Often the trick to a d’lish dish is the sauce, but sometimes making one can be a bit daunting.

Seattle author Susan Volland’s new book Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors will help take the mystery out of making a great sauce. So you can easily splash, slather, drizzle or douse!

From basic recipes for stock (the building block of sauces) to creative and unique takes on classic recipes, this book has sauces covered from A to Z.

From quick and easy Stir-Together Peanut Butter-Hoisin Dipping Sauce to her recipe for a Vegan Corn “Hollandaise” – there are a lot of ideas to finish off your favorite dish.

Here are some of my favorite tips from her book:

Susan is an amazing chef and has wanted to write this book for years. It is one of the most comprehensive sauce books of all times and destined to become an eternal classic. Her recipes are always well written and precision tested.

So crack open a copy of Mastering Sauces and get saucy!

P.S. – And It’s never too early to think about holiday gifts for your favorite foodie. –Kathy

Stir-Together Peanut Butter-Hoisin Dipping Sauce
Susan says: “This sauce is nutty, sweet, and slightly exotic, and, it can be whipped up in less time than the quick-cooking dishes I like to dunk in it: grilled chicken skewers, Vietnamese spring rolls, or pot stickers. Double or triple the recipe, and you can use it to simmer chicken or as a sauce for chewy stir-fried noodles. It keeps well.”

Yield: 1/2 cup

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup water, coconut water, or Really Good Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp. all-natural peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (or substitute 2 tsp. light soy sauce or tamari)
2 tsp. sambal oelek or Sriracha, or to taste
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice, Tamarind Water, or rice vinegar

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the sauce at room temperature or lightly warmed.

If storing, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe from Susan Volland’s Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors, W. W. Norton & Co.

Vegan Corn “Hollandaise”
Susan says: “The friends and I have introduced this sauce to—even die-hard carnivores and butter lovers—claim to prefer this vegan version to classic hollandaise. The creamy yellow sauce mimics the texture of hollandaise without relying on eggs and butter. It is not as cloying, it’s heat stable, it’s tasty enough to be slurped up by the spoonful, and there is little or no guilt afterward. You will need a few specialty ingredients: miso, nutritional yeast flakes, and arrowroot. These are available at some supermarkets and at natural foods markets. Arrowroot is added for stability and gentle thickening; kudzu root (available at health foods markets) can also be used.”

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

1 1/2 cups water, Corn Stock, or Corncob Mock Stock
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen yellow corn kernels
1/3 cup whole raw cashews
1 Tbsp. white (shiro) miso
1 tsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp arrowroot
1 – 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper or dash of Tabasco

Combine the water, corn kernels, and cashews in a saucepan, cover, and simmer until the cashews are tender and the corn is very soft, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

Transfer the cashew mixture to a blender, add the miso, yeast, and arrowroot, and puree until very smooth. Strain back into the saucepan, pressing the solids against the sides of the strainer to extract as much smooth pupl and liquid as possible. Heat the sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is just simmering and has thickened. Season with the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. Serve warm.

Unlike hollandaise, this sauce can be refrigerated and reheated. Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Recipe from Susan Volland’s Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors, W. W. Norton & Co.