Member Reviews
A huge variety of options for different tastes. Each sauce offers ideas on what to use it on and serving suggestions.
Thank you Storey Publishing for this free review copy.
I think this book is brilliant. I'm always pressed for time or ideas for dinner, and this concept of ready-to-go sauces could be a real time saver. I like that meal ideas are included for the sauces as well. I'll definitely be giving these a try.
I absolutely love this cookbook! The amount of different types of sauces is tremendous. The pictures show the beauty of the finished products and the recipes are easy to make. The ingredients are also easily acquired. I can’t wait to make some of them.
I've never seen any cookbook quite like this, and I think it's fantastic. First, there's an introductory section with information on how to best cook the foods that can be enhanced by these sauces, including pasta, potatoes, rice, tofu, chicken, pork, seafood, and beef, and how the sauces can be used, when appropriate, as a sandwich spread or even as a soup base. There is also clearly written and helpfully photographed information on how to freeze the sauces. Then the recipes begin, organized by type of cuisine and types of sauce, plus pestos and salsas and even flavor enhancers like flavored butters and salts. I haven't had a chance to try any recipes yet, but they look great. They are clearly written, beautifully photographed, and I loved how each recipe ends with a list of the foods these sauces could be used with, including the amount of sauce for each food and how to apply it. If you multiply the number of sauces by the number of suggestions for using each sauce, you get hundreds of delicious-sounding recipes, each of which can be made quickly and easily with the thawed sauces. I love to cook a lot on weekends and then freeze things, and this book is full of great inspiration. The only addition I would have liked to see would be nutritional information, including calories for each sauce, but that aside I think this is an absolutely fabulous book and I would highly recommend it. I can absolutely see giving this book as a gift to your favorite busy cook. To be honest, I generally don't buy cookbooks anymore since I think one can so easily find recipes online, but I would make an exception for this unique and, well, exceptional book! Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley of this gem.
This cook book offers a large variety of sauce recipes. The sauces can be made in large batches, frozen and used over time. The only thing missing was a section on canning the sauces. Overall, well worth purchasing.
This book is such a help for the busy family. As a mom always looking for new, quick ways to make a decent dinner on nights when my husband and I are both working, kids have homework and sports, I really appreciate books like this. You can warm up your basic staples; pasta, chicken, pork and more, and with the addition of these make ahead sauces you can create flavorful meals that the family will be looking forward to eating instead of complaining about “chicken again?” Great for meal ideas as well as leftover prep. This book has it all, including suggestions as to what sauces turn into great soups. The most important aspect is that most of the recipes are easy to replicate and don’t include special tools, a culinary degree or an entire day to complete, yet are still versatile.
I love the idea of a sauce cookbook, because everything is really just a vessel for sauce. I found some of the sauce recipes to be unique and interesting, but there weren't a lot that I would personally use. There were also some sauces that I already have a recipe for, and based on the ingredient list, I don't think some of the sauces would be as flavorful as the recipes I already have. I do appreciate the instructions about how to freeze different sauces. I usually just freeze my pestos in icecube trays, but don't know what to do with the rest of the sauces I make. The suggestions about how to use the sauce were all very similar. Overall, an interesting concept, but just not as new and different as I was hoping.
What a great idea! Make dozens of sauces, freeze them in meal-size packages, and use them on plain meats, poultry, tofu, vegetables, rice, etc. The Make-Ahead Sauce Solution: Elevate Your Everyday Meals with 61 Freezer-Friendly Sauces by Elizabeth Bailey includes sauces for quick everyday meals as well as fancier meals for special occasions or company. This cookbook is a perfect solution to save time in a busy world. The recipes are easy to follow, and the book includes photographs of some of the recipes, which is helpful.
The book is well-organized. It includes a chapter on freezing, with hints for not only the sauces, but lots of other things you may want to freeze. There are also methods for making sauces with different textures. The chapter on bases for your sauces is excellent. It includes pasta, baked potatoes, rice, tofu, chicken, seafood, pork, and beef with ways to prepare them to accept the luscious sauces. The sauces can also be used on sandwiches, in soups, and on vegetables which adds to the versatility of these sauces. After the basic recipes for sauces, the book has suggestions and instruction for using the sauce on several of the basic bases outlined in the earlier chapter.
Most of the sauces are quite easy to make, which is very appealing to anyone who is busy (and who isn’t!). Favorites that have been tested in my kitchen are: Chipotle Sauce (creamy and good), an excellent Creole Sauce (pictured with Shrimp and Grits – Yum!), a simple Mole, Buffalo Sauce (great on grilled Brussels sprouts with blue cheese dipping sauce), a good Thai Peanut Sauce, and a spicy Arrabiata Sauce. There are about a dozen more in my queue, and I’m constantly grilling extra meats, chicken, and fish to have ready to use these wonderful sauces on.
The Make-Ahead Sauce Solution: Elevate Your Everyday Meals with 61 Freezer-Friendly Sauces is highly recommended for anyone who likes good sauces and likes to save time but still turn out gourmet-level dishes in a hurry.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
What a great collection of sauces. It covers that range of proteins that can be used and flavor profiles that you will get.
I love the premise of this cookbook. I can make various sauces on the weekend and then easily pair them with proteins, veggies, pasta, rice, or potatoes during the week to make dinner prep quick and easy. All excess sauces can be frozen for future use. You can even turn thick sauces into soups by thinning them out with broth or milk. Brilliant! I appreciate the photos since I like to see the finished recipe to get me craving the dish. I eat with my eyes first. This book is beneficial to single people, couples, and families. It's a great help to anyone that wants to quickly cook tasty and easy meals.
