Dressings, Sauces and Flavourings

This is where you go the extra mile: put a bit of time and a lot of love into your sauces and dressings and it will transform what you do in the kitchen. I’m really big on salad dressings – you can’t beat a green salad with a good dressing on it – and, as usual, once you’ve got the technique worked out, you can begin to play around with flavours. Always use the best olive oil you can get, use fresh herbs, buy some decent vinegar and experiment with different kinds. The sauces in this section are all very versatile and can lift a simple dinner into something much more stellar – homemade hollandaise, for example, is a doddle, and it tastes really special on eggs or with the first of the season’s asparagus dipped into it. You’ll also find flavoured oils and pickles in this chapter, easy ways to add gusto or a burst of tang to your food.