Sauce du Jour: A Shocking But True Story

Note: In this post Daughter #1 will be referred to as "The Know-It-All" and Daughter #2 will be referred to as "Hates Everything".

 

The Know-It-All

I get asked on a daily basis where the name Sauce du Jour came from.  Well ok, maybe not daily but at least weekly.  Come to think of it, maybe it’s more like monthly.  Ahhh hell...it’s really more like, I think someone once asked me—but since you asked, I’ll tell ya.   



Hates Everything

     When The Know-It-All was a just a snotty kid she would say to me each night as I was setting dinner on the table, and in that snarky-snotty kid tone I might add, “so what’s the sauce du jour tonight?” Without even making fun of her hair, I would give her a totally sincere sauce answer.

 No matter what that answer was, those few syllables triggered the gag reflex in Hates Everything. Not one to be put off by a little kid barf, I would shoot them both my shut-up-and-eat-it-or-I'll-have-to-take-away-your-birthday-and/or-knock-your-tooth-out-look, and then I would put the sauce du jour on the table, much to The Big Guy’s overwhelming delight, I should say.  



       

    With that said, the name Sauce du Jour reminds me of those many special family evenings spent around our dinner table when the girls were young. They chattered on about their day and their friends, while delighting us what they had learned in school each day. 

     I do recall the sauce du jour landing on the wall one time when The-Know-It All (while still in middle school, mind you), shared with us that today, she had learned how to put a condom on.  Her grandfather, who was dining with us, spewed food while her father and I demanded to know the name of the teacher that we would be making cry the following day.  Ahhh yes, those were the coughbullshitcough good old days.
     Fast forward 20 years; Big and I often eat in front of the TV and dinner hasn’t involved a shocking topic since The Know-It-All left home. No one even asks me anymore what the sauce du jour is, even though I still make one most nights anyway.  Aiolis, beurre blancs, coulis, anglaise, you name it; if it can drape itself over something on my plate, I’ll grab my reduction pan and my whisk and get after it.

     Which brings me to this recipe. The tomato butter (pictured above) is so stinkin good you’ll be tempted to eat it on toast.  It’s one of those recipes that Big and I actually get a craving for, which got me to thinking...the next time my family is all together I think I'll whip it up. When The Know-It-All asks, “and what’s the sauce du jour tonight?” I’ll be able to say, "Tomato Beurre Blanc".  Hates Everything will throw up a little in her mouth and start protesting, without even tasting it. Maybe if I call it Tomato Ranch Dressing I can trick her into tasting it and who knows, she may even like it. If so, we would once again have something shocking to talk about at the dinner table.

This recipe is originally from Bon Appetit. I changed it up a little by garnishing it with fried prosciutto bits, because duh, everyone know that scallops and crispy prosciutto love each other and want to be at the same party. Go to the "Seafood" tab at the top of this page to view it.