By Crystal Hohenthaner
Journal staff

To a certain extent I have already admitted to our blog readers that I love sauces. But it is big confession time here: my sauce issues go far deeper than love. I wouldn’t exactly call it obsession, but the truth is I often eat food just for the sauce that is on it.

For example, I had sushi for the first time this week and even though all the rolls were rather silmilar I wanted the roll with the mango sauce on it. Honestly, I just wanted the mango sauce. And about hot fudge sundaes…really why bother with the ice cream? I have been known to eat the fudge sauce all by itself right out of the jar.

I like steak because of the Worchestershire sauce I slather it in. I like waffles (and sausage links) because they can hold so much strawberry syrup. I crave french-fries when I want ketchup. I only like salad because of the ranch dressing. And honestly, when chips and dip are around I basically use the chip as an edible spoon to deliver as much dip to my mouth as possible.

I found some recipes for dipping sauces that are meant to accompany chicken fingers this week. So, since I’m feelin’ saucy, I thought I’d share.

Chicken Fingers With Dipping Sauces
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1 pound chicken tenders, all visible fat discarded
Vegetable oil spray

Coating Mixture
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Honey Mustard Sauce
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey

Blackberry Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup all-fruit seedless blackberry spread
2 tablespoons fat-free or light mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Put yogurt in medium bowl. Add chicken, stirring to coat. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. In another medium bowl, stir together coating mixture ingredients.

Dip one piece of chicken at a time in the coating mixture, turning gently to coat. Arrange chicken in a single layer on the baking sheet. Lightly spray chicken with vegetable oil spray.

Bake for 20 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink in the center and coating crisp.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together ingredients for desired sauce. Serve chicken with sauce on the side.

By Tanya Manus

I have a darling friend, Renee, who, a couple of years ago, ventured to Honduras where she taught at a Christian school for a year. She came back with stories about giant spiders, crazy traffic, learning Spanish and learning to cook as she was introduced to all kinds of new foods.
She visited me earlier this month and treated my family and me to an authentic Honduran dinner. The biggest surprise about Honduran food is that this Latin American country uses little or no spice. No five-alarm anything was served. The menu was black beans and rice, tacos made with thick homemade tortilla-like wraps, angel bread, and a light, refreshing mixture called chismol (pronounced cheese-mol).
Chismol is essentially a salsa made with mango, peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and cilantro. In Honduras, it’s the national condiment, Renee tells me. Hondurans eat it on many, many foods the way we might use ketchup. However, Renee and I ate it with chips, like salsa.
Though it’s not spicy, it is addictive. Renee introduced chismol to her neighbors at home in northern Minnesota, and they clamor for it. And they’ve learned to make it, although they’ve Americanized it by adding some spice.
Ater the mixture sat for a couple of days and the flavors had a chance to blend, I found myself craving it, too. It’s a cool, tasty, guilt-free snack to enjoy on a lazy summer day. Whip up a batch and relax with a taste of Honduras.

Chismol
1 mango
2 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
1 bell pepper, any color
1 small onion
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped very finely (about 4 tbsp.)
Juice from one lime

Chop all ingredients and mix together. Season to taste with pepper and garlic salt. Add a finely chopped jalapeno pepper if desired.

Garlic, how can it taste so good but make your breath smell so bad?

I brought in some dip to work today. Tastefully Simple Garlic, Garlic dip. It tastes awesome. But I only had one bite — two hours ago – and my breath smells bad now. Really bad. So bad that I can smell it!

All the experts say that smell and taste are definitly linked. But in that case, how can something that tastes so good make your breath smell so bad? Onions are the same story. And vinegar. In fact, my friend Jackie made me dinner a few weeks back and she concocted a sherry vinegar and onion sauce for the meal.

As soon as I stepped into her apartment I was afraid. In fact I was regretting the fact that I had said yes to her cooking me dinner. The entire apartment smelled kind of pickled — because of the sherry vinegar in the sauce.

At first I thought the apartment smelled funny because, well she has a male roommate and young men are just notorious for being bad house-keepers and a little smelly to boot. But when I realized that the smell permeating the place was actually the food that Jackie expected me to eat I was afraid.

