The sweet ingredients are ground along with the peanuts, creating a whipped texture that melts in the mouth.

As a sandwich spread, cookie topping or straight from the jar, the spreads are delights.

Read the full review.

Don’t Like/Can’t Have Peanuts? Check out these alternative nut butters (almond, cashew, macadamia, pecan, walnut and more) from Artisana, another Top Pick Of The Week.
Take Our Peanut Butter Trivia Quiz.

[2] Shrimp with Creole sauce. Here’s the recipe (photo © Eating Well).

Today, chef Johnny Gnall explains how the secondary sauces are made. Email Chef Johnny with questions or suggestions for other cooking topics.

At some point in your mastery of Escoffier’s five mother sauces, they need to be taken to the next level.

Yes, tomato sauce is versatile; and a luscious, creamy béchamel is quite heavenly. But at some point you’ll yearn for variety.

In the words of Emeril Lagasse, it’s time to “kick things up a notch.”

Each mother sauce has a “menu” of secondary sauces, many of which can be created by adding only a few additional ingredients.

The results include recent additions as well as classics that date back as far as the mother sauces themselves.

Purists may follow a set of rules for what you can and can’t add to certain sauces for fear of “corrupting their integrity,” but let’s be frank: In your kitchen, you’re the boss.

For the next three days, we’ll focus on two “secondary sauces” for each mother sauce, starting with a quart of mother sauce as your base.

The first will be a classic secondary sauce, straight from Escoffier; the second will be my own creation or suggestion.

Hopefully these suggestions will act as a jumping-off point for you to create your own sauces and dishes based on whatever it is that you like.

(Mother sauces 1 through 5 are here.)

Creole sauce is an easy variation made with tomato sauce. You’ll be surprised at how some bell pepper can change the flavor profile of the original mother sauce. Creole sauce is delicious with chicken, fish/seafood, rice and pasta.

1. Dice half an onion, a stalk of celery and a bell pepper. Sauté them in oil along with a teaspoon of minced garlic.

2. Once the vegetables are soft, add a quart of tomato sauce, a bay leaf, a pinch of dried thyme and a teaspoon of lemon zest.

3. Simmer for 15 minutes, then season with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Variation #2: Tomato Vegetable Sauce

I like to build on tomato sauce simply by adding whatever seasonal vegetables I have on hand. Pretty much anything, from artichoke hearts to eggplant to zucchini, can be cleaned, diced and dropped in to simmer in the sauce. Frozen vegetables work just as well.

Freezing separate portions of the plain sauce gives you many opportunities to put a new spin on it. You can make a gallon or more of tomato sauce at once, then freeze portions in quart or even pint containers. At dinnertime, just pull one out, toss it into a pot with a little water, get it simmering and add the vegetables.

Serve with pasta, chicken or fish as a sauce; or even with a crusty chunk of bread—the sauce acts as a soup.
 

7. HOLLANDAISE SAUCE BECOMES BÉARNAISE SAUCE

Béarnaise is a more complex form of hollandaise. The key difference is in the flavoring: Hollandaise is seasoned with lemon juice while béarnaise includes shallot and tarragon with vinegar instead of lemon juice.

It is named after the province of Béarn, on the southwest border of France. Unlike tomato sauce and other sauces, hollandaise/béarnaise is delicate and can’t be frozen.

While hollandaise is popular with Eggs Benedict, asparagus, brussels sprouts and other green vegetables, béarnaise is typically served with steak and seafood. However, they are interchangeable, depending upon the flavors you’re looking for.

1. Combine 1 minced shallot, 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of white wine, 2 teaspoons of dried tarragon and a pinch of salt and pepper in a saucepan. Reduce the mixture by three fourths.

2. Remove the pan from heat and let it cool for a minute, then add 12 egg yolks to the mixture and beat well. (Use the whites for omelets, Baked Alaska, lemon meringue pie or meringue cookies.) Continue beating over a bain-marie in the same way as you did with hollandaise.

