Gluten Free

This bright-tasting sauce is a great accompaniment to grilled foods of all descriptions—steak, chicken, shrimp, or vegetables—and it is also wonderful as a dip for tortilla chips or as a sauce for tamales.

Gremolata is a mixture of chopped parsley, garlic, and lemon zest. Persillade (pronounced “per-see-odd”) is simply chopped parsley and garlic. Although these are not technically sauces, I use them as a fresh bright finish to sprinkle over roasted or braised meats, pastas, and anything grilled.

This salsa is a fresh complement to grilled or baked fish or fish tacos.

Bagna cauda means “warm bath” in an Italian dialect. Don’t let the anchovies steer you away. The strong flavors of garlic and anchovy are suspended in perfect balance in warm butter and olive oil. It is a delightful dipping sauce for raw vegetables, and it makes a tasty sauce for grilled vegetables and grilled or baked fish.

Béarnaise is a luxurious sauce flavored with shallots and tarragon, which give it a tart edge. It elevates a grilled steak or roast beef from delicious to divine.

Pesto is my favorite sauce to make. I love the sensory experience of pounding it and smelling it and tasting it as I go. Pesto is more than a pasta sauce: it’s delicious on sliced tomatoes, as a dipping sauce for vegetables, on a pizza, or as a sauce for grilled chicken and vegetables.

This is a rich, deep-flavored pasta sauce, like Bolognese—but meatless.

This is best made from a variety of bones: knuckles add body from cartilage and tendons, shanks, and neck bones add meaty flavor (the meat from shanks can be cut off and used as the meat to brown). Don’t skimp on either meat or bones. They both add specific flavors and qualities that the sauce needs.

This sauce is time-consuming to make, so consider doubling the recipe. It’s especially good with hand-cut fresh egg noodles (see page 89) or in lasagna (see page 270).

Serve this sauce with breaded fried sole or oysters.

There are many varieties of avocados, and all may be used, but the Hass avocado is the ideal choice. The flesh has a rich, nutty, and herby taste. It is a good keeper, it peels easily, and the pit is easily removed. An avocado is ripe when it yields to the gentle pressure of your thumb.

Any soft mild white cheese will work here. Fresh goat cheese shaped into logs or rounds, feta, even a stiff yogurt cheese like labneh would work. This cheese makes a nice spread for croutons or a tasty garnish for a salad.

Simply rinsing olives and warming them a little refreshes their flavor; adding some herbs and garlic and a little zest makes them even more delightful.

You can prepare any greens this way—rapini, mustard greens, beet tops, spinach, rocket, kale—but cook them separately, because they all have different cooking times. The sturdiest greens, such as kale, take longest. Once cooked, they can be mixed together in any combination, dressed with this simple olive oil marinade, piled warm on croutons, or cooled and wrapped in slices of prosciutto.

Ice cream is universally loved—and homemade ice cream right off the dasher is the most desirable ice cream of all. There are basically two versions. The first is simply sweetened and flavored cream, frozen. The second is a frozen custard made with sweetened cream and egg yolks, which produces a richer, smoother ice cream. They both have their charms, although I lean towards the frozen custard kind. Ice cream can be made with all cream or a mixture of cream and half-and-half or milk. Flavors tend to be more pronounced in ice cream when it is lightened with half-and-half or milk. Heat the cream to dissolve the sugar (or honey). At this point the cream can be infused with other flavorings, such as vanilla bean, coffee beans, herbs, or finely chopped toasted nuts. Let the flavorings infuse for about 20 minutes, then strain them out, and chill the liquid. Fruit purées and extracts are added after the mixture has cooled. Such solid flavorings as chopped fruit, nuts, or grated chocolate are best stirred in after the ice cream has been frozen; added earlier, they impede the freezing process. To make a custard-based ice cream, strain the warm cream, mix with egg yolks, and cook until thick. Chill well before freezing. Ice cream can be frozen in a shallow pan or tray but it will have a much smoother texture if frozen in a machine. The constantly moving paddle, or dasher, breaks up the ice crystals and works a small amount of air into the mix as it freezes. There are a variety of ice cream machines on the market. The traditional machines consist of a wooden bucket that holds a metal canister, which can be surrounded by crushed ice and rock salt. The salt lowers the freezing temperature of the ice, making the ice cream freeze more quickly. The canister is fitted with a dasher that is operated by a hand crank or an electric motor. For best results, chill the dasher and canister before adding the ice cream. There are a number of smaller machines that consist of a double-walled canister that is filled with a liquid coolant. The canister is placed in the freezer until the coolant is frozen solid. When ready, it is filled with the mix and fitted with its motor, which turns a scraping arm. The double-insulated canisters are a bit more convenient but take a while to freeze. If you have the space, store the canister in the freezer so it is ready to go whenever you need it. The mix should be very cold before it is added or it may thaw out the canister before the mix has had a chance to freeze. Only fill the canisters about two-thirds full: the mix will expand as it freezes. Ice-cream machines will freeze ice cream in about 30 to 35 minutes. When just frozen, ice cream is still soft enough that you can stir in such solid flavorings as nuts or candied fruit. The small canister machines have a large hole in the lids for just this purpose. Traditional freezers need to be stopped and opened up. Serve the ice cream right away, or chill it for a few hours to harden further. In a traditional machine you can leave the ice cream in its ice-packed canister right in its bucket (add more ice to cover the top), but don’t leave it in the insulated canister-type machine, which won’t be cold enough to harden the ice cream. Instead, transfer the soft ice cream to a chilled container and put it in the freezer. Pack the ice cream tightly to discourage the formation of any ice crystals. Ice cream will maintain its full flavor for up to a week, but it will lose its sublime texture. When it has frozen quite hard, take the ice cream out of the freezer for a few minutes before serving, for easier scooping.