I like to use the sauce as a marinade for pork, chicken, beef, or pan fired tofu. I’ve also simply poured it over my cooked protein and rice when rushed for time. If I have extra sauce, I eat it over wilted greens and steamed vegetables. Really, there’s nothing this Korean sauce can’t do.

Note: The following recipe makes enough sauce for cooked dishes, if you want to use it as a marinade for a family of four, I suggest doubling.

That’s it! See how easy that was? Of course, you can vary the sauce to match your taste buds. If you want more garlic flavor, mince the garlic instead of crushing it. If you want to focus on the sweetness, change up the sweetener by using honey instead of brown sugar, or add a bit of hoisin for even more sweet. You could also try toasting the sesame seeds before adding them to the sauce. This sauce is meant to be played around with. Hope you enjoy it!

This sauce recipe is brought to you by Vanessa from Appliance Help which is a refrigerator repair and parts resource. Korean sauce is a favorite of hers for quick weeknight meals.

Best of all, sweet potatoes are good for you! They’re a great source of vitamins A, C, and B6. They contain complex carbohydrates and are high in fiber.

Another reason I enjoy them so much (and you can probably guess the reason) is because of all the fabulous sweet potato dipping options. I have a few of my own favorites, but I took to the web to see how others dip their sp fries.

After some not-so-scientific research, these are the ways that most of us dip our sweet potato fries. If I missed a dipping option, please share in the comments. I’d love to know how you dip your sweet potato fries.

1. My favorite: honey mustard sauce
2. Honey mustard and horseradish sauce combo
3. Sour cream and lime dipping sauce (So many options with this one. I saw recipes that included green onions, cilantro, adobo, curry, cumin, and a variety of other spices.)
4. Trashy sauce: sour cream, brown sugar, and vanilla
5. Ketchup
6. Ketchup with curry powder
7. Ketchup and mayonnaise combo
8. Mayonnaise with garlic and chipotle
9. Mayonnaise with Sriracha
10. Garlic aioli
11. Barbecue sauce (I wasn’t sure about this one until I saw someone say they dipped sp fries in mango barbecue sauce)
12. Ranch dressing (Again. Not so sure about this one.)
13. Thin blue cheese dressing
14. Russian dressing
15. Poppy seed dressing…yum!
16. “Bloomin’ Onion” Sauce
17. Yogurt (regular or Greek) with cinnamon and vanilla
18. Yogurt with garlic and lemon
19. Melty butter with cinnamon…double yum!
20. Melty butter with garlic and Parmesean cheese
21. Avocado and cream cheese dip
22. Cheese and garlic sauce
23. Marshmallow dip
24. Milkshakes…oh, yea.
25. Coconut rum sauce (with heavy cream)
26. Chili coconut dip (with mayo)
27. Spicy apricot dip

Any more to add to the list?

Steak sauce shouldn’t be too complicated or take too much time. The focus should always be on the centrepiece of the meal, the steak.

Elle-Rose works for Lomito, a steak restaurant in London, as a food writer.

In addition to eating BACON for two hours straight, the biggest highlight was forcing my friend Michele to put her head through a bacon poster. It seriously doesn’t get any better.

Here are the other highlights…

Meeting Tiffany of Strudel & Streusel! Together we judged all 16 treats to decide on our favorites, which were:

1st: Crockspot /Occupy Bacon Team – Bacon Bowl (plantain yam mash, shredded pork shoulder and mango style chimichurri in a mini bacon bowl)

2nd: Jason Morse (2 Kids Confections) – Wilbur’s Famous Caramels & Divine Swine Cookies

3rd: Brook – Cajun Chicken Fried Bacon with Apple Bacon Chutney

4th/honorable mention: Clayton – Smoked Swiss Bacon Bread

Here we are working really hard to decide the winners.

Tiffany is the gal in the center, and her friend Lynn is on the far left. That’s me sitting so far away! (It was the bacon breath.) Photo courtesy of Tiffany at Strudal & Streusal.

The next highlight was meeting Matt Timms. This guy does everything. He acts, blogs, grows a mean beard, and hosts different Takedowns all over the country.  He says the whole thing started in his Brooklyn apartment, and I think that’s awesome. I can respect a guy who respects food. You can read all about Matt, see a full list of the Denver Bacon Takedown participants, including the people’s choice winners, and check out the list of upcoming Takedowns on his website – TheTakedowns.com.

Last, I’m psyched to receive a giant list of bacon recipes THAT FEATURE SAUCE (or a variation of a sauce) from the event. Get a load of these:

• Apple bacon chutney
• Mango style chimichurri
• “Breakfast for Dessert” using a creme anglais for the eggs
• Pineapple bacon mousse with roasted jalapeños
• Bacon jam and bacon butter

You can bet I’ll be making these bacon recipes and posting them here to Saucy Dipper. Stay tuned…

ps – You can see more hilarious bacon poster pics on the Hormel Facebook page.

Coca Cola Marinade Recipe

*⅓ parts ketchup
*⅓ parts Coca Cola
*⅓ parts Italian dressing

That’s it. I love simple recipes. Even more so, I love those recipes made up of items you’d usually have in the fridge anyways. I nearly always have half-full bottles of both bbq and Italian dressing around. Coke tends to be a mixer of choice around here, so that’s usually on hand as well.

