Homemade tartare sauce, seafood sauce, and caesar dressing

A lot of the special sauces that are sold in the supemarket are really just variants of mayonnaise or ketchup.

They're cheap and easy to make, yet if you buy the factory / shop versions, you'll pay top dollar for an inferior product.

Here are a few easy recipes for yummy sauces that you can make at home, saving you money - and stopping your fridge from being cluttered up with jar upon jar of seldom-used sauces!

Home made tartare sauce

When I skip the capers, this recipe can be made completely from scratch using home made and home grown ingredients. And it is awesome!

And yes, I'm planning to try growing capers.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mayonnaise (I use my home made mayo recipe)
  
• 3 chopped shallots (spring onions)
  
• 1 tbsp capers (you can skip these if you don't have them, but they are nice!)
  
• 1 tbsp chopped gherkin
  
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  
• A good squeeze of lemon juice
  
  Method:
  
• Combine all ingredients.
  
• Chill one hour before serving.
  
  This recipe will last for a couple of days in an airtight container in the fridge, but is best used fresh.
  
  Enjoy with fish. It is also good on hot chips (fries) and hash browns, and probably just about anything fried.
  

Home made seafood cocktail sauce

This sauce works well on salads as well as with seafood and the traditional prawn cocktail my mother loves. It can also be used as a dipping sauce for fried foods.

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons tomato ketchup (I use the Wattie's Homestyle, or home made tomato sauce)
  
• 2 tablespoons horseradish
  
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• salt to taste
  
• a few drops tabasco sauce to taste.
  
  Method:
  
• Mix all ingredients really well.
  
• Chill before serving.
  

If you don't have a lemon tree and you have room for one, you might want to think about putting one in. They're about the most useful fruit around!

Caesar salad dressing

This is a wonderful salad dressing - one of the classics. It's not light on calories though, and I save these creamy dressings for "special occasions", or I wouldn't be fitting my skinny jeans! So be warned!

But it is delicious, and when you make your own it is definitely healthier than buying bottled sauces full of preservatives and additives.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
  
• 1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated finely
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 1 tablespoon of milk
  
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teasppon pepper
  
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  
  Method:
  
• Mix all ingredients together until well blended.
  
• Refrigerate for a few hours in an airtight container before serving.
  

I hope you enjoyed these recipes.

Give them a go, next time you're in the salad dressing section of the supermarket and shuddering at the prices of the mass produced, additive-laden gunk on sale there!

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