I briefly tried to think of a bunch of excuses that might allow me to go home. I had nothing. I was going to have to eat it. So we sat at the table, prepared our plates and as I lifted the fork to my mouth to take the first bite I was getting ready to fake a polite response.

But it was actually great! I enjoyed the meal and even got over the smell. That is until I left the apartment. The smell had permeated my clothes. Kind of like when you eat at Subway and when you leave you smell like bread for a couple of days. I hate that. And how is it that the scent of baking bread smells disgusting when it’s in your hair or t-shirt?

Anyway, after my garlic, garlic breath I just had to go on about how smell and taste baffle me.

First of all, as a downtown girl, I am rather sad that Albertson’s is now Family Thrift — except for one thing. Now I can get Krab salad without going through the gap or over to the south side. (Unfortunately, now I can only get my pickles at Wal-Mart. But, I’ll get over that soon enough.)

Now I have always been a fan of krab salad. I have even been known to think about it for days and weeks on end. Yes, I crave it. But until this weekend it had never occured to me to do anything with it but eat it on the standard cracker — or even with a fork.

But Sunday, as I was picking up a tub of the lovely salad, I had a revelation — it sort of tastes like the yummy good stuff inside the stuffed mushrooms I love to get at restaraunts.

Now many of you may have thought of this a long time ago, but it was my brilliant moment of the week so I thought I should share — the idea, not my krab salad. I can’t share my krab salad. I’m going to need all of it that I bought to fill in mushroom caps this evening. Now I just have to decide what kind of cheese to top them with and how long to leave them in the oven.

I’m thinking Swiss for the cheese and maybe I’ll just pop a few in the microwave and see how that goes. Any sugestions? For that matter has anyone else had any brilliant moments at the market they’d like to share?

Easter Candy — mmmmmmmm, I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT!

Yeah I really like Easter candy. Each of my sweet taste buds look forward to this time of year the way little children look forward to Christmas. In fact, I’m 28 and I’m pretty sure I will be getting an eater — uh, I mean Easter basket for myself this year. I’ve been thinking about it all day, so I figured I would share my sweet Easter dreams with you via blog.

Cadbury Crème Eggs
I have sort of a weird reaction in some foods – I get ritualistic about eating them. Not ‘praying for rain’ ritualistic, just ‘I always do it the same way and for some reason it makes it more satisfying’ ritualistic. That’s not weird is it?

Well, whether it is weird or not, Cadbury Eggs (and pretty much every other Easter candy I love) evokes this ritualistic response from me.

I won’t go into the eating ritual I have with Cadbury Crème Eggs, but I will say I eat them in private because it is rather involved and I like to eat the middles before I finish the shell.

Hershey’s Eggs
First of all, I think the shell to chocolate ratio in Hershey’s Eggs is fantastic. And the shells are thicker and taste better than any other candy shell I have tasted. When I ritualistically devour these little pastel beauties I always try to bite them exactly in half and then chip the shell off. After crunching up the shell I let the two remaining chocolate chunks melt on my tongue.

Peeps
Okay, I know most people think these little crystal-sugar-covered marshmallow chicks are gross — and, honestly I agree. But I also cannot resist them. My first step when eating these day-glo yellow treats is to lick all of the sugar off the back. Then I bite off the tail. After I swallow the tail I pick the eyes off the chick, and then I go for the head. After that I eat the body in 2 separate bites.

Jellybeans
I like to crush the outer shell of a jellybean and then sort of peel it off with my teeth and my tongue. Then I slice the jelly center into little slivers with my teeth and swallow the slivers one at a time.

Mmmm, this is making me feel like I need to get some sugar. Am I the only one?

Plus, now I’m dying to know, do any of you have food rituals?

It seems like our three daughters are constantly swarming around our kitchen looking for a “snack.” That after-school time from about 3:30 to 5 is a tough one. I don’t want them to eat too much or they won’t eat supper, but they are so hungry after school. 

Their first snack is usually fruit, but after an apple and/or a banana, they’re usually still hungry. I try to buy healthy snack bars, but I think most are so processed they have very little to offer nutrient-wise. So I’m looking for a recipe for a healthy energy bar or energy cookie. Something that will fill them up while providing them with a little energy.

Anyone?