Today's Sauce, Tomorrow's Dinner Party

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

As anyone who has every come over to eat at my house can attest, I hate wasting food. Therefore even when I am entertaining, it is not unusual for me to serve a dish made at least in part with something- often a sauce- made earlier in the week for an entirely different menu.

You might think people would be offended that what I was serving up was not unique to that group and situation, but so far, the strongest reaction I’m met with is mild surprise. Then the eating resumes. It is hard to care you are being served partial leftovers when the dish in front of you is fresh and tasty. Food, even reused, will always speak for itself.

Unlike fish, meat, or even most produce, a good sauce can keep for a week or more depending on the ingredients. One worth the effort this time of year is pesto. With basil propagating like weeds, you almost lose money by not whizzing up a batch. What’s more, the only tool needed is a blender. Basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, classically combine into a vibrant green sludge primed for wherever your imagination might take you.

Having recently taken advantage of a healthy bunch of basil to whip up pesto (I used almonds in place of the pine nuts for mine), I found the sauce making its way into several meals over the course of a week. But never was I more grateful for the ready-to-go sauce than waking up from a Sunday evening nap one evening only to realize the grocery stores were closed and I had no desire to order takeout. Then I remembered the pesto. Some boiled trofie pasta from the cupboard was the perfect vehicle for the leftover sauce. A grating of Parmesan later and dinner was served without ever having to leave the house.

Peanut sauce is one of those jarred condiments that people seem to stock up on while making a run to Trader Joe’s. When really, given a whisk and a jar of peanut butter, the sauce can be made at home in minutes. Since peanut sauce usually has the South East Asian leanings of sate, I mix my peanut butter with soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, chili sauce, and a hit of Vietnamese fish sauce for nuance. Once the flavors marry the sauce is primed for dipping, as with sate, brushing on chicken toward of grilling, or even working in as the gel that binds a tray of lettuce wraps.

On a recent night my boyfriend and I were hosting a dozen people in our home for a casual evening of wine and snacks. Not wanting to go overboard with a full on meal, I scoured our refrigerator and pantry to find what we already had on hand to feed the crowd. Some raw chicken drumsticks and leftover peanut sauce caught my eye. The chicken was broiled early in the day and set aside to cool. Just before the party I sautéed some green onions with the chicken removed from the bone and tossed the combo with black sesame seeds and the peanut sauce.

As our guests went back for seconds and thirds of the lettuce wraps, several people asked how I made it. Oh, just a little something I had lying around, I said. That they were eating leftover sauce from a chicken sate made earlier in the week hardly seemed worth mentioning.

Serves/Makes: 6

***Peanut Sauce***

• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice

***Chicken Lettuce Wraps***

• 6 chicken drumsticks or equivalent in thighs or breasts
• 1 lemon
• salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 green onions
• 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 1 head butter lettuce