Sauce

My family makes this fresh, uncooked tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes. If you can’t find them, substitute with any sweet tomatoes. But there’s just no point in making this recipe at all if the tomatoes aren’t at their peak of ripeness. This sauce is made all over Italy in the summer, when tomatoes are in season, but only in Rome is it known as alla Checca. I like to serve it with a long, thin strand such as spaghettini or angel hair; the fresh flavors seem to go perfectly with these delicate shapes.

A great way to add just a little something extra to my basic marinara sauce.

A bit of mascarpone in the batter gives this cake just the slightest tang and keeps it moist, making it a good candidate for freezing. I always keep one of these in the freezer and when kids come to visit I pull it out and serve it with some strawberries and chocolate sauce for dipping.

Ground lamb is now very widely available, and it makes a nice change from the usual beef ragù once in a while. This is thick enough to serve in shallow bowls over rice or simply with some nice bread, but you could also increase the amount of marinara sauce to four cups and serve it over pasta.

You won’t find any caramel sauce like this at your local market. Letting the sugar cook until it reaches a deep amber color gives this sauce an incredibly rich flavor that really holds up in your shake. Adding a few tablespoons of dark rum will only intensify the flavor, but if you are serving it to kids or alcohol isn’t your thing, leave it out . . . the sauce will still be amazing.

I like making my own chocolate syrup because I can control the sweetness and the quality of the cocoa powder. Plus, it couldn’t be simpler.

This aioli is a riff on a tartar sauce that I made for the fish and chips episode of my show Throwdown. I may not have won that particular battle, but I did come out of it with some good ideas. Fries taste delicious doused with malt vinegar, no question, but they can quickly become soggy. This aioli, fragrant with anise-flavored tarragon, blends the great taste of malt vinegar into a creamy dip for fries with even more flavor than the original combo, and none of the sogginess.

Use this béchamel-based sauce as a dip for potato chips and French fries or as a topping for burgers, such as the Buffalo Burger (page 27) or the Blue Burger (page 70).

There are loads of prepared honey mustards on the market today; all you need to do is open the jar and spread some on your burger. Take a good look at the ingredient lists, however, and you will find that many of them contain more corn syrup than they do honey. To make sure I’m getting just what I want flavor-wise, I prefer to mix up my own using my favorite Dijon mustard and a good-quality mild honey.

You would typically find this sauce served alongside a thick cut of prime rib. The blend of mellow mayonnaise, pungent horseradish, and sharp Dijon mustard complements steak so well that it is no surprise that it does the same for a beef burger. A rich salmon burger would also take beautifully to the sauce. For a touch of extra flavor and color, try adding a few tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs such as chives, dill, or tarragon.

I created this barbecue sauce to top the Dallas and Cheyenne burgers (pages 37 and 39), but it’s also an ideal dipping sauce for Perfect French Fries (page 86). After you’ve made this quick and easy sauce once, you’ll want to slather it on grilled chicken, steak, pork chops . . . you might never go back to the bottled stuff.