Further Adventures in Sauces: As the reader of Essential Puree knows, the sauce is the big secret to making outstanding puree. The sauce, as I never tire of saying, is the medium of flavor. This daring pink remoulade is perfect for summer dishes of all kinds.
Use pink remoulade on julienned celery root for the classic French salad. It is excellent as a substitute for coleslaw when used on a combo of julienned jicama, Asian pear and apple (granny smith or gala), with a little carrot thrown in for color.
Deelish on lightly steamed broccoli with the addition of green raisins and chopped walnuts for a great summer salad.
Use it with rice salad and steamed veggies and tofu.
It makes a great base for the puree of fruit salad, including cherries, berries, mango, papaya, melon, grapes, pineapple, anything and everything that is in season.
I like it on a bit of soft-baked or steamed fish. The Secret Pink Remoulade Sauce works extremely well as a puree medium for protein. Add some lightly steamed greens to fish and remoulade to boost the nutrition.
The sauce falls under the category of Regional Texas Cuisine, a sub-group of American comfort food which is the focus of the Guidebook.
How did a Florida girl get a Texas sauce for her blog, you might well ask.
I recently visited friends in the historic vacation town of Rockport, Texas, where families from all over Texas have come for generations to get the air, the boating and fishing and the light which looks like the white light in the South of France or the light on Martha’s Vineyard.
I caught up with B. D. Burch, a noted hostess from Corpus Christi, whom I have had the pleasure to know for decades. B. D. is a looker, even in her nineties. B. D. Is petite. ( B. D. stands for Baby Doll, a nickname given to her by her late husband.)
As the Texas gang I know from San Antonio are all great connoisseurs of food, I convinced B. D. to let me have her recipe for remoulade. This is a well-guarded secret, because it has a tiny bit of a kick and benefits from lemon juice, fresh of course.
B. D.’s Secret Pink Remoulade
Ingredients
- Take some good mayo, the kind with the lemon, 1 cup
- 1 tsp. brown mustard, smooth not grain
- Squeeze a clove of garlic in a press (optional)
- Dash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
- Dash of ketchup
- Lemon juice, fresh, 2 Tbsp. (or to taste)
- 2 teaspoons of paprika (or to taste)
- 3 Tbsp. water for best consistency, added a little at a time
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until it has a smooth consistency, add a little water if need be, and adjust all ingredients to taste.
B.D. says, “Do not measure.” She says it is better when she is there while it is being made and is available to be flown in for the occasion.
Tip: Homemade mayo is obviously the best of all if you have time to drizzle olive oil into a food processor or whisk it in the time-honored way. You can easily get a recipe for homemade mayonnaise from the Food Network website.
If you do not have the time to drizzle or whisk, use a good store-bought mayo.
In keeping with the Essential Puree’s philosophy of healthy, clean eating, may I suggest an option, a product from a California company called The Ojai Cook.
Lemonaise is a healthy substitute for mayo. There is absolutely no sacrifice of flavor or texture. I think it tastes better than Hellman’s, but has fewer calories and cholesterol.
Find it locally in whole foods stores, but if you cannot find it, here is the link for ordering online: Lemonaise