Reprinted from Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life by Louisa Shafia. Copyright © 2009 Published by Ten Speed Press.
I'm a big fan of cherry tomatoes because you can find reliably flavorful ones even in wintertime. I think the best selection for this sauce is a mix of fruity and sweet orange Sun Golds (my favorite tomato; I plant about a dozen bushes every year) and a basic red cherry. You could make this sauce with chunks of larger tomatoes, too, but only if they're brightly acidic, the way even ho-hum cherry tomatoes tend to be. This sauce is a pleasure simply tossed with penne and a handful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. But it's also delicious on grilled polenta or grilled fish. My favorite destination for this sauce is this angel hair dish.
We use browned flour, cooked until it is the color of a wooden spoon, to add rich deep flavor while it thickens our gravy.
Use a good port, red wine or even a Madeira if that’s what you have on hand. Cranberries have so much natural pectin that this sauce will set up even if you don’t refrigerate it.
This thick Greek garlic sauce makes a marvelous dip to be served with vegetables as an accompaniment to fish or chicken. Avoid using a food processor or an electric mixer, which can make potatoes gluey.
Aioli is a delicious staple of Mediterranean cuisine and personifies the flavors and cooking style of the South of France. It has a heady taste of garlic that makes it a delicious dip or sauce for crunchy crudités or poached seafood.
Some people love ketchup; others, barbecue sauce. In our home, this peanut coconut sauce is king. My daughter Abigail loves it so much that I often jokingly offer her some chicken with her sauce! She usually responds with a snarky grin, "More sauce, please."
Ingredients
Ingredients