Delight Your Guests with Homemade Condiments!

I have to believe that when Duncan Hines first introduced their cake mixes to the world back in the day, they left out the egg and oil for a reason. I think they wanted us to be able to say that we still made it from scratch because we had to add those items! Homemade anything always tastes better than store-bought products. Try some of my recipes for Memorial Day and see for yourself!

Ketchup… we use it on everything. My brother even puts it on his eggs! Why not make it from scratch? Just in time for your Memorial Day—give them the WOW factor. Make the regular old ketchup or add mangoes to it! Just think outside the box and try it! Make regular old mustard or add raspberries to it! Have fun and experiment.

Mustard is one of the least expensive spices and it’s available in a variety of colors and forms. It can add zip to much more than just a hot dog or hamburger and is not difficult to make. You can add almost anything to mustard to make it a gourmet mustard and it makes a great gift. Just put the mustard in a great jar, box it up with some home-baked crackers, and your friends will be impressed and happy. Mustard has no fat and not many calories. The hardest part of making mustard from seeds is waiting those first few days for the flavors to mellow so you can see if it turned out as planned. If you use mustard flour you need only wait ten minutes or so.

I guarantee you that if you try these recipes you will be so proud to use your own condiments and not buy store bought again! The store bought is loaded with salt, sugar and other preservatives. The difference in taste is unbelievable and you can say you made it! And as an added bonus, you will save money, which we all need to do these days.

Easy Basic Homemade Ketchup

Yield: Makes about 2 cups

• 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in purée
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp. of hot smoked paprika

Purée tomatoes in a blender until smooth.

Cook onion in oil in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add puréed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, and salt, and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until very thick—1 hour or more. Stir more frequently toward the end of cooking to prevent scorching.

Cool ketchup so that you can purée ketchup in two batches in blender until smooth. Chill, covered, overnight for flavors to develop.

Ketchup can be kept up to three weeks.

Easy Basic Homemade Hot Dog Mustard

2 TBS white sugar
2 TBS flour
3 TBS dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. turmeric

2 cups apple cider vinegar

Mix all dry ingredients together then add vinegar. Boil together until thickened.

Chill, covered, overnight for flavors to develop.

Homemade Pickle Relish

2 cups finely diced cucumber

1 cup finely diced onion

1 tsp. kosher salt

¾ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 ½ tsp. water

Combine and set in strainer for at least 4 hours. Squeeze as much liquid out as you can and then bring vinegar and sugar to a boil and reduce about 5 minutes. Add in cornstarch mixture and simmer several minutes. Then cool several hours.

1 cup diced dill pickle

¼ cup homemade mustard

2 tablespoons pickle brine

2 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

Combine all ingredients, stir and serve with hot dogs or hamburgers.

For a Great Burger

Pick up some ground chuck with a fat content of at least 20%. 25% would be even better. Lean and extra-lean meats make tough, dry burgers (this is true for turkey burgers or lamb burgers, too-look for grinds with around 25% fat). Don’t overwork the meat.

In a large bowl, pull the meat apart into small chunks, add salt or other seasonings, and toss gently with your fingers. Use wet hands to form burger patties. It also allows the meat to come together faster and prevents over-working. Make burger patties with a dimple in the center. The burger will shrink and pull as it cooks so it will even out. I keep my burgers in the fridge until I am ready to put them on the grill. I think they stay together better that way and they stay juicy.

Keep grill at a steady high heat. With a gas grill, keep the lid down while cooking; with a charcoal grill, leave the lid off. Turn only once! Constant turning will toughen and dry out meat. Cook 2 minutes per side for rare, 3 minutes for medium-rare, 4 for medium, and 5 for well done.

Time to Fire Up the Grill!

A few days ago, I filmed a segment on grilling tips with Norm Karkos from WMTW News Channel 8 here in Portland. If you are like me, you use your grill all year round. If not, maybe you’re just thinking about firing up your grill because the weather is getting nicer! Either way, I thought I would share a few tips with you.