This marinade is great on kebabs or mixed meats. I always pair it with broccoli and mashed potatoes or a rice mix. The meat, when marinated thoroughly, is savory and succulent. I’ve never made it for someone and had them dislike it. At least they’ve always told me they loved it!

I find this to be a perfect summer barbeque recipe. When you’d rather fill your day with other activities, just grab some steak or chicken, though it probably goes great with nearly any meat, and toss it in an appropriate amount of marinade. I find it’s best to give it a good 24 hours to marinate as the meat will get really juicy, particularly steaks.

Variations of this marinade, though I haven’t tried any myself, I imagine they’d be delicious as well. Subbing out the ketchup for a bbq sauce or A1 sauce. Additionally, I love mixing ketchup and bbq, so perhaps a half and half mix instead of either/or. You also have the option of swapping out both the soda and the dressing for your preferences. On my to-try list is Dr. Pepper instead of Coke and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing instead of Italian.

Let us know in the comments if you try any variations and your thoughts on them! Happy Grilling!

***
Carly Westfield is a work-at-home mom (WAHM) and entrepreneur. When not spending time with her kids, she’s running several successful websites like Wonder Woman Costumez, which is a one-stop resource for wonder woman costume reviews and recommendations.

This post is about the time I tried to make a Béarnaise sauce, but ended up with melted butter instead.

Hmmm. I guess when I put it that way it really wasn’t a failure at all. Who doesn’t love melty butter? Especially when you add some herbs and drizzle it over a steak and a baked potato. 

So, here’s the story. The steaks were on the grill, and it was time to make a sauce. Stat. I grabbed my sauce book*, scoured the cabinets, and realized I had nothing that the Béarnaise recipe called for, except for water, eggs, and salt.

This is how it worked out.

Bottom line: I whisked and whisked and whisked (I broke a sweat – seriously) and no ribbony, creamy sauce for me. Béarnaise should look like hollandaise sauce for Pete’s sake! Finally, I learned that clarified butter is helpful when making an emulsified sauce. Rookie mistake.

So…the egg yolks rested on the bottom and the butter floated to the top. It still tasted nice, but I was disappointed none the less.

For those of you interested in giving Béarnaise sauce a go. Here are the very basic steps for how to make Béarnaise sauce.

1. Bring shallots, vinegar, and water to a boil. Reduce to simmer until 2 tbsp of liquid remain.

2. Remove from heat and strain onions from liquid.

3. Add egg yolks to liquid and whisk fast.

4. Meanwhile, add water to double boiler over medium heat. Place mixture in top of double boiler, be careful not to let the mixture get too hot.

5. Once smooth and creamy, slowly add butter and whisk all the while.

6. Add lemon juice, tarragon, salt, and pepper (plus any other seasonings you like). Serve right away.

Remember, if your sauce breaks, add a tablespoon (or less) of cold water and whisk away.

*The Sauce Book by Paul Gayler

***

Here’s a nice little beer cheese bread recipe I stole from Alton Brown of Good Eats (see the original recipe). Here’s how I made it, some photos, and some other notes.

A couple of items:

First, I went off book a little and substituted 1/2 teaspoon of dry dill for 1 tsp of fresh dill. This may have dried things out a bit.

Second, I used Belgian Ale. It has a pretty strong flavor to begin with, and then mixing it into cheese bread takes that flavor to another level – this bread tastes a lot like beer. If you want a milder, more bread flavor, I’d suggest using a mild light beer.

Ingredients

Our beer cheese bread ingredients

• 8oz. all-purpose flour
• 4oz. whole-wheat flour
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 4 1/2oz. grated cheddar cheese
• 12oz. cold beer
• Dry roasted, salted sunflower seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375, and spray a standard 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk/sift together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and dill in a large mixing bowl.
   
3. Add in the grated cheese and mix until even.
   

   Note that the bottom of the mixing bowl is visible - this is because I've created a little well in the bowl for the beer to sit in

4. Form a small well in the middle of the mixing bowl so that when you pour in your beer, it will be easy to combine with the dry ingredients quickly.
   
5. When you mix the beer and the dry ingredients, do not over stir. Mix it just barely enough to get the dry ingredients moist.
   

   Be sure to mix the beer cheese bread dough sparingly

6. Spread the dough into your loaf pan and then sprinkle with sunflower seeds (if you want them, anyways).
   
7. Bake for at least 45 minutes at 375, but you may have to go a full hour to reach the desired 210 degree temperature.
8. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, than transfer the bread to a cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving and/or wrapping in foil.

A note about alcohol

Most of the alcohol in the beer will bake out, but not all of it – something like 5-20% of the original alcohol will remain after one hour of baking (the range is indefinite mostly because I’ve never seen anything super-scientific in terms of alcohol and baking…if you know of an exact guide somewhere, please drop a link in the comments). However, since it’s easy to get 10 slices of bread out of this loaf, and if you figure all but 10% of the original alcohol remains, than we’re talking 1/10th of 10%…or that each slice contains about 1% of the alcohol in one beer. SO, don’t worry about it.