The Make-Ahead Sauce Solution by Elisabeth Bailey is a fabulous cookbook as the author has presented a smart solution on how to fix meals on the fly. The author starts off her cookbook by writing about the magic of sauces, how to prepare them, and how to freeze them for later use. She includes an explanation of how to pour the sauces into freezer storage bags (which she recommends using to save freezer space) so the process is a simple one. There are photos illustrating this procedure.
Each sauce recipe includes meals you can make using the recipe. The All-American Barbecue sauce gives the following meal suggestions:
1 cup sauce per one pound of chicken. Serve with French fries and steamed corn.
1 cup sauce per pound of pork. Serve with grits and green salad.
1 cup sauce per pound of beef. Serve with biscuits and Caesar Salad.
1/4 cup sauce per sandwich. Spread sauce evenly over hamburger bun. Top with cooked burger and slice of cheddar cheese. Serve with roasted mixed peppers.
The author includes directions for preparing a base for you sauce. Here you will read about how to cook pasta, rice, baked potatoes, tofu, chicken, shrimp and scallops, white fish, pork and beef. You will also find information on how to prepare sandwiches, and soup too.
Towards the end of her cookbook you will find a section called More Flavor Enhancers where you will find recipes for compound butters and flavored salts.
Finally, you will find a printable meal planner to help you prepare your weekly meals.
Overall, this is a well-written cookbook that will help ease meal preparation while creating tasty meals.
Recommend.
Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.
"The Make-Ahead Sauce Solution" is a great addition to meal planning and prep routines to help get tasty meals on the table on busy nights. No matter your cooking comfort, there are sauces in here to allow anyone to develop a simple meal using whatever your preferred protein or starch canvas and travel the world via your plate.
Several sauces are in queue for me to make & incorporate into my meal planning: Chorizo Garlic; Pumpkin Coconut Cream; Teriyaki Spinach; Coconut Lemon; Curried Spinach; Parmesan Leek; Balsamic Onion; Meyer Lemon Spinach; Gorgonzola Chive Butter; Blue Cheese, Pear & Hazelnut; Basil-White Wine. I look forward to making some of the compound butters to have simple flavor enhancers on hand for some simple protein + market produce skillets.
Free ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This cookbook is available October 30th.
Practically a new sauce for every day of the year (or close to it). I couldn't believe the combinations. Interesting, informative, and so great photos.
WoW what a book The Make-Ahead Sauce Solution by Elisabeth Bailey is. It's packed with so much information from the beginning of this book. How to make the sauce, how to bag and store the sauce in the freezer ready for quick meals, How to defrost the sauce for your meals, to use with meat, vegetables, pasta, rice etc and so much more. It will help you make a boring baked spud, or a bland chicken breast, plain pasta etc into a lovely tasty meal without buying a sauce mix from your local Supermarket, which will save you money and you know what ingredients are in this sauce you have made.
I found this book packed with wonderful easy to make sauces from Yellow, red or green curry sauces, all-American barbecue, to pasta sauces to teriyaki sauces etc. It even gives you information how to use some sauces and make into a lovely soup for a cold winters night. Its packed with 61 lovely meals that so easy to prepare and make with good illustration throughout.
So, if you struggle to make imaginative meals for your family or a meal just for two, this is a book for you, Especially as you can prepare these sauces in advance and stash them in you freezer for a later date.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the ARC to review this brilliant book.
My review has been posted to Goodreads.
Review has also been tweeted as usual.
Thank you! :c)
In the beginning of the book, the author discusses how she makes sauces on the weekend to use with meat, pasta, potatoes, rice or any other food you choose to mix it with. She also gives you directions on how to fill freezer bags with sauce, and that they should be labeled for easier reference when creating a meal.
There are sauces for every taste : creole, chipolte, mole, pumpkin coconut cream, vegetable, bacon gravy, Thai peanut, and hot orange. The ingredients to the sauces are easily available, there are precise directions, and there are suggestions on adding potatoes, rice, beef, pork, and chicken to the sauces to make a meal. You will enjoy making and using these sauces with your favorite recipes!
Thank you for the opportunity I can't wait to try all of the recipes that are offered in this book! Very easy to follow too.
#TheMake-aheadSauceSolution #NetGalley
The book can be used for any type of cooker. The book contains supportive illustrations and step by step instructions to create delicious and simple sauce. Also, the author provide the suggestions and ratio of ingredients needed to use in different scenarios like soup, grill and others. yummy ways.
This would be a useful book for any cook pressed for time. Clear instructions make it suitable for a beginner cook.
The first chapter covers the method for filling and freezing bags of premade sauce, then goes onto simple instructions for cooking quick bases that you would serve the sauces with, including pasta, baked potatoes, tofu, chicken, fish etc.
The remaining chapters provide recipes for sauces from across the world, cheese and wine sauces, pestos and salsas. A final chapter touches on flavoured butters and salts.
The range of recipes ensures that most cooks would find something here to extend their repertoire of sauces. I made the Sausage Ragu and found it tasty and great served with pasta. Having never used beer in a cheese sauce, I gave I tried the Cheddar Ale sauce; it was well flavoured, but rather too thick. On that point, I noted that the Green Peppercorn sauce used 1 cup butter, 1 cup flour to 1 cup vodka which is again way too thick and creates a stodgy unappetising sauce. I thought the section on salsas and pestos provided an interesting and varied range of no-cook sauces and I will certainly be trying more of these in the summer.
I love to make homemade sauces; they make the dish every time taste so much better. So when I saw this book on sauces, I had to have it. I got so many ideas and delicious recipes from this book. If you like sauces like I do, this is a must have recipe book. Would make a good Bridal Shower/wedding gift.