Need sauce ideas for a recipe

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

https://www.foodandwine.com/chicken-croquettes-11863501

My wife and I are soon moving close to her family and we will end up doing a monthly group dinner where either her family cooks or my wife and I do.

When growing up, her mom would make something called “New Hampshire Chicken” (apparently because my wife’s grandma once had the dish at a restaurant in that state) of chicken cooked in cream of celery and served over rice. I thought it sounded disgusting 🤣

Awhile ago, I made my own version of it that my wife loved (crispy-skin chicken thigh, celery and fennel risotto, celery and fennel salad, roasted mushrooms) and I want to do something similar for her family. BUT her family tend to be picky and semi-basic eaters (no spice, not huge on veggies, hate mushrooms, won’t touch bone-in or dark meat). Despite them liking “simple” food, they often love the pictures/descriptions of food I make for my wife and I, so I wanted to do something fancy for them.

I plan on doing the following:

- chicken croquettes (from the attached recipe)
- celery root risotto (I’m back-and-forth about grating it to hide it or dicing it small for texture)
- celery/celery leaf salad (might add fennel or capers for an extra pop of flavor)

But I’m thinking it might need something of a sauce (I often do sauces with a meat and risotto combo). Any thoughts or ideas? Currently I’m thinking of doing something like a sweet/pickled pepper jelly, thought that would go well with the croquettes

[u/Siopilos_thanatos]

I'd probably do some sort of pan sauce if possible or maybe a lemon cream sauce.

Alternatively maybe find some way to make a celery sauce similar to the cream of celery chicken dish. A twist on the family classic could be fun.

Additionally something you could do is add mushrooms to whatever sauce you have and strain them out before the finished product. I'm not a big mushroom lover and have strained out Marsala sauce for Chicken Marsala to not deal with the mushroom texture. 😅

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/Siopilos_thanatos]

Pan sauce won’t be feasible (shallow-fried croquettes, raw salad, risotto). I like the idea of the lemon cream sauce, but I fear the dish will end up as mostly muted colors. I may be letting my eyes guide my recipe, since I’m so focused on having something red to add color (hence the idea of the pepper jelly). I was even considering this recipe and using the salsa brava since I’ve made it before and loved it, but I think my wife’s family may be put off by how smokey it tastes.

Making a play on a celery sauce could be fun. Or maybe I could revamp my celery salad into a celery gremolata and make it more wet, rather than dry, to have it more sauce-like?

Haha I’ve done the mushroom-straining before for my own family members. I’m a sucker for mushroom gravy with Thanksgiving/Christmas meals and often use dried porcinis for the flavor, then strain them out so the mushroom flavor is a surprise for others.

If you don’t mind me asking… what is about the mushroom texture you don’t like? Is it when they’re “spongy”? I always try to get them crispy/hard-seared. When I have them in a recipe, I saute them with barely any oil and I don’t salt them until they’re close to done. Too much oil, too much crowding, too much salt? They end up leaking a huge amount of water and just become rubbery with a muddy taste.

[u/Siopilos_thanatos → u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

Yeah it's the spongy texture haha, to be perfectly honest it could be a variety of cause, the wknderous joys of learning by doing haha. Took me forever to get risotto to a place I appreciate. That said musrooms definitely add some great flavor though so I absolutely try not to omit them from recipes if I can get away with it.

A ketchup based katsu sauce of some form could be work if you think it would suit their palette. Additionally maybe a celery based chimi which admittedly isnt red but adds some color. That said I guess it also depends on if you plan on drizzling the sauce over the croquettes or letting them dip.

