Kate's Global Kitchen: Savory-Sweet Sauces for Spring

the appetizer:

Kate shows how savory and sweet sauces can save any menu and offers some tips on making Potato Soup. She also suggests Oscar and St. Patrick's Day party-related recipes in What To Eat This Month.

Savory-Sweet Sauces for Spring

by Kate Heyhoe

The secret really is in the sauce, especially when these quick, savory-sweet sauces come to the table.

Sauce

Spring entertaining often means holiday roasts, buffets, and special desserts. If you want to put a modern spin on your traditional menu, without spending a lot of time or money, I've got some sweet ideas...sauces that are a bit sweet and a touch savory. Some are good over desserts (homemade or not), others work well drizzled over, napped around, and tucked under ham, roasted meats, roasted root vegetables, and platters of assorted cheeses and fruits. (Try them on our Easter and Passover recipes, as well as your family favorites).

Like many folks, I'm too busy to bake, and when it comes to pastry, I'm all thumbs. But I recently discovered even I could churn out a fabulous dessert, just by making a sauce. A no-holds-barred, down and dirty, decadent and delightful sauce to pour over everything from strawberry ice cream to Sarah Lee Streudel. Or lick up shamelessly, straight from the bowl.

I also started turning sweet sauces into savory ones that taste remarkably good with simple sautéed chicken or pork. Or paired with roasted vegetables, or robust goat cheeses. In fact, they can add an upscale gourmet quality to everyday recipes in minutes.

What can you do with a savory-sweet sauce?...

Decorate a plate (drizzle, splash, feather, sprinkle, and pool)
Serve with grilled, roasted, or pan-fried meats, poultry and salmon
Pour over ice cream or stir into yogurt
Dress up a fruit salad
Soak into pound cake, ladyfingers, biscotti, or bread pudding
Drizzle on roasted root vegetables and cauliflower
Pool under fresh, poached, or grilled fruit
Make French toast go ooh-la-la
Brush as a glaze onto corn or breakfast muffins
Complement a cheese tray with a sweet surprising contrast

Kate's Savory-Sweet Sauce Recipes

Other Savory-Sweet Recipes

Comforting Potato Soup

When cold weather hits or I crave cozy comfort food, I whip up a pot of potato soup. Nothing could be simpler than potato soup, and you don't really need a recipe. But I've listed my own Basic Potato Soup recipe below as a guide to improvising your own. All of the measurements are general and can be tweaked, and the soup's personality lies in the variations you create.

Sometimes I make the soup in hot weather, too, and it becomes Vichyssoise (French cold potato soup), or simply when I notice a 5-pound bag of potatoes heading south, and needing to be cooked soon or tossed later.

Essentially, all you need to do is sauté diced leek or onion (and sometimes celery) in a fat (butter, olive oil, or bacon grease, for instance). Add diced potatoes and simmer until tender in liquid to cover (chicken or vegetable broth; or milk, for chowder, or a mixture; or plain water). Be sure the liquid has plenty of salt; potatoes taste bland without it. Then blend the soup until pureed, leaving some chunks if you like; use a handblender or potato masher to break up the potatoes in the same pot, if you prefer not to decant the hot liquid.

Russet potatoes (baking potatoes) make great pureed soup, and so do Yukon Golds. Red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes are waxier, and good for chowders as they hold their shape better.

Basic Potato Soup (below) is like a blank canvas. Get creative and flavor it as you like, such as with garlic, sausage, ham, bacon, steak, clams, herbs, cheese and vegetables. Paprika and pepper kick up the profile, cream adds richness and body, and dollops of sour cream or yogurt add tang.

Want more tips on potatoes? Check out these links for lots of handy advice.

Kate's Basic Potato Soup

Serves 4

I add a splash of dry sherry or white balsamic vinegar at the end of cooking, to give the soup some high notes and brighten the flavors, but you can skip this step if you like. You can also simmer the soup with bay leaves or thyme, or top with a touch of nutmeg, or chopped green onions or celery leaves, at serving. Use waxy potatoes for a chunky soup or chowder.

2 tablespoons butter, bacon fat, or olive oil
1 large onion, diced (or 2 cleaned leeks)
2 ribs celery, diced (optional)
1-1/2 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes (2 large potatoes)
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth, or water)
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1-2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar or dry sherry (optional)
Pepper, preferably white pepper, to taste

Melt the butter or other fat in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, broth, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes). For a smooth soup, puree with an immersion blender or let the soup cool and blend in a blender (be careful not to burn yourself). For a chunky soup, skip the pureeing and serve as is. Add pepper to taste.

Potato Soup Variations

Cream—Add 1/4 to 1 cup cream, depending on the richness you desire.
Sour Cream or Yogurt—Stir in at serving, or add at the end and simmer without boiling, or they may curdle.
Baked Potato Soup—Stir in leftover chopped up baked potatoes, and simmer just long enough for the flavors to blend (about 10 minutes). Leave chunky. Top with bacon, sour cream, and chives.
Vichyssoise—Chill the soup and serve cold with a dollop of sour cream if you like, and minced chives.
Cheddar—Stir in shredded cheddar at the end of cooking and stir until melted.
Broccoli—Cooked, chopped broccoli with cheddar or sour cream makes a hearty potato soup.

Chinese Chicken Salad