Bearnaise Sauce {Great topping on Steak}

In order to be great, steak needs a good sauce. It's not as hard as one would think!

INGREDIENTS
1/4c white wine vinegar
 1/4c dry white wine
 3 tbsp minced shallots 
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
 2-3 tbsp water 
 4 egg yolks 
 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted 
 juice of half a lemon 
salt 
white pepper 
cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Bring vinegar, wine, shallots, and tarragon to boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil until most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Off heat, add water, then whisk in egg yolks until frothy.

Gradually drizzle in butter, whisking constantly to incorporate. Sauce should be thick, but thin it with a little water if needed. If it's too thin, return it to low heat and whisk constantly until thickened.

Strain through a medium-mesh strainer into a heatproof cup. Season with lemon juice, salt, white pepper, and cayenne.

Sage Butter Sauce {Great On Chicken}

Upscale your chicken with a rich butter sauce!

INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp minced shallot
 1/2c dry white wine
 1/2c heavy cream
 1/2c low-sodium chicken broth
 1 tsp lemon juice
 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) cold unsalted buter, cubed
 1-2 tsp minced fresh sage
 salt
 white pepper 
cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Saute shallot in butter in a small saucepan over medium heat just until soft, 2-3 minutes. 
Add wine, cream, broth and lemon juice. 
Simmer until liquid is reduced by half, 8-10 minutes. 
Whisk in butter, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring constantly.  Do not add more butter until previous addition has melted completely.
Stir sage, salt, white pepper, and cayenne into sauce. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
4 lb Roma tomatoes quartered (8cups)
 1cup chopped onion
 4 cloves garlic (whole)
 2 tsp kosher salt
 1 tsp red pepper flakes
 1 tsp sugar 
1/2c olive oil 
1/2c snipped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450.
Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, salt, pepper flakes, and sugar in a large casserole dish. 
Toss tomato mixutre with olive oil; roast 35-40 minutes until tomatoes have softened. 
Remove from oven and mash with a potato masher, keeping timatoes a bit chunky.
Stir in basil.

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
•  2/3 cup sugar
•  1/2 tsp baking soda
•  2 tsp baking powder
•  1/4 tsp salt
•  3 mashed bananas (after they are soft and just start to turn brown)
•  1/2 cup butter
•  2 tbls milk

DIRECTIONS

• Combine 1 cup flour with sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
• Add bananas, butter and milk. 
• Beat on low until blended. Beat high for 2 minutes. 
• Add 2 eggs and 3/4 cup flour. 
• Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
• Cool about 10-15 minutes.