

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At the risk of sounding a little behind the Primal/Paleo food curve, during the cooler winter weather of late we’ve been enjoying several versions of our favorite meatza creations, leaning toward a nifty Southwestern meatza in fact.

There are a host of nifty meatza – pizza sauces floating around out there, ranging from the no-cook, just stir it together camp to the highbrow, build it from scratch and cook it half the day versions.

Most of the time when I’m sharing meatza – pizza sauce recipes with friends and clients, they want one that tastes good AND doesn’t take a degree in culinary science and hours to prepare.

And most of the time we in our own kitchen lean to the tasty and efficient approach to building great meals, and would argue that when putting together a masterpiece of a meatza, the sauce isn’t the star of the show, but needs to be good enough to win the best supporting actor nomination.

That said, here’s the base recipe for the Quick Meatza-Pizza Sauce No. 1 recipe we’ve been using lately, always with the red pepper flakes mixed in, and using the upper end of the spice ranges indicated.

Finally, note the base recipe description above; you can customize this to your heart’s (and family’s) content – consider adding chopped onion to replace the onion flakes and powder, diced mushrooms (even a bit of crumbled dried mushrooms), chopped olives, tomato pieces, and so on and so forth. Make it your own.

6 ounces tomato paste
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 t salt
1/2-1 tsp dried oregano
1/2-1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion flakes
1/2 tsp onion powder

Optional: 1/4-1 tsp red pepper flakes

This is another one of those recipes that couldn’t be easier. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stir well to combine, and simmer gently for 30 minutes to meld the flavors. Let cool on the stovetop, then either use immediately, throw in the fridge to hold for up to 5 days, or freeze.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Sunday 6 January: Homemade Everyday Ketchup (or Ketchup No. 1)

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One of the most common food questions we field from friends, family, and clients as they begin to actually read and pay attention to food product labels is how to replace some of their favorite condiments, ketchup and some form of barbeque sauce probably being at the top of that list.

Mass marketed, commercially-prepared ketchups (and many other condiments) are most often made with stunningly bad ingredients – high fructose corn syrup, we’re looking at you in particular (the image to the right is taken right off a ketchup bottle produced by one of the ‘big boys’ in the game).

We’ve been encouraging people to make their own condiments for years now, and for three obvious reasons. Of course one reason, and perhaps the most critical one, is that you want to control the quality and sourcing of the foods you’re consuming, and that includes eliminating foods/ingredients (like HFCS) that are frankly unhealthy.

Two, customizing your favorite condiments to suit your tastes is limited only by your imagination and willingness to experiment a little. Take this Homemade Everyday Ketchup recipe for instance; you can vary the spices and vinegar/acid components with ease, as well as how sweet you want it to be. Around our house, we like to drop a chipotle pepper (with lots of adobo clinging) in, and don’t use any additional sweetener at all (OK, my wife may make her version with a teaspoon or two of good raw honey).

And three, this recipe, like the Homemade Avocado or Olive Oil Mayo recipe we’ve shared before, is so simple a child could do it, and it takes literally minutes to do.

A good quick ketchup recipe is always handy to have in the fridge (or the ingredients on hand to make in a flash), and can serve as the base for that barbeque sauce you’re hankering for, or a number of salad dressings as well (I have a great Catalina-inspired dressing to share later…).

For those ketchup purists out there who might argue the only way to truly make a great ketchup at home is to literally start from scratch with a half bushel of fresh tomatoes, we’ll have another, more involved ketchup recipe posted in the months to come.

1 12-ounce can organic tomato paste
1/2 to 1 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 to 1 cup water
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp onion powder OR up to 1/3 cup minced onion
2 tsp good salt
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dry mustard

Optional
1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2-5 tsp raw honey OR good maple syrup

This one couldn’t be easier; throw everything into your trusty food processor (or a deep bowl and use an immersion blender) and combine well, adding more vinegar/water to achieve whatever you deem the ideal ketchup consistency.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Sunday 23 December: Brown Butter Cranberry Sauce

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Last week at a small gathering with friends our hostess served a very tasty brined, roasted turkey with this Brown Butter Cranberry Sauce.

She’s a paleo foodie, and served an array of roasted vegetables too (beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts) that were simply awesome with this sauce as well.

Her palate aligns fairly well with ours in that she said she has reduced the amount of maple sugar in this recipe, enjoying the tart burst of flavor from the cranberries, along with the ginger, orange, a hint of shallots, and thyme.

She also suggested cooking it down for just a few minutes after stirring in the brown butter (note the two links below for tips on making the best brown butter) so that a nice jammy consistency is achieved.

Give this one a spin; our reaction was “wow”, and I quickly began to mentally list all the proteins and vegetables this would complement well.

1 small bag fresh cranberries, picked and rinsed
1-3 tbsp good maple syrup (start with one and adjust to taste)
2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated (or more)
2 tsp fresh orange zest
1 and 1/2 sticks butter
1 small shallot, trimmed and finely chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Combine the cranberries, maple syrup, ginger, and orange zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat; stir frequently until the cranberries begin to release their juices and open. Remove from the heat.

While heating the cranberry mixture, prepare the brown butter using this technique or this one.

When the butter is just about “there”; stir in the shallot and thyme, stir for another minute or two until the shallots just begin to soften.

Now stir the butter mixture into the cranberries, place over low heat for another 1-3 minutes, stirring to combine well, and cook it down just a bit.

Serve warm, and use your imagination with this one.

Enjoy.