A Little Sauce on the Side

Recipes for amazingly easy and tasty condiments

Let me set the scene.

It was the holiday season and our daughter, Lindsay, was home for a week. As we typically do on Saturdays, I had plans of whipping up a hot breakfast with huckleberry pancakes (berries I had frozen from the fall), bacon and lots of coffee. When I went to grab the syrup from the cupboard, I discovered we didn’t have enough.

Not to worry! I did some searching and found a recipe in one of the cookbooks handed down from my mother. Lo and behold, it was tastier than the syrup that we’ve used for years.

Just another example of why homemade is best. Don’t get me wrong. I do use shortcuts and buy some seasonings and sauces to help make prep time a little easier and quicker. There are, however, some things I like to make myself. I find that especially true with extras like cocktail or tartar sauces. We seldom use them fast enough and we find the expiration date hits before we see the bottom of the jar. Not to mention that all those jars can build up, bringing a bunch of clutter to my refrigerator.

By making a few of these condiments and sauces myself, I have fresh-tasting recipes with no waste and no unwanted fridge clutter.

Let me also add some tips on the frozen huckleberries (or blueberries) I depend on. If I cannot use the berries fresh, I wash them and pat them dry, spread them out in a single layer on an aluminum-foil-lined rimmed cookie sheet and freeze them. After a couple of hours, when the berries are frozen, I pick up the edges of the foil, slip them into a Ziploc freezer bag and pop them back in the freezer. The berries are ready to use, as many or as few as I need.

And for perfect huckleberry pancakes, I use my favorite buttermilk pancake recipe and sprinkle in the berries after the cakes are poured out on the griddle. That way I get the berries placed just where I want them.

Mix….and enjoy!

PANCAKE SYRUP
~From the kitchen of Kay Erickson

½ c. hot water
½ c. granulated sugar, 1 c. light brown sugar
2 T. white corn syrup
½ t. vanilla

Combine the water, sugars and white corn syrup in a saucepan, stir well over low heat until sugars are dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium heat, boiling for roughly 7 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve hot or let cool. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

TARTAR SAUCE
~From the kitchen of Kay Erickson

½ c. mayonnaise or regular Greek yogurt
1½ T. dill relish
1 T. capers
Drop or two of Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper

Combine the mayo (or Greek yogurt), dill relish, capers, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and chill.