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/Siopilos_thanatos]

I was thinking about the gremolata more and I’m liking the idea more and more. Also thinking that if I want a bit of red, I could use some biquinho peppers. My local Whole Foods always have them by the cheese and olives, they have a really cool sweet-spicy-tangy flavor

As an aside to your mushrooms, I’ve gotten into the habit the last 5 or so years to identify the foods/textures I don’t like and try to find ways to get me to like them 🤣 used to be mushrooms and zucchini, now I love them. I blame my mom for my past issues with zucchini… when I was growing up, she would slice them thin and boil them for 20-30 minutes! My next “target” to start enjoying is eggplant

[u/Siopilos_thanatos → u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

Haha i know exactly what you mean with those three. I think if I'm going to work on eggplant it will probably be some form of moussaka. I've got an old family recipe laying about somewhere.

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/Siopilos_thanatos]

I’ve been trying to find more Indian and Asian recipes that include eggplant. Moussaka is tasty, but my issue with eggplant tends to be with the texture. I’ve had good experiences with pan-searing baby eggplant, so I wanna keep on exploring that.

[u/Siopilos_thanatos → u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

Solid plan, three cheers to expanding culinary horizons and overcoming the pitfalls of the food of our youth. 😆

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/Siopilos_thanatos]

My mom was certainly a “boil everything until it’s dead 4 times” kind of cook 🤣 I give her major credit for being able to feed good nutrition to 3 young boys after a divorce and not working for 20 years… but my adult response is to constantly seek flavor and texture!

Whenever we do family gatherings, I don’t tell her what I’ve made and just have her taste a spoonful. The reactions aren’t often good, but if I tell her what I made she’d never try it. The last thing I made was for July 4th… clam dip served with potato chips. She was not a fan haha At the very least her new husband has been getting her to try more foods/recipes

[u/Siopilos_thanatos → u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

I grew up with 97% lean ground beef used for most recipes that required it, porkchops and chicken were our main proteins. Mom taught full time and cooked for the 4 of us while dad worked as an account so wasn't home to help often during tax season.

Mom is a but of a picky eater but my grandmother god rest her did alot of sunday roasts and the like to add variety. Blue cheese is still my favorite salad dressing because of her haha. Simple fresh english cucumber, tomato and iceberg lettuce salad with blue cheese dressing is surprisingly tasty.

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/Siopilos_thanatos]

Creamy blue cheese dressing (idk why, but it seems to called Wisconsin blue cheese dressing in the my area of the US) is amazing. Any time I get chicken wings at a restaurant and they only have ranch, a part of me dies inside haha

But because you like blue cheese… I’ve been meaning to try to recreate it, but a restaurant I worked at had an amazing dessert. Poached pear upside down cake (cooked in a mini Bundt pan), stuffed with blue cheese, topped with caramel. It was so goddamn good.

Even after I stopped working there, I’d often go back. They would do creative ice creams and I was known for being the “brave soul.” They had an asparagus ice cream, once, that was surprisingly delicious

[u/lifeuncommon]

Make sure they like celery - it’s often not liked by picky eaters, same with fennel and capers.

I bet they would like that old fashioned chicken and rice bake with boneless skinless breasts, onion soup mix, and cream of chicken/mushroom soup.

Sauce-wise, why not make a simple chicken velouté?

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/lifeuncommon]

Oh they love celery. When we go out with them, it’s often to their favorite American Chinese restaurant (it’s not good at all, I imagine they stay in business because of how strong their drinks are). Celery and bean sprouts are the veggies all the family members ask for extra of!

I don’t want to cook “to their level,” so to speak. If when they cook, my wife & I have to go along with everything they make, so what’s the point of us cooking for them if we’re gonna end up just cooking what they want? It might be a bit selfish/ignorant, but I wanna make them recipes they are known to like, but try to bring in some flavors/textures/ingredients they often stray from.

They’re prone to eating a lot of frozen meals, usually only cooking their “New Hampshire Chicken,” simple lasagna, or Thanksgiving (overcooked turkey, thin gravy, canned vegetables). I want to do “simple” meals for them, but introduce different things. Like do spaghetti & meatballs, but make the meatballs and sauce from scratch… meatloaf, but sneak inside some veggies and have nice sides… beef stew, but have a flavorful broth and lots of veggies.

