Sauce

Homemade mayonnaise is one of life’s perfect foods. With a hint of garlic, it’s even better. Obviously, this is great on any sandwich, especially a steak or grilled fish sandwich. But it also makes a wonderful dipping sauce. I love it with shellfish, like steamers and grilled lobster. I’ve lived in this country for a long time now, but I still dunk my French fries in mayonnaise. That’s arguably the best use for this simple sauce.

When I decided to open my first steakhouse, I knew I needed to have this sauce. Not for a burger, but for a sliced tomato salad. I wanted to riff on the classic by incorporating French cornichons for pickles and Asian ingredients, like miso and sriracha. The result is intensely flavorful. I love this over slow-baked salmon, but also enjoy it on sandwiches. I’ve even used it in place of mayo in chicken salad and as a dip for crisp, thin onion rings.

Less is more in this simple glaze. The complexity here comes from cooking the garlic and onion until sweet enough to round out the heat of the chiles. I love brushing this on any grilled meat or fish. Another fun use is tossing this sauce with fried calamari or popcorn shrimp.

When basil grows in my garden, I want to make the most of it. To enhance its aroma, I pair it with pistachios and add a hit of chile and lemon zest to brighten it. Be sure to start with roasted pistachios in their shells and to keep the pesto coarse to highlight the crunch of the nuts.

Serve this versatile sauce to dress up sautéed tofu, tempeh, or mashed potatoes. See suggestions for its use in Smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Shiitake-Miso Gravy (page 208) and Tempeh and Green Beans with Shiitake-Miso Gravy (page 76).

Featured with Big Quesadillas with Black Beans, Broccoli, and Portobello Mushrooms (page 146), you can also pour this offbeat sauce over potatoes, sweet potatoes, and grains.

This gravy was inspired by my family’s visit to Taste of Life, a wonderful vegan eatery in Tel Aviv. The café is run by the community of Black Hebrews, who also produce most of the tofu and seitan distributed in Israel at their village in the southern part of the country. They serve their own wonderful products at Taste of Life (which is connected to the small chain of Soul Vegetarian Cafés in the United States). When we ate there, their tender seitan was topped with a tasty gravy. The server shared the recipe with me, which I’ve interpreted below. There’s not much to it, honestly, but it’s quick and tasty. Serve it over grains, mashed potatoes, seitan, and tempeh. See a good use for it in Tofu and Seitan Mixed Grill (page 44).

A version of this sauce appeared in my first book, Vegetariana, and I’ve used it ever since. It’s one of the most luscious, versatile sauces in my repertoire—it tastes great on sweet potatoes (see Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Cashew Butter Sauce, page 209), mashed potatoes, grains, vegetables, and noodles.

Spread on crostini or bruschetta, this makes a nice appetizer to precede a pasta dinner. It can also be spread on potatoes, tossed with pasta, or used as a condiment in wraps. I especially like it as a sauce for Very Green Veggie Pesto Pizza (page 142).

This luscious mixture is as welcome on raw salads as it is over cooked noodle, grain, or vegetable dishes.

In creating this recipe, I tried to reproduce the flavors in a peanut sauce that was served over skewers of tofu in an Indonesian restaurant my sons and I visited in Amsterdam. I’m sure this is a simplified rendition, but no matter—it’s really good! Use it to top sautéed tofu or tempeh; it’s also good with noodles. See Golden Tofu Triangles with Rich Peanut Sauce (page 46).

This luscious sauce makes vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts) more appealing to the finicky, but even veggie lovers will enjoy this cheesy treat.

Try this with Chocolate-Pecan-Bourbon Pie (page 83).

This sauce can be refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for up to one month; let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Thaw frozen sauce completely in the refrigerator.

Ganache will thicken as it sits. To cover a cake, it should be pourable but still thick enough to coat. If not, place the bowl of ganache over a pan of simmering water and stir until it reaches the right consistency.

Ganache can be kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to three days. Before using, warm ganache by setting it over a saucepan of simmering water, then let cool, stirring frequently.

This recipe produces a caramel that, once cooled, is quite stiff—the ideal consistency for making bar cookies. If you plan to pour it over cake or ice cream, simply double the amount of heavy cream. This caramel can be refrigerated, tightly covered, for up to three days.

Speckles of grated lime zest in this pretty soft-green icing give the finished cookies a fresh citrus flavor.