Variation #2: Spicy Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise is a great vehicle for spice, due to its richness; the texture and buttery flavor helps to soften serious heat and creates a pleasing warmth all over your palate. However, fat also conducts flavor, so a little spice goes a long way.

You can keep it simple and kick up the amount of Tabasco-type hot sauce you use to season, or you can branch out: Sriracha, sambal and other hot sauces and chile pastes all work beautifully. Just whisk them into your finished sauce, adding a teaspoon or so at a time until you reach the desired heat level and consistency.

Remember that hollandaise can be delicate, so too much of any one ingredient can cause it to break. To maintain the consistency of the sauce, you can substitute finely minced chiles, such as jalapeño and serrano. For the most heat, include the seeds and membrane, which contain the most capsaicin (the chemical that provides the heat).
 
 
CONTINUE to the secondary sauces for béchamel and velouté sauces.

Previous: The Five Primary Mother Sauces.

SORRY: THIS VIDEO WAS DELETED BY THE VIDEO SERVICE

This recipe converts America’s favorite cookie, the chocolate chip cookie, into a gluten-free version.

More and more Americans are discovering they have a sensitivity to gluten, a protein in wheat and other popular grains such as barley and rye. A more serious manifestation is celiac disease.

Some of the best brands of gluten-free cookies we’ve tried are the result of a family member seeking to make the tastiest treats for a relative with gluten sensitivity. If you have a loved one who needs to avoid gluten, bake a batch of these as a gift.

There are more than 20 gluten-free or low-gluten alternatives to wheat flour, from familiar ingredients such as cornmeal and potato flour to amaranth and teff flours. They’re more expensive than wheat flour, which is why gluten-free baked goods, pasta, etc. are costlier than conventional products.

The substitutes vary widely in their flavor and texture contribution. People working on gluten-free recipes do a lot of experimenting to find the ingredients and proportions they like best.

TRIVIA: “Gluten” is the Latin word for glue. The protein acts as a binder to give elasticity to dough and a chewy texture to the final product.

Find more of our favorite gluten-free products.

The show has inspired (and licensed) a Mad Men clothing line from Banana Republic and a Mad Men cosmetics line from Estée Lauder.

But what about Mad Men spirits? Those ad agency folk seemed to spend more time drinking than shopping for clothes and makeup.

Our recommendation: Settle down with a good bottle of Bourbon, like Maker’s Mark, and enjoy a couple of cocktails that surely would have been enjoyed by the staff of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
 
 
YOU’LL NEED MARASCHINO CHERRIES

Both the Manhattan and the Old Fashioned use maraschino cherries. Back in the day, before the advent of high fructose corn syrup, they probably tasted a lot better.

But there’s one premium brand of maraschino cherries to please picky palates, made by specialty food producer Tillen Farms. You can buy it online. The maraschinos are delicious, and a perfect gift for your favorite cocktail hound.
 
 
RECIPE #1: MANHATTAN COCKTAIL

The drink is made with whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, and served straight up. The whiskey choice varies across the board: blended whiskey, Bourbon, Canadian whisky (spelled without the “e”), rye (the traditional choice) and Tennessee whiskey have all been used.

 
Preparation

1. SHAKE the first four ingredients together with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled Manhattan glass (Martini glass).

2. GARNISH with a maraschino cherry.

[2] A premium Bourbon, Maker’s Mark is hand-dipped in red wax to signify its artisan origins. Photo courtesy Maker’s Mark.

The origin of the Manhattan isn’t known for certain, but it is widely believed to have originated in the late 19th century.

One reference claims that the Manhattan was invented in the 1860s by the bartender of an establishment on Broadway near Houston Street in Manhattan. A number of printed references date to that time.

Another theory attributes the creation of the cocktail to a bartender named Jerry Thomas at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the 1870s. The drink was allegedly created for a banquet hosted by Lady Randolph Churchill (mother of Winston Churchill) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden.

