Condiment

Cashew Butter Dipping Sauce

June 1, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

I came across a recipe for this Vietnamese-style cashew dipping sauce over at Steamy Kitchen. It looked awesome so I knew I had to give it a try. I ended up doing a few things differently from the original recipe but it turned out really well! You could easily change the sauce’s flavor by using peanut butter to use with other recipes. I used chili oil and sriracha to change things up a bit and I thought it tasted great! My favorite part was the combination of the garlic and hoisin sauce with the cashew butter. It was a match made in heaven!

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Olive and Caper Tapenade

May 25, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Tapenade is a ground mixture of olives, capers, and garlic. The ingredients are mixed together with olive oil until they form a paste. I thought tapenade was an Italian food but it turns out it comes from southern France. Sometimes anchovy paste and herbs are added to it as well depending on the region. Usually it’s served on bread or eaten as a condiment but I thought it would be great on a sandwich. I really liked the flavors of the tapenade and it was even better on the Grilled Eggplant Panini.

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Black Bean and Sweet Corn Salsa

May 21, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

There’s this great Mexican restaurant nearby that serves black bean salsa with corn chips before the main course. I have been wanting to recreate this salsa because it’s hard to stop eating it. The salsa is easy to throw together and has great flavor. It works nicely as a condiment for chips or in tacos, burritos, tostadas, etc. The spiciness can be dialed down by adding fewer jalapenos and cayenne or increased by adding serrano peppers which are quite a bit spicier. The corn provides an element of sweetness and the white and green onions a good amount of texture and crunch. I think the recreation of the restaurant’s salsa was a success because once again it was hard to put the bowl down and save room for dinner!

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Irish Coleslaw

May 5, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

This Irish styled coleslaw is a simple vinaigrette based mixture of cabbage, apples, chives, and carrots. The vinaigrette is composed of rapeseed oil, cider vinegar, grainy Irish mustard and sugar. It’s an easy process of grating the ingredients and tossing them in the vinaigrette. The result is fresh with flavors of sweetness and tartness from the apples and vinegar. I’ve always wanted to try coleslaw without mayo and I really enjoyed it. It’s a lot less heavy than mayonnaise based coleslaw. It worked really nicely as an accompaniment for my Corned Beef on Rye sandwich.

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Kimchi (Korean Fermented Cabbage)

April 26, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Kimchi is a Korean dish made with fermented Napa Cabbage, Red Pepper, and Garlic. I have heard a lot of good things about Kimchi and I couldn’t wait to try it. The red pepper is a Korean crushed red pepper called gochugaru and can be found in Korean or asian markets. The fish sauce is easy to find and most grocery stores carry it. Kimchi is great as a condiment or a side dish for many different Korean foods. The cabbage needs about a week to ferment and once that’s done you can enjoy it! Kimchi is fairly spicy and has a really unique flavor. The great thing about Kimchi is that the more it ages the better it gets so you can make a large batch and keep it in the refrigerator for about a month.

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Sesame and Ginger Red Salsa

April 25, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

It has been in my head for a few days to try some tex-mex/Korean fusion dishes. This salsa is a great start because it combines elements of Korean cooking in a standard tomato based salsa. This recipe is anything but standard as the flavors are really dynamic and tasty! It takes a little bit longer to prepare as the tomatoes, jalapenos, and tomatillos roast for about 15 minutes. Gochujang is used in this salsa, giving it a nice spicy/smoky flavor. The garlic, ginger, sesame oil and seeds also provide great flavors in this salsa. After roasting everything, the ingredients are strained and thrown in a food processor or blender to puree.

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Cilantro and Lime Salsa

April 24, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

This is a simple and easy condiment that can go on almost any taco, burrito, or tex-mex dish. The salsa is fresh and clean with just a hint of olive oil. It would go great with chips as well.

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Gochujang (Korean Red Pepper Paste)

March 31, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Gochujang is a fermented chili paste made from red pepper powder and is used in a lot of Korean dishes. The great thing about this recipe is that it makes a lot and can be stored for up to a year in the refrigerator. It isn’t too hard to make, but it does take some time to acquire the right ingredients. I could not find soybean flour/powder at the local grocery store so I bought it at an asian market instead. Malt powder is the same thing as “malted milk powder” which can be found at the grocery store. Glutinous rice powder is the same as rice flour and I bought the “mochiko” brand which worked nicely. I am letting the jars sit out in the sun for a few days to ferment and age properly. Right away, the gochujang had a nice spicy and sweet flavor so I can only expect it to get better with age.

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Maple Butter

March 1, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Maple butter can be made two ways..with a candy thermometer and boiling syrup or with a mixer. I went with the mixer which is a somewhat simpler method. The result was a fluffy, whipped butter with a strong maple flavor. Use real maple syrup, not the artificial stuff. This butter is perfect as a spread on breads, scones, or muffins.

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Moroccan Yogurt and Dill Dip

February 22, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Recently I made some sweet and spicy Moroccan potato fries and I wanted something to offset the spiciness of that dish. I came up with a cooling yogurt dip with dill and anise seed. Do not be fooled by its similar appearance to ranch dressing. It’s closer in flavor to the Greek tzatziki than ranch dressing. The combination of dill and anise almost give it a minty taste that is very refreshing. This dip cooled down the spicy fries very well, and I’m sure I will be using this recipe again on other Moroccan dishes!

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