Sauces and Stocks

White Sauce

1-2 Tablespoons Coconut oil

½ cup Flour

Either 1 ½ cups plant milk or 1 tin coconut cream and ½ tin water

Heat oil until melted, add flour and mix until it forms a small ball and cooked. Take off heat and add your chosen liquid. Mix until smooth , then put back on the element keep whisking until it thickens. Add more liquid if it is too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tips on how to use this sauce

Italian cabonara: fry onion and garlic 5 min, then add mushrooms until soft, add sauce peas a precooked pasta and stir together.

Potato bake: Thinly slice potatoes, add onions and garlic diced finely, mix in with white sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into oven proof dish , cover with fil and cook for 30 min at 180 deg C/350 degree F. remove foil and cook for another 30 minutes.

Variations: add slices of kumara or pumpkin same thickness as potato.

You can add grated cheese and smoked paprika over the top for final 30 minutes of cooking.

To speed up cooking process precook veges for 10 minutes prior to mixing into white sauce and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

Side dish: cook leeks/cauliflower/broccoli/zucchini and mix with white sauce.

Add ¾ to 1 cup cheese and whisk while on the stove to make it into a cheese sauce.

Mint Sauce:

2 Tablespoons boiling water

4 tablespoons strained lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1 handful fresh mint

Wash mint, pull off leaves, discard stalk. Put on chopping board and sprinkle with a little sugar and chop very finely. Put into sauce jug and pour over boiling water and remainder of sugar. Leave standing for a few minutes to draw out the flavour. Add lemon juice and stir well.

Tomato Relish:

1 kg onions

1 head celery

2 litres peeled tomatoes

3-4 bay leaves

Juice of 4 lemons

1 Tablespoon salt

Chop onions and celery finely and cook with as little water as possible until tender. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves and lemon juice. Heat to boiling and add salt. Simmer for 10 minutes. Yield 3 litres. Can be bottled.

Indonesian Sauce:

1 small onion finely diced

3 teaspoons soya sauce

Juice of ¼ lemon

5 dessertspoons water

1 clove garlic

2 dessertspoons sugar

3 dessertspoons sesame oil

Fry with sesame oil the finely chopped onion and garlic until golden. Remove from heat, add soya sauce, sugar water and lemon juice. Serve with any vegetable.

Vegan Vegetable Stock to replace chicken stock (1 teaspoon per cup of water.)

1 cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

1 tablespoon black pepper

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Until smooth. Store in a sealed jar. Shake jar before using.

Vegan Vegetable stock (1 teaspoon per cup of water.)

1 cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 Tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon black pepper

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Until smooth. Store in a sealed jar. Shake jar before using. Add 1 cup water to one teaspoon mix if using as a stock. For use in soups and add flavour to recipes you can use dried mixture without adding water.

Spice Seasoning Rub

¼ cup granulated onion powder

¼ cup garlic powder

¼ cup dried parsley

¼ cup Spanish or sweet paprika

3 tablespoons iodised salt

Mix together and place in an airtight jar. Yields around 1 cup of seasoning.

Creamy Pesto -with yogurt

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoon basil pesto

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoon water (to thin out)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl whisk until smooth. Add water a teaspoon at a time if dressing is to thick at time of serving.

Pesto for Pasta

2 cups basil no stalks and kale and spinach no stems

2 tablespoons crushed cashews

½ parmesan cheese

½ cup virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender, add more liquid to get smooth paste. To give zing add lemon juice.

Vegan Creamy Pesto ( yields 16 tablespoons)

2 cups fresh basil stalks removed

3 tablespoons pinenuts or walnuts

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoon nutritional yeast

¼ teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoon olive oil

At least 3 tablespoon water

Combine basil, nuts, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and sea salt into a blender until it forms a loose paste. Add olive oil a little at a time. Scrape down sides as required. Then add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until desired consistency has been reached. Taste and adjust flavour as needed adding more nutritional yeast for cheesy flavour, salt for overall flavour, nuts for nuttiness, garlic for bite or lemon juice for acidity. Store in fridge for up to a week or can be frozen.

Tomato Sauce – can be used as a pasta sauce or a tomato dipping sauce.

2x cans crushed tomatoes

½ white onion minced

5 cloves garlic minced

2 bay leaves

4 sprigs fresh basil

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pinch salt

Add olive oil to saucepan, together with salt and onion. Sautee until translucent but without turning brown, stir often. Add minced garlic stir and infuse flavour for 30 seconds, add crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, basil stir together and bring to gentle simmer, cover with partially open lid for 30 minutes stirring often until thickened to your liking. Discard bay leaves. Season with salt pepper and serve. Can be stored in jars, used as pasta sauce or frozen.

Tomato Pasta Sauce

4 tablespoon oil

1 finely chopped onion

2 garlic cloves minced

1 celery stalk finely diced

420grams or 1 tin diced tomatoes

Salty and pepper

Dried or fresh mixed herbs to taste

Heat oil over medium heat, add onion, celery and garlic saute until softened. (5-10 min).add tomatoes and herbs and simmer on low for 20 minutes, stir occasionally, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tomato Puree

10-12 medium ripe tomatoes

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

Cut a small x at the bottom of each tomato. Drop tomatoes into boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until skins start to peel back. Transfer them to an ice bath to cool quickly. Remove skins. Roughly chop skinless tomatoes and place in the saucepan on medium heat for 15-20 minutes together with salt and sugar. Remove from heat and blend, strain to remove seeds or lumps. Your puree is now ready to use. stores in fridge for 2 weeks in airtight container or can freeze in icecubes.

Moroccan spice blend

1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

Pinch cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Mix together and store in airtight container

Hummus

1 tin chickpeas

¼ cup liquid from chickpeas

1 ½ tablespoon tahini

2 garlic cloves crushed

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid, combine ingredients in blender. Add ¼ cup liquid from chickpeas, blend 3-5 minutes until mixed and smooth. Place in serving bowl, create shallow well in centre of hummus, and add olive oil to the well.

Seasoned breadcrumbs

1 1/2 cups dried breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon celery powder

Put into airtight container and shake well. Take out as you need.