Serving Suggestions

As you can imagine, beer cheese bread tastes great alongside a beer, but it also compliments Sara’s beer cheese dip quite nicely.

Cheese Dip Recipe

• 16oz light cream cheese
• 1/2 c. light sour cream
• 2 c. sharp cheddar cheese
• 3/4 of a ranch dressing packet (in salad dressing aisle)
• 1/4 c. beer

Directions: Mix all ingredients. Go easy on the ranch seasoning. Add too much and the dip will be too salty. Chill for two hours before serving. (Good with bread and with Fritos.)

Enjoy!

Everyone who participated will receive a Discover Endive dip tray, and Alisha over at Ardent Epicure was randomly selected to receive the shipment of endive. Congrats, Alisha!

If you’re just tuning in, check out the list of Super Bowl dip ideas generated by me and all of the Dipstock participants. Several participants chose to participate by emailing me their dip ideas or by posting them to the Facebook page (including the corn-guac dip pictured here — thanks, Nina!). Stay tuned for more on the dip recipes you don’t see listed on the official Super Bowl dip ideas post. I’ll be making those recipes and adding them to the list later.

Football may be over, but ya’ll better keep dipping.

I made this dip for a football party a few weeks back, and it turns out it was a favorite in somebody else’s house, too. I hope you give this olive dip recipe a try at your home and tell me how it goes.

But before I share the recipe…have you shared your favorite Super Bowl dip recipe yet? Dipstock is going on RIGHT now. By sharing a link on the Master Super Bowl Dip List or posting the recipe to the Saucy Dipper Facebook page you could win a dip tray and a free shipment of endive from Discover Endive. Share your favorite dip recipe before February 9 to win.

This recipe was inspired by Lighter and Local’s Creamy Olive and Feta Dip

But a few months back while on Twitter I met someone. I met @DiscoverEndive. Actually, I met Casey who works to help get the word out about endives. And that’s when things changed for me…

Turns out there’s a whole world of things you can do with endives. I know now that I’ve experimented with them more. In fact, I spent an entire Sunday afternoon doing nothing but dip and endive experimentation. I basically emptied the fridge and went to town.

But before I share those dip recipes, let’s first talk about using endives as a dipper.

Five Reasons You Should Dip with Endive

1. An endive has 17 calories. (That’s why they call it the slimmer dipper.)

2. Carrots and celery have had their hay day. It’s time to make room for a new veggie on that relish tray.

3. Endives are versatile. I’ve dipped an endive in both sweet and savory dips and found them both delightful. (Might be due to the fact that an endive is both sweet and bitter tasting.)

4. Endive is a fun word to say. Certainly more fun than saying “cracker.”

5. They’re available year round.

Bonus Reason: Discover Endive is the Super Bowl Dipstock Sponsor!

In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got a Dipstock happening RIGHT NOW. You can read all about how to enter (and how to get prizes from Discover Endive) over on this post about Super Bowl dip ideas.

The Endive Dipping Experience

An endive is about three inches long (give or take) with a firmer, crisper, and bitter-tasting bottom end and a softer, bendier, and sweeter-tasting top end. I found it’s best to use the firmer end to drown in the dip and then eat the other half on a second dip-less bite. A dip free bite is a nice way to clear the palette. Plus, remember that double dipping is dangerous.

Three Dips Made for the Endive

Now back to that Sunday afternoon where I dipped with endives like I’ve never dipped before. Here are three dips that I think work just about perfectly with an endive.

Light Ranch Dip

Ingredients:

*1 c. cottage cheese

*1/4 c. raisins

*1 small celery stalk, finely chopped

*1 tbsp. powder ranch seasoning mix

Instructions: Mix well and serve with endive!

Spicy Pineapple Dip Over Pancetta and Endive

Dip ingredients:

*1 c. pineapple

*1 large jalapeno

*1/4 c. cream cheese

Instructions for dip: Blend all ingredients together using hand blender. Place two pieces of pancetta on an endive and then spoon the dip over the pancetta.

The shipment of endives I received from Discover Endive* actually came from their parent company, California Vegetable Specialties. Seeing the word “California” and then munching on this fruity dip really got me thinking  about warmer days. It seemed only right that I break out the Hawaiian t-shirt plate.

Isn’t it darling?

A Greek-Food Lovers Dip

Ingredients:

*1, 5 oz. container plain Greek yogurt

*1/4 c. feta crumbles

*1/8 c. sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped

*1 garlic clove, minced

*2 tbsp. parsley, roughly chopped

*salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: Mix all ingredients together with a spoon taking care to leave feta crumbles in tact. This dip is better chunky. If you like your dips spicy hot, then throw in a few splashes of hot sauce to heat things up. I did and it was a nice touch.

This last dip was my husband’s favorite. Even he–a true tortilla chip fanatic–enjoyed dipping with an endive. Although he didn’t really like it when I forgot I had just finished chopping jalapenos and splashed water on his face. Sorry, honey!

*Disclosure: Discover Endive provided the endives in exchange for this post.