Tartar & Cocktail Post: Think About It
For the last year I've started making my own tartar & cocktail from scratch. Sounds like too much but think about it. As sportsman we spends tons of money on tackle, boats, fuel, $300 coolers, etc... Other times we go right to the dock or best seafood market in our area for fresh shrimp or fish. Everything we do involves spending top dollar for fresh, quality seafood. Now we don't use cocktail or tartar on everything but when we do, how often do you grab a bottle from the grocery store?
As much effort as we exert on everything else, it seems counter productive to go the easy way out for our condiments. I don't know if it's that folks aren't confident in their scratch sauce making or if we're just creatures of habit and buying is what we've always done. If I promised you that it's incredibly easy, infinitely better, and that you probably have the nessesary ingredients on-hand, would you make you're own?
Sunday I fried a few filets and whipped together some house-made tartar.
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Tartar Sauce
-Diced a few homemade bread and butter pickles
-Diced red onion
-minced 2 slices of jalape?o
-squeezed lemon
-cracked black pepper
-add approximately 1/2 cup of mayo and mixed
The really fun part is you can improv anything you like. You love garlic? Go for it. Cilantro your favorite herb? Why not? Prefer lime over lemon? Go for it. You like everything's kicked up a notch? Cayenne it is.
You get the point. Use your own preferences to prepare something that will crush a basic, store bought tarter. A few other options I like are dried chives in lieu of raw onion or chopped carrots for a little added crunch and sweetness.
Now on to the cocktail sauce. I don't consider cocktail to have the same versatility as tartar but store bought is merely dressed up ketchup and that just doesn't cut it. Cocktail is only a few ingredients (ketchup, prepared horseradish, worceshire, and lemon) but the ratios can be adjusted for game-changing flavor profile differences. For instance, I go heavy on the horseradish because I love the nasal heat. Often times I'll add a little chili powder to add some heat on the nose and good ole Louisiana Hot Sauce would be suitable for that application as well. Just like the tarter, your kitchen, your rules. I'm sure throwing some fresh minced garlic makes anything better. Add new ingredients or adjust the ratios to suit your palate. Typically, I taste and see if it has enough horseradish kick and add a little more if needed.
Beast Cocktal Sauce:
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 4 tbl spoons prepared horseradish
- tsp chili powder
- tsp worceshire
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- squeeze lemon
Next time you have a fish fry for your family or friends, whip up your own condiments and prepare to for the compliments to the chef. In a world where an 1/8 ounce jig head instead of a 1/4 ounce is the difference in fresh fried speckled trout at home or pizza delivery, why not give the same attention to detail in your kitchen?