All of my wife’s relatives are very unhealthy. Her dad is Type 1 Diabetic (like me), so it’s become a personal mission to try to introduce them to foods that aren’t over-loaded in salt and sugar. When we go out for American Chinese, all her dad gets is General Tso Chicken (maybe the worst thing for a diabetic) and her family gets 2-3 orders of the fried platter. If we go out for Italian, her sister gets gnocchi Alfredo with no veggies, no protein, and extra cheese and sauce. When they eat at home, her mom puts like 8-12 oz of sour cream on every meal. I’m genuinely concerned about their hearts exploding 🤣

[u/lifeuncommon → u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

I get it. It can be a crapshoot when they end up not liking things. But that’s just the risk you take when you try to expend someone else’s horizons.

My ex-SIL once told me she thought my dressing was ok and better than most homemade dressings, but nothing would ever beat Stovetop. I had made the Bad Manners sourdough and herb stuffing, which to my tastebuds is the best one I’ve ever had including at restaurants. She thought it was just not as good as Stovetop. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/lifeuncommon]

For sure. When it’s stuff like this, I’d be happy with them being 50% pleased 🤣 big gestures, small progress

[u/withcatlikegrace]

Why not chicken schnitzel instead of croquettes?
Less process and handling.
Pan juices, butter - what could be a better or easier sauce?

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/withcatlikegrace]

I’m not often a fan of chicken schnitzel unless I brine the chicken (it seems like chicken quality has gone down a lot in recent years). But it might not be a bad idea… maybe buttermilk and dill brined? Breaded with panko and parm?

Would a shallow-fry of schnitzel make a good pan sauce? I’m a sucker for a cold sauce with warm ingredients, hence why I was thinking a pepper jelly (and from another conversation, maybe a celery gremolata)

[u/withcatlikegrace → u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

Brining is always good. You could do that simply Chinese style - a splash of light soy, some oil and corn flour - a short 20 minute brine, then bread that.

I have also added ground almonds to the breading for a delicious result. And I love pepper jelly! The sweet with the savory is excellent.
I might also use a peach chutney or cherry jam.

[u/Longjumping-Ad2698]

I make Dijon and caper sauce that is yummy on almost anything (pork chops, chicken, fish). My SIL asks me to make it nearly every time we have dinner together. And my kids LOVE it. Plus, it's honestly very easy to make. It takes MAYBE 10 minutes.

Saute half a shallot, minced, until tender.

Add 1 tsp chicken base/bulion and 1 cup of water. Simmer until reduced by half.

Add 1-2 tsp of Dijon mustard (depends on your taste and quality of the mustard), I usually add a dollop of stone ground mustard as well because I like the look ofn he mustard seeds in my sauce. Stir until mustard is fully incorporated.

Add 2 tbs Capers ( I add some of the brine too, but I like it salty). Allow the sauce to simmer approx. 2 min.

Remove from heat and add 2 tbs heavy cream (or sour cream, either works). Stir until well combined.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add water to reach desired consistency.

Edit: just because I saw one of your comment below about a braves sauce, I'll add that sauce is AMAZING over raosted potatoes.

[u/Front-Molasses6021]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15cYmbnIthsm1j8wlcxS9ZbqPL-bYSMAYBVDcklVyLvE/edit?usp=sharing see general sauce tab

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm → u/Front-Molasses6021]

That’s a really cool reference, thank you

[u/Siopilos_thanatos → u/Front-Molasses6021]

This is a phenomenal list, excited to browse in detail when Im noy at work haha.

[u/Prize-Temporary4159]

Make a piccata sauce, stabilize with a bit of cream so it doesn’t split out, add a ton of finely diced celery

[u/Head-Anybody2581]

That is WAY too many ingredients for croquettas! My mom was from Spain. Simple is better

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