Bernaise Sauce
This is kind of a pain to make, but it's worth it. Great sauce for filet mignon.

1 egg yolk
1 tsp lemon juice
5 tbs cold butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp tarragon
1 tsp parsley
¼ white wine
salt and pepper to taste

In a small saucepan, beat egg yolk and lemon juice with wisk over very low heat until light and creamy. Whisk in butter a tablespoon at a time, being sure the pan never gets hot enough to melt the butter. Remove from heat from time to time if necessary. Continue beating until all butter has been emulsified. The sauce should be thick and creamy.

In another saucepan combine shallots, tarragon, parsley, wine, salt, and pepper. Boil over high heat until the liquid is reduced by half. Strain liquid and reserve 1 teaspoon of the herb/shallot mixture; cool liquid to room temperature. Combine liquid with sauce and reserved shallots/herbs. Serve immediately.

(Updated Tue Jun 26 14:57:35 PDT 2007 // fixed for spelling and grammar)

Kathy's Lower Sugar Freezer Jam
A bit more work is involved to make this compared to the full sugar recipe, but if you prefer your jam a bit more tart. This is a good way to go.

4 cups crushed berries (about 3 pints of raspberries)
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
3½ cups sugar
1 cup water
1 box low sugar fruit pectin
freezer safe containers

Crush berries one cup at a time (by hand) using a potato masher; leave a few bits and chunks of the fruit intact. Combine crushed berries and lemon juice in a large bowl. Set aside.

Measure sugar into large saucepan. Stir box of pectin into sugar and mix. Add water and bring mixture to boil on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir fruit mixture into hot pectin-sugar mixture and thoroughly combine. Pour into prepared containers.

Yield: about 8 cups.

Variations: Raspberry-peach, 3 cups crushed raspberries and 1 cup finely chopped peaches. Raspberry-strawberry, 3 cups crushed raspberries and 1 cup crush strawberries.

Kathy's Freezer Jam
My sister-in-law Kathy makes PBJs with her own homemade raspberry freezer jam; my kids go bonkers over the stuff. So I got her recipe, bought a bunch of raspberries from my local Costco, and made some of my own last night and tonight. It is very very good jam.

3½ cups crushed berries (about 3 pints of raspberries)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
4½ cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 box fruit pectin
freezer safe containers

Crush berries one cup at a time (by hand) using a potato masher; leave a few bits and chunks of the fruit intact. Combine crushed berries and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir box of pectin into fruit and mix. Set aside for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to dissolve pectin thoroughly. Pour corn syrup into fruit mixture and mix well. Stir in sugar gradually, 1 cup at time, and stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and jam is no longer grainy. Pour into prepared containers.

Yield: about 8 cups.

Biff's Best Cheese Sauce Evar!
We frequently steam vegetables for dinner; including broccolini, asparagus, and carrots. We had some broccolini tonight with some lamb chops. Typically I'll prepare this simple cheese sauce to pour on top of the veggies. Here is how to make it:

1 tbs butter
1-2 tsp flour
dash pepper
1 cup milk
¼ cup shredded Jarlsberg cheese

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour (1 tsp for a thinner sauce, 2 tsp for a thicker sauce) and stir to make a light brown roux. Add milk all at once and whisk vigorously until sauce thickens (whisking keeps the texture of the sauce nice and smooth). Add cheese and stir until just melted. Serve hot over freshly steamed vegetables.

(Update Wed Feb 15 08:11:29 PST 2006 // lamp -> lamb... oops)

Bertha's Mustard Plum Sauce
Whenever Bertha (my mother-in-law) serves ham for dinner, she'll always prepare a simple mustard plum sauce to accompany it. I think the only people that eat the sauce are Dick (my father-in-law), Bertha, and myself. All of her kids shun the sauce like the plague, but I'm not sure why... it is delicious. Bertha prepares her mustard plum sauce using one part yellow mustard and one part her homemade plum jam... however, I have made a slight variation to her original:

3 tbs Bertha's homemade plum jam (or equivalent)
1 tbs raspberry jam
1 tbs stone ground coarse grained mustard (or dijon mustard if desired)
1 tbs Inglehoffer sweet hot mustard (or equivalent)

The measurement for the sweet hot mustard is a rough approximation; some brands are a little hotter than others. So add a little more (or a little less) according to taste. Serve at room temperature.