Sauce

This recipe makes enough for several batches of the vodka gimlets or lemonade; any left over would also give a nice hit of flavor to a glass of iced tea.

When you've had your fill of ripe peaches eaten out of hand, peel the rest for this fruity-tangy sauce. Brush it on grilled pork or chicken toward the end of cooking, and serve extra on the side. And who could say no to a dab of leftover sauce on a cream cheese — topped cracker?

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Jasper White's The Summer Shack Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Shore Food. To read Epicurious's review of the cookbook, go to Summer Cooking Guides. This is one of my favorite sauces for grilled seafood, especially swordfish. It is also terrific with salmon, striped bass, halibut, tautog, and other white-fleshed fish suitable for grilling. Think of this recipe as a formula. The ratio of cucumber to the other ingredients is important, but from there you can adapt this sauce to match with different fish or even side dishes. For example, with a Latino or Caribbean dish like Black Beans and Rice, you could substitute fresh lime juice for the lemon juice and add chiles and cilantro. This recipe uses half yogurt and half sour cream, but you could use any combination of the two. Or, for salmon, you might want to use all sour cream, with dill. You could also make a low-calorie sauce using all low-fat yogurt. The first time you make the sauce, if you follow my guidelines but omit the jalapeño and use parsley and chives for the herbs, you will have a basic sauce. After that, you are on your own. The list of possible variations is extensive. For equipment, you will need a stainless steel (or plastic) strainer.

Generations of southerners have tucked fresh hot chiles into vinegar for a pungent homemade hot sauce that sits right next to the salt and pepper on the table. Drizzled over gumbo, red beans and rice, or anything fried, it both balances out and punches up any other flavors it's paired with. The adventurous should feel free to pluck a pepper out of the jar and eat it alongside the meal — it's fine southern form. Doctored with a little sugar and red pepper flakes, it's amazing on the cheddar rice fritters.

The garlic-nut sauce known as tarator, which sometimes also includes tahini, is a classic Turkish accompaniment to mussels and fried fish as well as vegetables. Here, it's used with cauliflower that is sliced — rather than separated into florets — so that it can be more easily browned, which gives it a nutty flavor that complements the tarator perfectly.

Sambal Serai Editor's note: This recipe is adapted from James Oseland's book Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It originally accompanied Javanese Chicken Curry and Beef Satay and was part of an article by Oseland on Indonesian cuisine. This gorgeous-tasting, easy-to-make raw sambal originated in Bali. Try to find the freshest, most flavorful lemongrass you can when making it—your best bet may be in deep summer at a farmers' market that serves a substantial Asian community, where you're likely to find impeccably fresh, organic lemongrass.

•Ragù can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered.
•Ragù can be made with 1 1/2 pounds boneless veal shoulder, cut into 1–inch pieces, in a 6–quart wide heavy pot. Add veal to pot in place of rabbit and, after cooking until no longer pink on outside, add 4 cups water and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup and veal is very tender, about 10 hours. Proceed with recipe.

Serve with roast pork or cottage cheese.

This recipe originally accompanied Potato-Parsnip Latkes with Savory Applesauce

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Simply Ming by Ming Tsai. It's part of a menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. This is a great dipping sauce for all dim sum — pot stickers, shu mai, spring rolls, scallion pancakes, to name a few — but it's also good with any fried goodie, like chicken fingers. You can and should adjust the heat to suit your palate. Though the dip lasts about a week in a fridge, it's so easily prepared that I recommend you make just as much as you need when you need it.

Editor's note: The recipe below is from Ming Tsai's book, Ming's Master's Recipes. Use 1 cup of glaze as a dipping sauce for Ming Tsai's pork potstickers and cranberry-crab rangoons and the other cup to make his braised short ribs.

Use this stock to make Brandied Giblet Gravy.

Be sure to rub the turkey with the spice mixture the day before roasting.