Chef Marion returns with a helpful New Year's Resolution and cooking tips to make our trips to the kitchen not only easier, but also more glamorous. She releases the inner chef in us all, inspiring us to create and reassuring us that we all have it in us to be Home Chefs Extraordinaire!

Happy New Year to my Darlings!

I hope your Holidays have so far been filled with wonderful feasts and memorable gatherings.

I hope that all my brother and sister Home Chefs are not too exhausted from all your galas and festivities. Countless dozens of gourmet Christmas cookies, tankards of fine spirits, Grogs and 'Nogs, barons of roasts, gaggles of birds and thousands of hors d'oeuvres leave us with sore backs, swollen feet and arthritic fingers.

The ardor of these processes leaves us pondering the efficiencies of our kitchens and our own fortitudes. If you are like me, this thinking leads up to me making my traditional, New Year's Resolution: "Make it simple, Marion"

To help you simplify matters, I plan to give you some tips on how to make easy, yet still professional looking, dishes. This series of tips will concentrate on making sauces, one of the most difficult to master areas of cooking.

There is even a specialized study of sauces in most profession cooking academies. Those who demonstrate a talent for sauce making are highly sought after in fine restaurants. These "Sauciers," are considered almost "sorcerers" of cooking as their concoctions add unique, signature elements to standard dishes.

They go beyond the quotidian gravies and dips that mundanely dominate our palates. Their creations are given evocative names such as "infusions," "glaces," "dashis," "fonds," and "cremes."

They labor hours and hours and watch their efforts with unwavering vigilance. The illustrious French chefs of the Escoffier often say that that making sauce "is a war against burning." Their alchemal efforts take every precaution against over-cooking a sauce, striking a perfect, thermodynamic, chemical balance.

We, Home Chefs, can reproduce some of their magic in our own kitchens and endow our own cooking with their flavor broadening attributes.

The easiest technique used to start making sauce, especially from roasted or pan fried dishes, is "Deglazing." Deglazing is the process by which the caramelized bits of food can release their heat-transformed essences into your choice of liquids.

After the food has been cooked and removed from the pan, liquid is added without removing the pan from the heat. Caution must be taken when excess oil is left behind in the pan, as dangerous spattering may occur.

You may choose broth, wine(or other spirits), fruit juices, or plain water as your deglazing liquid. The only liquid I would not choose would be cream or milk, as it's low burning or "flash" point does not jive with the high temperature of the pan. Many of us are counting calories anyway, but if you still want to add a touch of richness to the body of your sauce, use cream, milk or butter after you have deglazed with another liquid.

Secret #1: After deglazing, another method you can used to thicken sauces to silken consistencies is to add a mixture of equal parts of cornstarch and water. This produces a secretly simply and wonderfully thick sauce without the lumps produced by flour based rues.

Secret #2: Stir, stir and stir. Constantly fold the sauce after the liquids and the thickeners have been added. At this time, remember to cut the heat by at least half. When you're finished, remove your sauce from the heat and serve immediately.

Secret #3: Make sauces at the last minute, just before serving. These simple sauces don't need to complexify, in fact all sauces tend to break down or separate quickly. Plus, they are made in a matter of minutes, so don't worry about keeping your guests waiting.

Secrets #4, 5, 6, and 7: Here are some products that you probably have at home that can be used to make wonderful professional tasting hot and cold, savory and sweet sauces.

a) Mayonnaise: I'm sure you that if you are a true gourmand you have couple of fresh jars in your 'fridge. This emulsion of eggs, citrus, garlic and oil is the sauce base to the majority of most cream sauces. Simply add your favorite herbs, spices and reductions and thin with your choice of liquid to make your own unique hot or cold savory topping. Use your creativity, trust me, mayo does go with everything.

b) Cream of Whatever: Lipton and Campbell soups have begun to make their re-entry into a more sophisticated supermarket-place by marketing cans of their products as bases and sauces for any occasion. This brings back memories and some nightmares of "Hot Dishes," those mainstays of the 50's Americana cuisine. Remember those 7-can surprises?

Well, combined with exotic and ethnic seasonings provided by the flavors of curries, chutneys, salsa, Asian fish sauces, and gourmet mustards, these classics are given fresh interpretations. They become an articulation of the new demographic of the U.S. It's something we all need to be reminded of. Don't you think, President Bush?

c) Knorr Sauce Mixes: As much as I loathe to bring up commercial products, this brand makes sauces of exceptional quality. Plus it's available in bulk from most grocery outlets, so my Consumerist conscience is somewhat appeased.

My personal favorite is their Hollandaise mix. To make them taste even better, use cream, a good full fat cream, instead of water. No one I know has ever tasted the difference between home made and Knorr.

d) French Vanilla Ice Cream: This is my greatest secret! Melted, high quality French vanilla ice cream makes an incredible dessert sauce.

Folded into pre-made whipped topping, it dupes any guest into thinking you've spend hours making Crème Anglaise. Warmed and thickened with cornstarch and water, the ice cream is transformed into a heavenly dessert topping. Remember to keep from heating the mixture too much, boiling will break down the sauce!

As a corollary, any flavor of ice cream makes wonderfully different renditions of the sauce. Or you can flavor the sauces any way you wish with fresh fruit purees, liqueurs, chocolates or spices.

Finally, I leave you with Secret #8, The Plastic Baggie:

There's a large scam that's played on many beginning home chefs. I call it the Pastry Bag Scam. Many chefs would have you believe that you must go out and purchase specially made and lined pastry bags with an assortment of handcrafted, metal tips.

Whatta crock!

Using any clean, plastic bag (zip-loc, sandwich, the kind you get at the grocery store or whatever) and a pair of scissors, anyone can have a functional pastry bag, suitable for all but the most intricate of decorating. Simply cut a small hole in the corner of a filled baggie and you're on your piping way. If you want a textured line, simply cut notches into the hole. Just be careful not to make the hole too big for your purposes.

Use these tips to make your life simple.
Beautiful…
Tasty…
And simple.

Love to All,
Marion.