Butters, Dips, Dressings & Sauces



Cashew Butter

1 16 oz pkg Raw Whole Cashews

6 tablespoons warmed coconut oil

1. Place cashews in food processor.

2. Blend on low while slowly streaming in warm coconut oil.

3. Blend on high until reaching desired consistency, stopping to scrape sides
of bowl occasionally.

Almond Butter

2 cups almonds                                                   Just a few ingredients,

1/4 teaspoon salt                                                some patience and

2-4 tablespoon coconut oil, warmed               lots of scraping :-)

Food Processor and SPATULA

1. Process  almonds and salt until they become the consistency of almond flour.
2. Pour in warm coconut oil.
3. Continue processing, scraping often, until you have almond butter.
     It took longer than I thought it would but worth it!

Make various flavors by adding cocoa, honey or cinnamon.

Salad Dressing



• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon stevia                                        Mix well. Refrigerate.
• 1 teaspoon sea salt                                    
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard                      Make it your own
• 2 cups plain greek yogurt                           with your favorite spices.

Thousand Island Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise              1/3 cup chili sauce
1 chopped scallion              8 dashes Tabasco sauce
1  tbsp sweet relish            1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

If using up within a day or two I add 1 chopped hard boiled egg.

Mix all ingredients together well. Refrigerate  4-6 hours overnight to let flavors marry.

* When I have them I chop up some of my refrigerator pickles/onions in place of relish/scallion.
* This is a recipe I got in High School Home Economics.

Hollandaise Sauce
Made in my blender. Not as thick as the original version
but much quicker with a lot less clean up.

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 tablespoons salted butter (or Ghee and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt)
• pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

1. Melt the butter in microwave.
2. Add egg yolks and lemon juice into your blender. Blend on high until the egg yolk lightens to a light yellow color. About 20-30 seconds.
3. Slowly drizzle the hot butter into your egg yolks while your blender is running.
4. You may add more lemon juice if you prefer more lemon flavor in your hollandaise, as well.
5. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to final hollandaise sauce (optional)

Low Fat Alfredo Sauce

• 2 cups chicken broth, almond milk or a combination of the two
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 6 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

               Salt ~ White Pepper ~ Cayenne Pepper

1. In medium saucepan, over low heat, whisk together broth and garlic powder.
2. Mix in cream cheese and 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese.
3. Simmer 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Mix in remaining parmesan cheese.
5. Season to taste with the salt and peppers.

Classic Hot Fudge Sauce                                

·         3/4 cup heavy cream

·         1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

·         1/4 cup cocoa

·         1/2 cup light corn syrup

·         6 oz high-quality milk chocolate, finely chopped

·         1 tbsp salted butter

·         1/2 tsp pure vanilla extractIn a saucepan, combine the heavy cream, sugar, cocoa, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook an additional 30 seconds. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate ( a little at a time ) and the butter. Continue stirring until mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Store in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. 

Southern Praline Sauce

·         1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

·         8 Tablespoons butter (divided)

·         1 1/2 cups brown sugar

·         3 Tablespoons flour

·         3/4 cup light corn syrup

·         2/3 cup evaporated milk

·         Makes 3 cups of sauce.

     Place chopped pecans in a microwave dish with 4 Tbls butter. Cook for 8 – 10 minutes, stirring several times. Watch the pecans closely.

In another microwave safe bowl place 4 Tbls butter and heat until melted. Whisk in brown sugar, flour, and light corn syrup until blended. Cook on high 6-8 minutes, stirring twice, until the sugar is dissolved.   Add in 2/3 cup evaporated milk and the pecans, stir well.

Pour into jars. Keep sauce refrigerated and reheat slightly in microwave to pour over ice cream.

Divine Caramel Sauce

•  1/4 cup water
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. butter, cut in pieces
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1 t. vanilla
• pinch of salt

In a small, heavy saucepan, slowly combine the sugar and water, taking care not to let any of the mixture splash up onto the sides of the pan. Set the pan over low heat and stir the mixture gently until the sugar is dissolved, 6-10 minutes. Again, don't stir vigorously or else the syrup will splash onto the sides of the pan which can cause crystallization issues later. To be sure the sugar is dissolved, I'll dip a spoon in the sugar mixture and then gently slide my finger over the mixture on the spoon and take a taste. If the sugar is dissolved, the syrup will be smooth and not at all grainy. If you still feel grains of sugar, keep stirring over low heat until it is completely dissolved. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved before letting the mixture come to a boil. If you notice any sugar particles on the sides of the pan, gently wash them down with a clean wet pastry brush. As the caramel boils, it can crystallize if those undissolved sugar particles get incorporated into the caramel.
       Once the sugar is completely dissolved, increase the heat to medium or medium-high and bring the syrup to a boil. Cover the saucepan and let the syrup boil for 2 minutes. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to boil, without stirring, until the edges start to turn golden brown. It is critical not to stir the caramel during stage while it boils covered and then turns a light golden color because this is where it is most likely to crystallize if it is going to do so. Again, the crystallization happens due to undissolved sugar grains and other possible substances that fall into the syrup while it is boiling. By not stirring, the syrup doesn't move around as much which reduces the chances of any undissolved sugar granules falling into the caramel. 
      When the syrup has turned light golden brown,  gently stir the syrup or until it turns deep amber, caramel color. This takes about 5-7 minutes. Do not stir vigorously and or scrape sides of the pan while stirring. Simply move the spoon or rubber spatula slowly over and around the bottom of the pan.
      Remove from the heat and add the butter. Gently stir until the butter is incorporated. Stir in the cream. If the sauce becomes lumpy and isn’t whisking together, set the pan over the still-warm burner and stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt. 
      Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature. Store the sauce in a jar or airtight container, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.



Giardiniera
My first attempt.  Needs tweaking but not bad.



• 6 jalapeno peppers, diced
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 1 celery rib, diced
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1/2 head cauliflower, stems removed and florets chopped
• 1 5 ounce jar green olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup salt
• 3-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano flakes
• 1-1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
• black pepper
• 1-1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1-1/2 cups olive oil

UPDATE..... Second batch I added about 1/2 cup chopped yellow banana pepper.  Really kicked up the flavor.

1.  Mix all of the veggies in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix until well combined.
2.  Pour in enough water to cover vegetables. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
3.  Drain the water and rinse vegetables under cold water to remover some of the salt.
4.  In a small bowl combine the garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, celery seed and a pinch of black pepper.
5.  Add the vinegar to the bowl and stir until combined. Then slowly whisk in the oil.
6.  Spoon the vegetable into jars (my batch made 2 quarts) and top with the oil and vinegar mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 48 hours.

* I have found absolutely no consistency in how to store or for how long it will last. SO, for now I have mine vacuum sealed and in the fridge. Will see how long it lasts that way. I have a feeling it will be gone before it has a chance to spoil   :-)

* I cleaned out too much membrane and seeds from my jalapeno peppers. This batch didn't turn out hot/spicy enough.  (More like pickled veggies really.)  I will be braver next batch!

* Several recipes that I found call for garlic but I left it out as I also found this information..... 'Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism toxin.' I have kept mine in the fridge but I still decided better safe than sorry.

* Another ingredient I am going to add next batch is capers. The recipe I saw them in says.... be careful, capers have a very intense flavor so only a small amount is necessary.