Horseradish is one of the five bitter herbs of the Jewish Passover.

 Thoroughly mix together in a small bowl:

● ½ cup ketchup

● ½ cup chili sauce

● ¼ cup finely grated fresh horseradish (or 4 tbsp. prepared horseradish)

● ½ teaspoon hot sauce

● ¼ Old Bay seasoning

● ¼ freshly ground black pepper

● Juice from 1 lemon, freshly squeezed

Serve at room temperature.

Makes around 1 cup.

The winner of the 1985 Belmont Stakes was a gelding named Creme Fraiche.

● 1 cup heavy cream, warmed to 100° F (avoid ultra pasteurized) 

● 1 tbsp. sour cream or cultured buttermilk (I have had the most success with sour cream.  Again, avoid ultra pasteurized.) 

Combine ingredients in a jar and allow to sit, loosely covered, at room temperature for 12-24 hours before refrigerating. 

Crème fraîche will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

The fresher the snow you use, the smoother the texture.

• 1 cup heavy cream 

• ½-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or Kahlúa 

• ½ cup sugar 

• 1 large bowl of fresh, CLEAN snow 

Whisk together the first three ingredients in a bowl.  Add the snow to the mixture in doses and stir until smooth and creamy. 

Can be topped with chocolate syrup and/or maraschino cherries if desired.

Honey-mustard also makes a tasty sandwich spread.

Whisk together thoroughly in a bowl:

• ¾ cup good quality honey (the darker, the better)

• ½ cup Dijon mustard

• 4 tbsp. white wine vinegar

• Ground red pepper to taste

Makes around 1½ cups

For a thinner dressing, whisk in extra-virgin olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.

Topping the Caesar with grilled chicken or shrimp transforms it from a side salad into a main course.

Boil gently (coddle) for 1-2 minutes:

2 large eggs

Add coddled eggs to an ice water bath to halt cooking

Make a paste from smashing and finely chopping together:

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry

Whisk in:

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 large coddled eggs

Stream in, while whisking

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a salad bowl, toss the dressing with:

2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

2 or more cups homemade croutons

Top salad with:

½ cup quality Parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved

Serve immediately on chilled plates

For a Roy Rogers, switch the amounts of the lemon-lime soda and ginger ale.

4 ounces lemon-lime soda
2 ounces ginger ale
1 teaspoon grenadine
1 maraschino cherry
1 orange slice

Pour the lemon-lime soda, ginger ale, and grenadine into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Garnish with the cherry and the orange slice.

Clorox purchased the Hidden Valley Ranch brand in 1972 for $8 million.

Make a paste from smashing and finely chopping together:

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 pinches of kosher salt

Whisk paste together with:

• ½ cup buttermilk

• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley leaves, minced

• 1 tbsp. fresh dill, finely chopped

• 1 tbsp. fresh chives, snipped

• 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

• 1 scallion, trimmed and finely sliced

• ½ cup mayonnaise (add 1 tsp. of white wine vinegar if using store-bought mayo.)

• ½ cup sour cream

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For a thicker dressing, add mayo or sour cream.

For a thinner dressing, add buttermilk

Use before the expiration dates of the buttermilk and sour cream.

A tuna salad sandwich on pumpernickel rye.

• 6 0z. tuna in water, drained and flaked (or leftover grilled tuna)

• ½ cup kosher dill pickles, diced

• ¼ cup mayonnaise

• 1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1 splash white wine vinegar

• ½ tsp. garlic powder

• 1 tbsp. white onion, diced (optional)

• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced (optional)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and refrigerate until cold.  Leftover tuna salad tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had time to mingle.

Not a seed to be found.

  Many times you’ll run across a recipe that calls for seeded tomatoes.  If you are new to cooking, you might not know that there are things you can do to make this process easier.  It will also save you time in the long run.

  First, if there is a trick to seeding a tomato it’s in the slicing.  Make sure you cut the tomato in half across its  ”equator.”  If you cut from top to bottom only a few of the seed containing chambers will be exposed.

  Next, you scoop the seeds out of each individual chamber.  A spoon or small melon baller can be used, but I find the easiest and most effective tool is a clean finger.

  Another way to remove the seeds is to squeeze the tomato cut side down over a trash bin.  While squeezing is a little faster, it will sometimes leave a few seeds behind and crush the tomato.  If there are many tomatoes to be seeded and appearance isn’t important, (like for a sauce) this method may be preferrable.

Mayo mixed with capers, chopped gherkins and fresh dill makes tartar sauce.

  Though the recipe is modified, I found that Alton Brown’s method was the easiest way to get a good emulsion going.  If there are any concerns about using raw eggs, pasteurized eggs can be substituted.  All ingredients should be at room temperature.

•  ½ tsp. white pepper

•  ½ tsp. salt (not Kosher)

•  2 pinches sugar

•  ½ tsp. dry mustard

•  1 tsp. English or Dijon mustard

•  2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

•  1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

•  1 cup corn oil

•  1 egg yolk

In a glass bowl, whisk together the yolk and the dry ingredients.

Combine lemon juice, vinegar and English mustard in a separate bowl then thoroughly whisk half into the yolk mixture.

Whisking quickly, slowly add oil until the liquid thickens and lightens.

Stream oil in until half is left, then add the rest of the lemon juice mixture.

Whisk in the rest of the oil.

Refrigerate for up to one week.

  If the mayonnaise separates, place a fresh egg yolk in a bowl and slowly whisk in the broken mixture.