Friday, May 26, 2017

Make Your Own Tartar Sauce


I am one of those people who judge a book by its cover. If the cover doesn't appeal to me, I'm not going to buy the book. In the same way, I am put off by certain foods simply because of the name. I didn't eat yogurt until I was in my 40s because the name yogurt sounded well, quite frankly, nauseating. When I was a little girl my dad told me that chocolate mousse (the concept of mousse was totally lost on this eight-year-old) was made of ground moose horns. That did it for me. I did not eat chocolate mousse, again, until I was in my 40s. Another thing that I've managed to avoid for most of my life is tartar sauce. Come on! Tartar sauce? TARTAR??? Tartar is the stuff the dental hygienist scrapes off of your teeth! Who came up with the name tartar sauce? I mean, really! Tell me that I am not the only one who says, "Ew" at its very mention?

I’d placed an order with Omaha Steaks (as the result of a combination of insomnia and too much wine) after seeing a late-night commercial. It's not that I got a bad deal, I didn't. In fact I got a great deal, and, come grilling time, I will be ever so glad that I have a nice supply of burgers, steaks, franks, etc. I also have a box of Pub Cod because it came with the collection that I ordered. Initially I was a bit leery, but as it turned out, it's very good!

I had malt vinegar, and I used it on the cod, but then I thought it might be good with a little remoulade, or… gasp!.. tartar sauce. Egad! I honestly had no idea what went into tartar sauce, so I started looking up recipes. None of them sounded bad, and it didn't look hard at all; essentially it was mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and herbs. Nothing wrong with that. So, I whipped some up and used it with the fish. It was delicious! It had a clean, crisp, light, delicate taste, made particularly pleasant with the fresh dill. This would be good as a sandwich spread in addition to using with fish. Okay, I'm sold. I like tartar sauce. But it really needs a better name.
Tartar Sauce

½ cup Duke’s mayonnaise
1 heaping teaspoon sweet pickle relish
1 heaping teaspoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon finely minced fresh dill
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate 1-2 hours before using to meld flavors.

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9 comments:

  1. I could live on fish...with or without tartar sauce! I always make my own, basically the same as your recipe, instead of the bottled grocery kind...it has a more bright, crisp taste.

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  2. Laughed all the way through your post!
    My husband likes a little fish with his tartar sauce - hah! So I've made it for many years.
    It's funny, some people prefer sweet pickle relish and some prefer chopped dill pickles in their sauce. I've always made it with dill pickles and minced onion but I have on occasion used both at once.
    That cod looks wonderful.

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  3. I love tarter sauce - even more than the remoulade stuff. My mother always diced up whatever she had on hand for it: green onions, pickles, etc., and loaded it up into mayo with a squeeze of lemon. It was slightly different every time! I'll try just about anything once, no matter what it's called, and there are some strange things out there. I think it's because she put a LOT of different things in front of me as a child and I trusted her implicitly!

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  4. I do not have a recipe to make my own tarter sauce. It looks easy and wonderful. Pinning for when I need it.

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  5. Hahaha pattie....u funny girl!
    I prolly make tartar sauce twice a week around here. There is always at least 50 lbs of catfish in freezer at lake house! Easiest thing to cook when the hoards of kids show up. Plus we do fried shrimp, oysters, and crawfish and shrimp boils all the time! I can make red sauce and tartar with my eyes closed! Try this version - more dull than sweet.
    Mayo thinned with lil milk
    Whole onion chopped into chunks
    Lots of dill pickle relish
    Prolly 1 1/2 T dry mustard
    Let sit in fridge an hour or so to meld flavors
    Will be making some tonight. Sunday is fish fry night!!!

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  6. Sounds like the perfect tartar sauce! Thanks for sharing on the What's for Dinner link up!

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  7. I knew you had me when you used Duke's mayo. It's a great recipe.
    Visit BarefootAffairs.com!

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  8. This sounds yummy!

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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  9. I make my own tartar sauce also but without Worcestershire sauce. I love that you use shallots also. Too many recipes have too much onion for my taste.

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Thank you so much for commenting, I love every one of them! I am, however, unable to respond to anonymous comments.