It’s June and our cooking has switched to summer mode. You may have noticed this, but many foods we enjoy during this season taste better accompanied or slathered with a sauce.
Today I present four examples.
Aioli is a southern French-style sauce in which egg yolks are blended with oil to create a mayonnaise-like mixture that’s flavoured with fresh garlic and lemon juice. In my recipe for it, I cheated and used store-bought mayonnaise as the base for the aioli. And, rather than use fresh garlic, I used sliced, roasted and chopped garlic instead.
Roasting the garlic mellows and sweetens its flavour and when blended with the mayonnaise, lemon juice and a few other ingredients you create a most splendid sauce. Use this aioli as a dip for crudités (raw vegetable sticks), grilled prawns or skewered meats; spoon alongside grilled fish or steak; spread it on sandwiches; or use this aioli as a burger condiment.
Chimichurri is an Argentinean-style “green sauce” made that colour by blending a generous amount of parsley and sometimes other herbs with garlic, onion, olive oil and other flavourings. It can be used as a sauce you spoon alongside grilled meats. It can also be used to marinate those meats.
For example, one and a quarter cups of today’s chimichurri sauce recipe could be used to marinate one and half pounds of round, flank or top sirloin steak, pork chops, lamb chops, or cubed meat you later thread on skewers. Marinate the meat in the sauce in the refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight.
Once the meat is grilled and plated, use the remaining chimichurri sauce you did not use in the marinade as a sauce to spoon alongside it.
Chimichurri sauce can also be used as a sandwich spread or burger topping. I also sometimes use it on pizza.
Barbecue sauce is the quintessential summer sauce and buckets of it will be used to glaze and flavour foods such as burgers, steaks, chicken and ribs. My recipe is Canadian version of the sauce spiked with whiskey, maple syrup and mustard. It’s easy to make and if you enjoy its flavour — you will — double the recipe the next time you make.
The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Salsa is a Spanish word for sauce. When we think of it, a fresh, chopped and flavoured tomato mixture is often what comes to mind. But there many other types of salsa and today I’ve created a sweet, spicy and tangy summer fruit-based one.
This fruit salsa is nice to spoon over or serve alongside grilled chicken breasts and pork chops, grilled and sliced pork tenderloin, and grilled salmon or halibut fillets or steaks. You could also create a summer snack by serving the salsa with tortilla chips.
Roasted Garlic Aioli
A zingy, roasted garlic flecked sauce you can use as dip, condiment or spread.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Makes: about 1 1/3 cups
4 large garlic cloves, each halved and sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
* salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
* pinch cayenne and paprika pepper
Preheat your oven, or toaster oven, to 325 F. Place the garlic and olive oil in a small baking dish or ramekin (mine was about 4 inches round). Cover and roast 25 minutes, or until garlic is very tender.
Cool garlic in the oil to room temperature. Now remove garlic from oil and finely chop it. Place it and its cooking oil in a bowl. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and the aioli is ready. Transfer to a tight sealing jar and refrigerate until needed. Aioli will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
Chimichurri Sauce
Parsley, mint, onion and garlic blended into a rich green sauce you can use as condiment and/or meat marinade.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: about 2 cups
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
2 cups packed fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley sprigs (about 1 large bunch)
12 fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined and sauce like, adding a little more oil to thin the sauce if needed. Transfer chimichurri sauce to a tight sealing jar and refrigerate until needed. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator four to five days.
Canadian Whiskey, Maple and Mustard Barbecue Sauce
Canadian ingredients star in this tangy, give-me-more sauce you can slather on burgers, steaks, chicken and ribs.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Makes: About 2 cups
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Canadian whiskey
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp whole grain mustard
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
* pinch dried thyme
* salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Place the oil in a medium-sized pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain that simmer.
Partially cover the pot (don't completely cover as steam needs escape). Simmer the sauce 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until rich and tasty. Remove the pot from the heat and cool the sauce to room temperature. Transfer sauce to a tight-sealing jar and refrigerate until needed. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Summer Fruit Salsa
Sweet and juicy fruit, hot jalapeño and spices combine in this refreshing salsa you could serve with grilled chicken, pork and fish, such as salmon.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: about 2 1/2 cups
3 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
* pinch salt
2 ripe apricots, halved, pitted and cut into small (about 1/4-inch) cubes
1 large ripe nectarine, halved, pitted and cut into small (about 1/4-inch) cubes
4 medium strawberries, hulled and cut into small (about 1/4-inch) cubes
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 medium jalapeño pepper, halved, seeded and finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint or cilantro
Combine the juices, cumin, chili powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the fruit, jalapeño and mint or cilantro and gently toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate salsa until needed. Can be made an hour or two before serving.
Eric Akis is the author of the hardcover book Everyone Can Cook Everything. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday. [email protected]
