A delicious sauce is the perfect ‘fixer’ to any meal, especially when you have several to choose from!
elements of a Failed Dish
Have you ever overcooked a chicken breast or salmon filet? Maybe you’ve finished experimenting with a new recipe and it just has ZERO flavor. I don’t know about you, but this makes me want to pull my hair out, especially when you are cooking for more than just yourself!
More on how to fix this later. First, let’s take a step back and look at the basic elements of a recipe: Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat.
Salt: Have you ever tasted a meal and thought to yourself “Wow, that tastes like an old shoe. Better not tell Mom.”? Salt’s primary function is to enhance the flavor of the entire dish. Don’t skip this key ingredient in ANY recipe.
Fat: Simply put, fat equals flavor. One common failure I have run into is skipping the fat when baking. This will not only provide something like a chicken breast with more flavor, but it will also provide a more tender and crispy finished product.
Acid: While fat IS the flavor, acid BALANCES the flavor. In my opinion, this is the element that gets overlooked the most. You can use acids, such as citrus fruits or vinegar, to help tenderize meats. It will also cut the sweetness or richness of a dish.
Heat: Even if you get every flavor perfectly balanced in the dish, the source of heat, as well as the intensity, can ruin all of your hard work. Example: Grandpa is bickering about how late the meal is, and how you need to learn how to cook like your sister Martha. To get Grandpa fed and out the door, you crank the heat up on the oven to 1000 °F, resulting in a smoldering pile of ash. Moral of the story: Do some research on using low and high-heat cooking. Each has its place in the kitchen.
Check out the book by Chef Samin Nosrat titled Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat to learn more about these four essential elements of cooking. It really is one of the best cookbooks out there for people new to the kitchen! Click on the image above to buy the book if you’d like (affiliate link).
The Sauces
At this point, you may be asking yourself “I thought this was a blog about making sauces?” It is! I wanted to provide you with the WHY behind these sauces being able to fix any failed recipe.
Each sauce will provide three of the four essential elements, those being salt, fat, and acid. It will still be up to you for the heat. My philosophy: When in doubt, go low and slow. You can always increase the heat later if it is not cooking properly. Things can get out of hand fast if you crank the heat too high (see Thanksgiving example above)!
Don’t get your knickers in a twist when you see how many ingredients are in the above picture! That is for three separate sauces. You most likely already have some of the ingredients lying around the house as well.
You can choose to just make one of these sauces, but why not make all three?! #Options
First off, the multi-purpose sauce Creamy Honey-Dijon! This sauce combines olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and honey with red wine vinegar and lemon juice, creating a perfect honey-dijon base recipe!
After that, I decided to add feta cheese to thicken the sauce (and who doesn’t like cheese??). Then I finished with garlic and shallot to provide that extra punch of flavor.
While this Pomegranate Sauce was originally created as a vinaigrette for salads, don’t count it out as a topping for fish or chicken!
You will begin by thawing out the pomegranate seeds if they are frozen. Throw the bag in a bowl of warm water to speed up this process.
Pomegranate’s flavor profile is fairly tart, with a hint of sweetness, similar to a cranberry. Add honey to round out the sweetness level (you may need a bit more). Then balance all of the flavors with your olive oil base and acidity.
The acidity I chose for this sauce includes lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and white balsamic vinegar. Feel free to use a regular black balsamic, keeping in mind it will be darker in color. Finish with some salt, and you have just arrived at flavor town!
We have now arrived at my personal favorite of the three sauces: Berry Balsamic! While this is also great as a vinaigrette for salads, I also love using it overtop grain bowls, and even with scrambled eggs!
I have found that combining a tart and a sweet berry pairs well with the other ingredients in the sauce. Saying that, I like using blackberries and blueberries. Feel free to mix and match, or even stick with one berry.
As always, begin with your base of olive oil, honey and acidity. For the acidity this go around, I chose Dijon mustard and white balsamic vinegar. I also added a wild card ingredient: Tamari. This adds an even deeper flavor to the sauce. Tamari is a gluten-free version of soy sauce, so feel free to sub here.
I finished the sauce with the ever-present salt and pepper, then added garlic for an added punch at the end.
Thanks for sticking with me until the end! Definitely give one of these sauces a try the next time you overcook a piece of salmon, or even just because! 😉
My Three Favorite Saucy Vinaigrettes
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
Ingredients
Pomegranate Sauce
- 3/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds thawed if frozen
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Raw Honey
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Creamy Honey Dijon Sauce
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Shallot minced
- 1/4 cup Lemon Juice fresh
- 1/4 cup Feta Cheese crumbled
- 2 tbsps Red Wine Vinegar
- 3 tbsps Raw Honey
- 1.5 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 tsps Lemon Zest
- 4 Garlic Cloves grated
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Berry Balsamic Sauce
- 3/4 cup Blackberries fresh
- 1/4 cup Blueberries fresh
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup White Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Raw Honey
- 2 tbsps Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp Tamari
- 4 Garlic Cloves minced
- Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Using a large food processor or high-powered blender, blend all ingredients starting on low. Then gradually increase to high for 30-60 seconds.
Recipe Notes
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to substitute regular balsamic vinegar for white balsamic. This will just make it a darker color.
- Feel free to sub regular soy sauce for tamari if you are not worrying about gluten-free ingredients.
- Each sauce yields roughly 8 servings. A serving equals 2 tablespoons.
Nutrition
Creamy Honey-Dijon
Pomegranate
Berry Balsamic
