Sweet and Sour Sauce

Here is a yummy sweet and sour sauce to go with yesterday's post for some delicious Egg Rolls.  My Husband is really great with his sauces.  It works perfect, because usually I eat foods for their sauce.  When I'm pregnant and hungry but not sure what to eat... he just goes through a list of sauces and then makes a meal to center around that sauce.  No lie!  What a husband I've got!!

Sweet and Sour Sauce



¼ cup water

2 tbsp corn starch

¼ cup ketchup

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup water

¼ cup rice vinegar

Stir in ¼ cup water with corn starch and set aside.  In a small pot boil first 4 ingredients and bring to a boil.  Boil for 3-4 minutes.  Stir in corn starch mixture.  Boil for about a minute, or until thickened. 

Pina Colada Dipping Sauce

This dipping sauce, I created, to use with the Coconut Shrimp.  Although, it could be used for so many things.  It's a thin sauce at first. You can eat it that way or thicken it up by refrigerating it for about an hour before. The Cream of Coconut thickens as it gets colder. You can also thicken it up by leaving out the pineapple juice.

Pina Colada Dipping Sauce

2 tbsp pineapple juice

1/2 can cream of coconut

1 1/2 tbsp crushed pineapple

2 1/2 tbsp sweetened sshredded coconut

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until needed.

BBQ Ribs

I don't think I have ever tasted a better BBQ sauce than this one.  My girlfriend made them for us a few years back, and I have loved making this sauce ever since.  This by passes anything in the bottle! My favorite thing is to pour this over grilled chicken. YUMMY. It goes great with anything that you would use BBQ sauce for. 

For Memorial Day, we grilled some ribs.  They were delicious!  Here is how I seasoned and cooked the ribs.  And also the recipe for the BBQ sauce.  Enjoy!

BBQ Ribs

For the ribs-

Clean off the membrane on the back of the ribs nest to the bone. It should rip off.  Dust ribs with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then generously dust them with season salt.  Rub the seasonings into the meat.  I mean really massage them into the meat.  It works the flavor down into it instead of just the surface. 

Place on a cookie sheet and back in the oven at 200 for about 4 hours.  (low and slow will help it be tender) When cooked through, preheat your grill to low and place ribs on the grill.  Top rack is best. Again low and slow.  Grill until outside is crisp and golden.  Top with BBQ sauce grill for a minute or two on each side, to caramelize. Top with more sauce if desired.

BBQ Sauce

1 medium yellow onion

4 cloves garlic minced

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1/2 -1 tbsp pepper

Slice onion into quarter inch thick slices.  Place on a cookie sheet and broil on low in oven until golden brown.  Put into sauce pan. Add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Turn down low and cover. Simmer for 30 min. Stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine colander.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Tip: depending on how spicy you like your sauce... add pepper accordingly. 1 Tbsp of pepper makes it pretty zippy.  Not too much to bug my kids though :) 

Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce

This recipe comes straight from Olive Garden. I love it when they give out their own recipes! I couldn't find just plain Romano cheese at Wal Mart so I just got the Parmesan/Romano mix and did a cup of it.  Also something I learned real quick...Dont get the powdered stuff, get the actual grated ones. The powdered form, makes it too grainy. This recipe, serves 4

Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup imported Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup imported Romano cheese, grated
6 egg yolks from fresh jumbo eggs
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat milk and cream in a heavy bottom saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in cheese, then remove from heat.

Place egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly whip in a portion of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly add egg yolk mixture back into remaining cream mixture. Place back on very low heat and continually stir until simmering. Take sauce off heat so it thickens. (This will increase temperature of egg yolks, known as tempering).

Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve over your favorite pasta.