HALLIE EPHRON: Recently there was
a piece in the New York Times with recipes for things you should make not buy.
Here’s the list.
Take the test: how many do you make not buy?
1. Marinara sauce
2. Chocolate chip cookies
3. Salad dressing
4. Cupcakes
5. Mac and cheese
6. Ice cream
7. Brownies
8. Ketchup
9. Pickles
10. Chocolate pudding
11. Pizza
12. Pancakes
13. Biscuits
14. Chocolate sauce
15. Mayonnaise
16. Layer cake
17. Pad thai
18. Mustard
19. Bread
20. Corn muffins
21. Hummus
22. Chocolate truffles
23. Granola
24. Jam
25. English muffins
Now I consider
myself a fussy cook and I like to think that I cook healthy, thriftily, and mostly from scratch. But from scratch I make only 8 of the things on this list. Seven since I tried my Stop ‘n’
Shop’s upscale store brand “Nature’s Promise” marinara sauce.(The ingredients list has nothing I can't pronounce and it tastes really as good as mine, if not better.)
I used to make my own hummus, too. And have never made a from-scratch cake that tasted as good as Duncan Hines Devils Food. I do make my own cake icing. It's easy and store-bought is gross. And I make my own pie crust, same reason.
But ketchup or mayo or mustard? I am devoted to Caine's and Heinz and Grey Poupon. But here are a few of the easy things I make as from as "scratch" as I get.
Tartar sauce
Mix together mayo
and your favorite pickle relish.
That's it.
Russian dressing
Mix together that
tartar sauce you just made with ketchup.
That's it.
And a quick Hollandaise
sauce that really is from scratch.
1/2 stick butter
1 egg
Juice of half a
lemon
Cayenne
STEPS (there are a few):
Melt the butter in
a small heavy-bottomed sauce pan over low heat.
Whisk the egg with
the lemon juice and add to the melted butter.
Whisk over
low/medium heat (WATCH IT! Or you'll end up with scrambled eggs) until it thickens.
Add cayenne to taste.
Delicious over
salmon, asparagus, or broccoli; or add some chopped fresh tarragon (a little goes a long way) and it’s great on a
grilled steak or lamb chops.
And THE best from scratch granola, can't match it anywhere is Lucy's Good for Anything Granola.
What do you make from scratch and what are you content with getting packaged?
