From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a really nice recipe to have in your hopper. It can make a plain barbecue downright fancy and, best of all, the sauce can be made ahead of time and simply reheated when needed. The original recipe came the the Drury Lane Dinner Theater in Chicago, and I have slightly altered it to deepen the flavors of the sauce. I dry saute the mushrooms to intensify their flavor and I've added rosemary and parsley to my version of the recipe. I've also used a double-strength stock that's made by reducing several cups of broth to concentrate its flavor, and I've been known to make this truly sinful by adding heavy cream at the end of cooking. The sauce can be kept for several days in the refrigerator, though it will thicken and you'll have to add additional stock to get the consistency you want. I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. I know you will like it. Here is how the sauce is made.
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a fast, easy and delicious recipe that just can't fail. The making of caramel sauce can be fraught with drama, but this simple recipe, developed by The Slow Roasted Italian will end all of that. Her recipe and gorgeous photographs can be found here. I can add nothing to it, but I did want to talk to you about cooking the sauce. I let it begin to steam before I set the timer for 5 minutes. My sauce also required an extra 3 minutes to thicken in the last step of the recipe. At that point it lightly napped a spoon. The sauce will not truly thicken until it is refrigerated and the butter sets it up, so don't be alarmed if your sauce looks runny at this point. Once made and brought to room temperature the sauce can be refrigerated and will keep for there for a week. You will love it. Here it is how it is made.
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you don't hear from me tomorrow, we'll all know that uncooked elderberries are poisonous. I've only recently become interested in the berries which grow on the shoulder along the road the Silver Fox and I use for our morning walk. We've watched the shrub progress from flower to fruit, and, after doing a bit of research and talking with our local extension agent, I decided to harvest some of the berries for limited kitchen testing. Elderberries are tart members of the honeysuckle family. There are three varieties that grow in North America, two are blue and one is red. Their color is important. The red berries are poisonous if eaten raw. Fortunately, I'd been sampling the blue variety and lived to tell the tale. Interestingly, the berries, which are smaller than blueberries or raspberries, don't attract birds. They are bitter, almost astringent, and don't develop real flavor until they are processed. They are mostly used in jams and jellies, but they can add complexity and tannins to wine. They also mix well with other fruits and are used to add color and tart-sweet flavor to compatible fruit desserts. The elderberry is small in the extreme, and separating the berries from their stems is no easy task, but it can be made easier by freezing them prior to stem removal. I decided to pair the berries I'd picked with blueberries and made a pie and muffins that were OK, but nothing to raise the flag about. I had better luck with the sauce which I want to share with you tonight. While I used it as a sauce for pork cutlets, it would be wonderful with any assertive protein. I think those of you who try the sauce will really enjoy it. The trick, of course, will be finding elderberries you need to make it. The recipe falls into the stupid-simple category, so no elaboration is necessary. If you are intrigued, pucker up and follow the instructions below. Here is how the sauce is made.
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