Gas vs. Charcoal Grilling

It is a preference, really: gas is easier because you just turn a knob. It takes only 10 to 15 minutes to preheat, doesn’t require messy cleanup, and you can add mesquite chips or other wood chips to provide a little smoke!

Charcoal grilling involves stacking coals, lighting them, and preheating for at least 30 to 45 minutes. As a general rule, it takes 30 coals to grill one pound of meat. Lighter fluid gives a nasty flavor to the food. A chimney starter is easier to use. An electric starter is another way to go. When the coals are ready, they will be about 80% ash-gray during daylight. They will glow if grilling at night. Spread the coals into a single layer with long-handled tongs.

Here are the methods of grilling that I use:

Indirect Grilling, including Three-Zone Grilling

This technique turns your grill into an outdoor oven. Rake half the hot coals into a double layer at one side of the grill to make a high-heat zone. Leave a portion of the grill without any coals at all for cooking over low heat. The middle area will become your third zone, which will be a medium-heat area. On a gas grill, I turn one burner on high and leave the other burner off. I use the low-heat area to cook tougher, or larger, cuts of meat or whole chickens or turkeys (or racks of ribs, beef briskets, legs of lamb, etc.) when direct grilling would burn the exterior before the center gets hot. I sear thick steaks on the hot side and move them to this low-heat area so they cook more evenly.

Direct Grilling

This means cooking food right over the fire. There’s no better way to grill things that are relatively thin and tender: certain steaks, burgers, sliced vegetables, and fish fillets. Generally, direct grilling is done over medium-high or high heat.

When the grill is covered, heat is kept inside. The food cooks more evenly and keeps moist. When grilling without the cover, the coals are hotter, since added air adds to their burning. Maintaining the appropriate temperature is important for getting good results. The longer the food needs to cook, the lower the temperature needs to be. Do not babysit your food. Raising or lowering the lid changes temperatures quite a bit. To lower the cooking temperature, spread the coals further apart or raise the grid. To raise the cooking temperature, either lower the grid or move the coals closer together.

One quick, easy way to estimate the temperature of the coals is to cautiously hold your hand, palm-side down, above the hot coals. For a very hot temperature, you should not be able to keep your hands over the coals more than 2 seconds. Of course, if you have a gas grill, you have a temperature gauge!

My Best Steak:

You need very few grill accessories and you do not need to pay a lot of money for them! You will need:

• Tongs
• Spatula
• Foil pan
• Foil
• Meat Thermometer
• Grill Brush

Prep ahead of time. You want to enjoy your family and friends the day of the grilling. Meats and vegetables can be prepared and seasoned the day before. In fact, your meat is going to stay juicier if you salt and pepper or apply your rub the day before—the juices that come out with salting will have time to return to the meat!

Filets are very tender and usually rely on bacon to give them flavor and fat. Ribeyes have great flavor but tend to be fatty, but this is my favorite cut. The New York Strip falls somewhere in between. Look for marbling for a flavorful steak and season it the day before.

About 20 minutes before grilling, remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let sit, covered, at room temperature.

1 1/2-inch-thick boneless ribeyes (about 12 ounces each).

Heat your grill to high. Brush the pre-seasoned steaks on both sides with oil. Do not babysit your meat. Try to flip only 2 times. You want juices to stay in the meat.  Do not use a fork. Do not press meat down—juices will leave and result in a dry cut of meat. Place the steaks on the grill and cook until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 minutes.

Turn the steaks over and continue to grill 3 to 4 minutes for medium rare (an internal temperature of 130 degrees F). Do not worry—your steak will continue to cook to 135 degrees while resting. Also, while resting, the juices will return to the meat and keep it moist! Tent loosely with foil and let rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Why is medium-rare the best way to cook a steak? It’s really simple. The longer you cook a steak, the tougher and drier it gets.