Mock Teriyaki Sauce

I use this super easy sauce as a marinade for salmon or chicken. It has a nice balance of salty and sweet. It's also good on pasta (just cut up some carrots, cabbage, or peppers to go with it).

2-3 Tbs Soy sauce
2-3 Tbs real maple syrup
1 clove garlic minced

Preparation:

Mix equal parts soy sauce and maple syrup in a bowl until combined. Adjust the proportions to suit your taste, adding a little more soy sauce for a saltier/savory marinade, or a little more maple syrup for a sweeter marinade. Add minced garlic, mix well. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

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For the starving artists:

You can obtain most of the ingredients for free from fast food or take out places. You'll still need to shell out 50¢ to $1.00 for a bulb of garlic though (unless you have a friend willing to share a clove or two with you). 

Soy Sauce: Packets of soy sauce are readily available at Chinese restaurants, or if your grocery store has a sushi section, you can usually grab a packet or two of complimentary soy sauce there.  

Maple Syrup: Almost any restaurant, fast food or otherwise, will carry small containers of syrup. Often times you can ask the counter person or waiter/waitress for a couple of plain syrups to go (mind you, this will be the corn syrup version of maple syrup - so if you're trying to be somewhat health conscious, you'll want to save your pennies for the real stuff).

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Homemade Restaurant Style Teriyaki Sauce

1/4 cup Soy sauce
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
1 tsp minced garlic (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
5 Tbs packed brown sugar
1-2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs corn starch
1/4 cup cold water

Preparations:

In a small bowl, mix corn starch and 1/4 cup water to make a 'slurry.' Set aside.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved.

Add corn starch mixture and stir until it thickens. Remove from heat and serve with rice or stir fry. Use as a marinade for chicken, fish, or other meat.

Make Your Own Sweet and Sour Sauce

photo courtesy of Muy Yum

3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar or rice vinegar
2/3 cups water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TBS dry sherry or mirin (optional)
1 TBS ketchup
2 TBS corn starch

Preparation:
In a small bowl, mix the corn starch with a little of the water to create a 'slurry.' Set aside.

In a sauce pan, combine all ingredients except the corn starch slurry. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

Add corn starch mixture, continuing to stir. Return mixture to a boil. Sauce should thicken quickly.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before serving.  Good as a dip or over fish, chicken, beef, rice, vegetables, or stirfry.

Store in an air tight container or glass jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Simple Homemade Mayonnaise

2 large egg yolks (freeze the egg whites if not using right away)
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable oil (canola or light olive oil are good)

Preparation:

With a whisk or a beater, mix egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt in a medium sized bowl.

While whisking, drizzle oil in a little at a time, making sure to incorporate completely before adding the next bit of oil.  As you're whisking, your mayonnaise will begin to emulsify.

Because it is made with egg yolks, the mayonnaise will have a yellow color (this is normal).

Once all of the oil has been incorporated, you can add extra ingredients (such as a 1/4 tsp. dijon mustard and 1 tsp. white wine vinegar, or additional lemon juice,  or herbs like tarragon).

Put any mayonnaise not immediately used into a clean glass jar or lidded container and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups of mayonnaise.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

3 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)

4 TBS unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 TBS lemon zest, chopped

Instructions:

Simmer water in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, simmer water in a sauce pan and place a metal or glass bowl on top of it. 

Whisk together the sugar and lemon juice until blended. 

Whisk in one egg at a time. 

Cook, stirring slowly and constantly for 10 minutes to prevent curdling. Mixture will become thick like pudding. 

Remove from heat and whisk butter into the mixture until the butter has melted. 

Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Serve with scones, biscuits, or on pancakes.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

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