Sauce

[Daznz]

Hi ya all

Im waiting for Sauces - classical & contemporary sauce making second edition by james peterson to turn up in the mail ....Im a little excited
How many of you guys and gals use this book?

Whats a sauce you have made thats to die for like WOW AWESOME sauce
comments.

Daza

[Mapiva]

Wow maybe I should get this book. I never know how to make a sauce! For example, if I pan sear a steak, how do I use the pan drippings to make a sauce? I try adding wine etc, but the fat drippings are usually too oily and it ends up being greasy. What to do?

[boar_d_laze]

Mapiva,

To make a pan reduction sauce, drain off nearly all of the fat from cooking leaving only enough to coat the pan. Return the pan to a medium-high flame (saute heat). Next, add your aromatics, toss once or twice, and then enough liquid to deglaze the pan -- preferably wine, spirits or stock. Then, finally build your sauce around the melted fond. The pan must be kept hot during the entire process, so reduction is fast and constant during the process. The sauce's structure comes from a combination of fond, reduction (hence the name) and ingredient choices -- a butter finish, cream, or tomato paste by way of a few examples.

To make a pan gravy, you drain off the fat, but leave just enough to create the right amount of roux. Again, add the aromatics over medium high heat, but this time let them take on some color. Add the flour, reduce the heat, and cook the flour until it reaches the desired color. Then add the liquids and other ingredients, bring to a boil (still over medium heat), and cook long enough for the flavors to marry.

Note that for either type of sauce, the bare minimum of fat from cooking is used. Note also, that in the first type of sauce -- fat is frequently added in the form of cream or butter.

If you want specific help with pan reductions, PM me your email address and I'll send you the first draft of a recipe designed to teach all the necessary techniques. If you want to talk more generally, let's start another thread.

BDL

[teamfat]

I'll say that my all time favorite sauce is freshly made bearnaise, a wonderfully rich and decadant topping for grilled or roasted meats, salmon, steamed veggies, poached or scrambled eggs, whatever. I hate to admit, though, that it has been a while since I've made a batch. I'll have to remedy that soon.

Getting comfortable with basic roux based sauces and pan reductions is a worthwhile endeavor. I'm not familiar with the book, but it sounds like something I might enjoy.

mjb.

[Daznz]

Originally Posted by teamfat

I'll say that my all time favorite sauce is freshly made bearnaise, a wonderfully rich and decadant topping for grilled or roasted meats, salmon, steamed veggies, poached or scrambled eggs, whatever. I hate to admit, though, that it has been a while since I've made a batch. I'll have to remedy that soon.

Getting comfortable with basic roux based sauces and pan reductions is a worthwhile endeavor. I'm not familiar with the book, but it sounds like something I might enjoy.

mjb.

Thanks for that ,The book is outstanding so much to learn..Im just reading all about the cheeses herbs etc best time to add them to the cooking sauces etc...very interesting then on to stocks and on and on it goes wicked

[teamfat]

My wife has been working part time at a local library, I asked her to look for this book. They had it. Wow. I WILL be ordering a personal copy to keep around, tons of stuff in this book. She alos brought home "Glorious French Food" by the same author, another massive work. I'll be brushing up on classic French techniques for a while!

mjb.

[Mapiva]

Thanks BDL, I didn't realize I could drain all that fatty stuff out. I also don't know the best way to separate the fat from a liquid like stock or roasting pan juices. Any ideas are welcome.

[boar_d_laze]

Two good ways to defat a liquid: Get yourself a fat separator -- it looks like a little plastic measuring cup with a spout coming out of the bottom. You poor the liquid into the cup, give it a few minutes for the flat to float to the top, and gently poor off the good stuff, leaving the fat in the cup.

If you're not in a hurry, the best way is to refrigerate. The fat congeals on top and can be easily removed. You know this one, I'm sure.

The most common way is to tilt the pan or pot, and very carefully skim the fat off the top. This is somewhat less than perfect. In restaurants, after skimming, they sometimes use a towel to absorb whatever fat was left floating by the skim. For a complete clarification and defatting -- after straining and skimming, they make an egg-white raft. That really purifies. Its also a further than most home cooks need or want to take it. But if you ever want to make a consomme -- now you know.

BDL

[foodpump]

Peterson's "sauces" was probably one of the most influential books I've ever read--the other was Pepin's "La Technique". Can't say enough good things about the book: Very intelligently written, clear, concise, logical, and personal.

[Daznz]

Yes its fantastic im loving it

Daz

[teamfat]

For dinner tonight I made the chicken fricassee recipe on page 245, I think it was. Well, sort of. I didn't write down the ingredients before heading to the market, and for some reason I thought the recipe called for white wine, and forgot about the heavy cream. I'll blame the brain fart on the meds I've been taking related to my root canal the other day

Anyway, the wine did keep the cook in good spirits during the process, even if it didn't make it into the dish. Without the cream the sauce was not the consistency I thought it might be, though I could have reduced it further and added another egg yolk as an attempt to compensate. But what we did end up with on our plates was very tasty, more complex than one might think from the collection of basic, simple ingredients. Good stuff, indeed!

mjb.

[Daznz]

I had a read of the recipe sounds good yea the cream would have made all the difference

Ive found you really need to get into making all the stocks and glazes etc
for these sauce.. Its great fun making them too just takes time.

Daz