I know, shame on me.

For several years now, I have been making my own cocktail sauce so we always have horseradish on hand.  You can purchase fresh grated horseradish in a jar and it’s typically located in the refrigerated section where the shredded cheeses and dips are.  This is not horseradish sauce but fresh horseradish.  Make sure you read the label when you’re purchasing it so you don’t buy the wrong thing by accident.

I buy the HUGE bottles of it because now I can’t get enough horseradish.  A few years back we were having some prime rib for Christmas dinner and I decided to make some cream sauce to go along with it.  We loved it so much that now anytime we have beef (especially grilled steaks), horseradish cream sauce is always made.

It’s super easy and best if you make it ahead of time and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Andrea’s Horseradish Cream Sauce

• 2% Greek Yogurt (you can use sour cream if you want)
• Whole Grain Mustard
• Grated Horseradish

Mix in a bowl and serve!

Crazy simple, right?  No measurements because it depends on how much you need to make and what your taste preferences are.  We like it very spicy and horseradish-y so I use a big heaping spoonful of the mustard and several heaping spoonfuls of the horseradish.

This tastes amazing with steak. The crispy cooked ends and warm earthy tones of beef paired with the cool burn of the sauce are one of my favorite combos, hands down.

This sauce also goes well with grilled veggies and baked potatoes.  And also great sauce for dipping oven fries!  Basically it works well with a lot of stuff.

Do you like horseradish? Have you ever had a cream sauce paired with beef or veggies?

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

Comments: 2

Chipotle Glaze

This was another idea I came up with while working and thinking about what to make for dinner.  At least I’m a great multitasker!  Scott and I love fish and seafood.  Because it’s such a great protein source along with all the other goodies it contains, I try to make sure we get fish at least twice a week.  We were having salmon one night and I wanted a different way to serve it up.  I usually marinade the salmon in a teriyaki mixture because it takes to that flavor so well.  But this time I wanted something a little different.

Since I’ve been working on my heat tolerance level, I decided to try something new with the salmon by creating a sweet and spicy glaze.  Glazes aren’t something I really work with too much and I thought it was about time I changed that up.  I pulled out some chipotles and put together this really great tasting glaze.

Andrea’s Chipotle Glaze

• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce
• 1/2 TBSP of the adobo sauce
• 1TBSP honey
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2TBSP soy sauce
• 2tsp grill seasoning (salt free!)
• 1/2tsp smoked paparika
• 1/2tsp garlic powder
• 1tsp olive oil
• 1tsp of lime juice
• Pinch sea salt

Put all ingredients in a mini-food processor and pulse until a nice thick sauce is formed.

Simple right?  And this glaze could be used on anything from tofu to chicken. I used it on salmon steaks and here’s what I did:

Chipotle Glazed Salmon

Andrea’s Chipotle Glazed Salmon

• 2 salmon steaks
• Chipotle glaze

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a cookie sheet with nonstick foil and place the salmon on top.  Brush the salmon with some of the glaze reserving about 1/3.  Allow the salmon to cook for a few minutes and then add the rest of the glaze.  Finish cooking the salmon, about 7-9 minutes total cook time. Allow to rest for a minute and serve!

The glaze worked exactly how I was expecting it too and it was so tasty!  I was a bit worried if it would be too spicy for me and it was not at all.  It was spicy and sweet, the prefect balance.  Completely full of flavor and made one of the best salmon dishes we’ve had yet.  The smokiness of the adobo sauce provided a nice background while the honey helped the glaze stick and provide nice carmelization as the salmon baked.

I wasn’t done with it though.  I wanted to know how this was going to work with something grilled.  An even bigger test.  I still wanted to work with seafood and decided to try this out on some shrimp, but how? I finally decided to make some shrimp and pineapple skewers.

Because I wasn’t brushing this on but using it as a quick marinade and coating, I needed to bump up the glaze amount a bit.  Here’s what I did:

Andrea’s Chipotle Glaze for marinading

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 chipotle peppers
• 1TBSP sauce (plus a pinch more)
• 1.5TBSP soy sauce
• 1TBSP honey
• 1.5 tsp olive oil
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1tsp smoked paprika
• 2tsp grill seasoning
• Pinch seasalt

Add all ingredients to a mini food processor and pulse until you get a sauce mixture.  By upping some of the ingredients, you get a little bit more of a sauce which makes it more appropriate for a marinade.  Seafood you only want to sit in the marinade for a few minutes. Things like pork, chicken, and steak can handle it for a bit longer.

Shrimp and pineapple skewers

Now I made shrimp and pineapple skewers with this and grilled.  Here’s what I did:

Andrea’s Chipotle Glazed Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers

• This makes 4 shrimp and pineapple skewers
• 1C pineapple chunks
• 1/2-1 lb of EZpeel shrimp
• Chipotle marinade

If you’re using bamboo or wooden skewers, soak them for about 15 minutes in water first.  Then rub them with a little bit of olive oil. This helps prevent food from sticking to them and from burning on the grill.  In a medium sized bowl, combine all the ingredients.  Allow to sit for about 5 minutes.  Then assemble the skewers alternating pineapple and shrimp and plate.  Pour the remaining sauce over the skewers and squeeze a little lime juice over top. Place skewers on a hot grill.  Cook about 2 minutes on each side.  You’ll notice the shrimp turning pink and that means they are cooked and done on that side.  Shrimp do not take long to cook at all, be careful not to overcook them. When cooked, remove from grill and allow to rest for a minute, then serve!

Sweet and spicy

These were perfect!  Slightly spicy with a sweet finish from the honey and the pineapple.  Grilled pineapple is such a surprisingly tasty experience.  The smokiness from the grill and the sweetness from the fruit make for a great flavor combination.  The shrimp were juicy and flavorful.

In the glaze, I used seasalt but if you don’t have any, kosher will work fine.  Just a very small pinch because there is plenty of salt action from the soy sauce.

You’ll also notice that for the skewers, I added the lime juice last. When working with seafood, the citric acid will start to “cook” the seafood which can result in a mushy texture after you actually cook it with heat.  Save the lime for right before cooking.  If you’re working with something other than seafood, you can add the lime juice before cooking.

There you go guys!  Two great applications for my Chipotle Glaze!

Chipotle Glazed Salmon

Chipotle Glazed Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple skewers

Enjoy guys!  And remember, always play with your food!

Comments: 6