Easy Tartar Sauce

This easy tartar sauce has just three ingredients but it’s my absolute favorite to accompany any fish from cod to salmon, whether deep fried, baked, poached or pan-fried.

If you'd like to make the salt and vinegar chip crusted cod fingers you see with the tartar sauce in these photos, the link is here. So crunchy and delicious! Even better, they are baked not fried! 

I have a personal rule that if a restaurant menu has fish and chips on it, I have to order that. It’s a family favorite and we spend much time discussing the merits of 1) the flakiness of the fish 2) the crunchiness of the coating 3) the batter to fish ratio 4) the crisp outside vs fluffy inside of the chips aka French fries and 5) the texture and flavor of the mushy peas. 

No one else seems to like tartar sauce so I judge that completely on my own. For me, that tartar sauce is a must-have side for dipping but rarely does a restaurant sauce match the one I make at home. 

Easy Tartar Sauce

I recommend using a microplane to grate the onion if you have one. If not, use the smallest holes on your normal grater. Personally, I don’t want to crunch on a piece of onion. Aside from the capers, I don’t like bits in my tartar sauce. And speaking of the capers, you can substitute the larger ones for the non-pareils but chop them up with a sharp knife so they are better distributed in the sauce. 

Ingredients

about 1 tablespoon finely grated onion

1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons non-pareil capers, plus pickling juice

3/4 cup or 173g your favorite store-bought or homemade mayonnaise

Method

Grate the onion directly into the bowl so you don’t lose any of the onion juice. (See note above about the grater to use.) Add in the capers. 

Stir in the mayonnaise along with a tablespoon of the pickling juice from the caper bottle. 

Cover with cling film and chill until ready to use but at least 30 minutes so the flavors can meld. 

Serve with your favorite fish! 

Enjoy!

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Easy Sourdough Pancakes #BreadBakers

These easy sourdough pancakes use sourdough discard to add lots of flavor and baking powder and soda for rise so they can be cooked immediately. Serve with lashings of butter and syrup! 

Like everyone who nurtures a sourdough starter, I’m always looking for tasty ways of using the discard or even fed starter. I’ve posted three of those recipes in the last year: Quattro Stagioni Sourdough Pizza, Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets and even a rich chocolate Bundt cake. And I’ve made many more that never got shared. 

In short, we are friends of sourdough! Most of the recipes call for an overnight rise in the refrigerator or the addition of another rising agent like baking powder or yeast if you want to use the dough or batter right away. 

Easy Sourdough Pancakes

Since you use discard for this recipe, the sourdough flavor is mild but still discernible. These got two thumbs up each from my three taste testers. The batter makes about 2 dozen pancakes. If you want to serve all the pancakes at once, put your oven on warm and pop them in there on a baking pan as you make them. Keep them covered with foil.

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup or 227g sourdough starter

1 1/2 cups or 355ml milk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons canola or other light oil

To cook: 1-2 tablespoons canola or other light oil

Nonstick griddle or skillet

Method

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

Add the sourdough starter, milk, egg and oil. Whisk again until just combined.

Heat your nonstick griddle over a medium flame then use a heatproof basting brush to brush a little oil evenly on the griddle. Use a small measuring cup to pour pancake batter on the hot griddle to create four pancakes about 4-4 1/2 in or 10-11 1/2 cm wide. 

Cook the pancakes on the first side until bubbles form on the top and start to pop, then carefully flip the pancakes over one by one.

Cook them on the second side for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the pancakes are cooked through and golden brown.

Continue the process until all the pancakes are done. As mentioned above, unless you are serving them a stack at a time to the waiting hordes, you can put them on a pan in a warm oven covered with foil until you are ready to serve.

Serve the pancakes warm with butter and syrup. 

Refrigerate leftovers, if any. They can be rewarmed in the microwave or toaster.

Enjoy! 

This month my Bread Baker friends are sharing griddle breads. Check them all out below. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe.

• Bread In A Frying Pan From Magical Ingredients
• Buss Up Shut Bread From Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Buttermilk Scallion Flatbreads From Ambrosia 
• Easy Sourdough Pancakes From Food Lust People Love
• Ham and Cheese Corncakes From A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Homemade English Muffins From Making Miracles
• Malabar Partha From Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Phulka- A Whole Wheat Puffed Flatbread From Sneha's Recipe
• Purple Kale Paratha (Kale Flatbread) From Cook with Renu
• Sourdough Crumpets From A Messy Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakershome page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Red Cabbage Apple Mandarin Salad

Crunchy and light, this Red Cabbage Apple Mandarin Salad is a great side dish with seasonal cabbage, citrus and crisp apples to brighten a winter day. 

This salad is inspired by one created by Chef Katy Sparks that I found a few years ago when I was searching online for winter salads. We love salads all year round and this one is one of my favorites because of the mix of tart and sweet with the added boost of flavor from the orange syrup. 

You will have some of the orange syrup left over. Drizzle it over pancakes or even hot buttered toast. Hope it brightens your day too! 

Red Cabbage Apple Mandarin Salad

If you can’t find mandarin oranges, use clementines, navel oranges or whatever sweet citrus you do have to hand. Blood oranges would be good in this salad too. Larger oranges can be cut into big sized pieces. I’ve given the weights of my onion, cabbage, apple and mandarins below but know that if yours weigh a little more or less, it’s all good. This salad is very forgiving. It’s also easily doubled or trebled. 

Ingredients

For the mandarin orange double syrup:

1/2 cup or 50g sugar

1/4 cup or 60ml water

zest peeled thinly from 1 mandarin (see photo below)

For the salad:

1/2 Spanish onion (6.5 oz or 184g whole) 

1/4 cup or 60ml walnut or cider vinegar

1/2 large green apple (9.5 oz or 270g whole)  

1 small red cabbage (about 1 lb or 450g whole)

2 tablespoons mandarin orange double syrup

3 mandarin oranges (each about 2.3 oz or 65g whole)

Method

First, to make the mandarin double syrup, heat all the ingredients in a small pot over a low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool. Store in a clean jar. 

Slice the onion as thinly as you can and put it in a large bowl with the vinegar. 

Cut the half apple in half again and remove the core. Slice it as thinly as you can and toss the apple slices in the vinegar with the onion. This will keep them from turning brown. 

Discard any tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut it in half and then remove the core. Slice the rest of the cabbage as thinly as you can. Add the orange syrup to the apples and onion and toss to combine. Add in the cabbage and toss again. 

Peel the mandarins, carefully removing all of the white pith. Separate into pegs. 

Add the mandarin pegs to the salad and toss again. Serve the salad at room temperature or chilled.

Enjoy!

Happy Sunday FunDay! Today we are serving up healthy salads we hope you will enjoy! Check them out below. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe.

• Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Golden Apple & Potato Salad from Sneha's Recipe
• Irish Cheddar Honey Mustard Broccoli Salad from  Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Japanese Potato Salad from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Kale Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Red Cabbage, Apple, Mandarin Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Sesame Chicken Salad from Making Miracles
• Super Nacho Taco Salad from Amy's Cooking Adventures

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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