Sauces recipes

Pan-seared beef tenderloin steaks with a quick red wine pan sauce, butter, and scallions. A 25-minute restaurant-quality steak dinner for two with classic French technique.

Linguine with clams in a peppery watercress and white wine sauce with garlic and green onions. A light, briny pasta dinner for two that comes together in under 30 minutes.

Chicken and mushrooms in sherry sauce with diced chicken breast simmered in a dry sherry, chicken broth, and lemon pepper pan gravy. Weeknight dinner that drinks like a French bistro classic.

Fettuccine with shrimp in a creamy herb sauce made from soup mix, milk, green peas, and Parmesan. A fast weeknight pasta dinner ready in 20 minutes with pantry staples.

Ziti with a raw fresh tomato-olive sauce made with kalamata olives, capers, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes, topped with crumbled goat cheese and Parmesan.

Cocoa meringue cake: two crisp cocoa-free meringue disks sandwiched with a mocha-chocolate filling and served in a pool of bright raspberry sauce. An elegant, low-fat dessert showpiece.

Sautéed cubed veal in cream sauce with shallots, white wine, and a finishing trio of parsley, tarragon, and chives. A French bistro main with restaurant polish.

Lobster with curry sauce from Bon Appetit: poached lobster medallions served over a silky reduction of tomato, Calvados, white wine, and warm curry spices. A dinner-party centerpiece with French technique.

Goa has developed its own cuisine and vindaloo is one of its main creations. Two important features of vindaloo are the technique of marinating meat in vinegar and the use of fiery spices. Although the number of chiles has been reduced, 4 more may be added if a hotter dish is desired. Cornish hens may be substituted for duck.

This is a wonderful dish for a first course. It is very rich.

Grilled salmon with crushed tricolored peppercorns, fresh dill, and a Dijon lemon butter drizzle. An elegant fish dinner ready in 15 minutes.

Pasta aglio e olio with slow-cooked garlic in olive oil, fresh basil, parsley, and Parmesan. Six ingredients, no cream, and on the table in 30 minutes flat.

Galician-style scallops in a creamy Dijon mustard sauce with pimento olives, capers, and garlic, baked in shells under a golden breadcrumb crust.

Fish and shrimp in sweet and sour sauce with pineapple, ginger, and soy, served over homemade coconut rice. A complete seafood dinner with bright Asian-inspired flavors.

Pan-seared salmon in a vodka cream sauce with green peppercorns, lime juice, and chives over wilted spinach and caramelized onions. A restaurant-quality dinner at home.

Spinach-stuffed chicken breasts with Madeira sauce: skin-on chicken breasts stuffed under the skin with a chicken-cream-spinach mousse, then pan-seared and oven-finished.