In its early days, the Manhattan used different types of spirits, including rye and Bourbon.

Over time, the recipe evolved to include sweet vermouth along with the whiskey and bitters. This addition helped balance the drink and added depth to its flavor profile.

The cocktail gained popularity during the Prohibition era (1920-1933) when the quality of available spirits was not always the best. The sweet vermouth and bitters helped to cover up less than pristine whiskey.

The Manhattan is traditionally served in a cocktail glass and is often garnished with a cherry. The choice of cherry can vary, with some preferring maraschino cherries and others opting for more traditional bourbon-soaked cherries.

The original recipe had neither club soda nor a maraschino cherry, but both ingredients became popular over the years.

As fashion is always changing, the original garnish, a maraschino cherry is no longer popular and some bartenders no longer serve them.

(They became unpopular with the trending consumer awareness of, and avoidance of, artificial ingredients and food coloring—although they’re still used in other cocktails, including the Manhattan.)

Thus, an orange peel is now a common garnish (and it’s tasty to nibble on, too).

Ingredients Per Cocktail

1. Muddle 1 orange slice, 1 maraschino cherry, bitters and the sugar in an Old Fashioned (rocks) glass. Fill glass 3/4 full of ice.

2. Add Bourbon and splash of club soda. Garnish with additional orange slice and maraschino cherry. For a more impressive garnish, you can fix the cherry to the top of the orange slice with a toothpick.

If bitters and maraschino cherries are not your thing, you can find many Bourbon cocktail recipes at MakersMark.com.
 
 
Manhattan Cocktail History

The Old Fashioned is one of the oldest known cocktails, with roots tracing back to the early 19th century, with its first mention dating to the early 1800s.

One popular story attributes the creation of the Old Fashioned to the The Pendennis Club, a gentlemen’s club in Louisville, Kentucky, claims to be the birthplace of the Old Fashioned.

As the story goes, a bartender at the club, James E. Pepper, created the drink in the late 19th century. It is said that he made the cocktail for a customer who wanted a drink made the “old-fashioned way,” leading to the name.

However, there are no clear records as to when the cocktail was invented.

Re “the old-fashioned way”: In the early 19th century, the term “cocktail” was not as specific as it is today. It generally referred to a combination of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The Old Fashioned is essentially a refined version of this original cocktail concept (the history of the cocktail).

Purportedly, a club member who was a Bourbon distiller brought the recipe to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel bar in New York City.

While the specifics of the creation story may be elusive, what is clear is that the Old Fashioned has a long and storied history, and is one of the classic cocktails enjoyed today around the world.
 
 
> Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes by pulling down the food categories menu on the upper right.
 
 

At Melissa’s, Tom has every type of special fruit and vegetable at his disposal. Instead of orange segments, he used seedless Ojai Pixie tangerines in this recipe. You can use whatever tangerines or oranges you can find locally (or treat yourself to some Ojai Pixies from Melissa’s). The benefit of tangerines over oranges is that the segments are smaller and can be eaten in one bite.

We like the contrast of sweet and tangy, so substituted the dried blueberries for sliced black olives.

TANGERINE & FENNEL SALAD

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. Place the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and toss to incorporate.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar and olive oil. Add to the salad, toss, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Garnish with the fennel tops (leaves). Save extra leaves for garnishing another dish.

FENNEL FACTS

A member of the parsley family, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) may look like celery (Petroselinum crispum), but is actually a perennial herb, indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean.

They are botanical cousins, members of the same order (Apiales) and family (Apiaceae).

Records of fennel’s use date back to about 1500 B.C.E, although it has been enjoyed by mankind for much longer.

Fennel is highly aromatic and flavorful, with both culinary and medicinal uses. The bulb and stalks resemble celery, the leaves look like dill (Anethum graveolens, also of the same order and family), and the aroma and flavor resemble sweet licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabraa, a totally different order [Fabales] and family [Fabaceae]).