Sauces/90 recipes

Microwave liver and onions: a fast, gluten-free take on the retro classic. Beef liver and sliced onions cooked with soy sauce, sage, and a bright squeeze of lemon. Dinner in 20 minutes.

Pecan wood smoked BBQ pork ribs rubbed with seasoning and slow-smoked at 220 degrees for 3 to 4 hours. Basted with barbecue sauce only in the last 20 minutes for a sticky glaze.

Stir-fried beef and vegetables: a classic Chinese wok dish with marinated beef, crisp onions, and green peppers in a quick garlic-ginger soy sauce. Ready in under 20 minutes from wok to table.

Easy chicken piccata with golden flour-dredged cutlets in a bright, buttery lemon pan sauce built right in the skillet. A restaurant-style dinner with a tangy lemon kick, ready in about 20 minutes.

Bean and Salsa Dip layers spiced pinto bean puree, sweet chili sauce, green onions, fat-free sour cream, and chunky hot salsa on a platter. A no-cook layered party dip ready in 20 minutes.

Three layers of homemade cocoa brownie stacked with strawberry ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. This frozen brownie loaf is a make-ahead showstopper that feeds 10 to 12 with zero fuss at serving time.

Pepper-crusted fresh tuna loin seared in a screaming hot cast iron pan, sliced thin, and served with a soy-sesame-ginger dipping sauce spiked with five spice. This Japanese-inspired tataki appetizer is ready in 20 minutes.

Chicken pieces poached in a seasoned broth, then baked in a robust tomato sauce loaded with green chiles and garlic. A two-step method that keeps the meat juicy while building deep, layered Mexican flavors. Feeds 8 to 10.

Harissa sauce made with fresh or dried red chiles, garlic and a deeply aromatic Moroccan-style broth of chicken, chickpeas, saffron, cinnamon, orange peel and honey. A vivid North African accompaniment for couscous.

A creamy water-bath cheesecake with a walnut graham cracker crust, lemony cream cheese and cottage cheese filling, topped with fresh berries and double strawberry sauce.

Tuna kebabs alternate fresh tuna and artichoke hearts on bamboo skewers, brushed with a Shanghai-spiced peanut, tamari, and ginger sauce, then broiled until just opaque.

Frozen layered parfait with honey-almond cream base and raspberry mousse top, served with warm raspberry sauce. The dinner-party showstopper from the Masterchefs collection.

Risotto is an Italian rice dish. It is made by briefly sautéing the rice in olive oil or butter, then adding a little bit of stock, stirring almost constantly until the rice absorbs the stock, then adding a bit more stock, stirring, adding, stirring, adding until it’s done. It usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes of stirring. When it’s done, the rice is cooked through and bound in a wonderful creamy sauce that is made as the starch leaches out of the rice grains and combines with the stock.