Becoming a Sauce Master Chef by Las Cosas
A GREAT TOMATO SAUCE
Serves 6
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 2-14.5 oz canned tomatoes
- ½ cup dry Vermouth, white wine or vegetable broth
- 8 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1) Place olive oil in a medium soup pot and heat pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and sauté until onions become translucent. Add canned tomatoes and sauté for 5 minutes.
2) Add stock and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in fresh basil and season with salt and pepper. Serve as a pasta sauce.
ALFREDO SAUCE
Serves 6
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup dry white wine, dry vermouth, or vegetable stock
- ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- salt and white pepper to taste
Method:
1) Heat olive oil in large deep saucepan. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
2) Add wine and simmer for 3 minutes
3) Add cream, stir well and allow to simmer until liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes
4) When sauce has thickened add cheese and season with salt and pepper
RED CHILE SAUCE
Makes approx. 2 ¾ cups
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 c mild ground red chile
- 1/4 c hot ground red chile
- 2 3/4 cups stock (vegetable, chicken or beef)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 t Mexican oregano
- 1/2 t ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Method:
1) Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat
2) Add flour and mix well, allow to brown slightly
3) Remove from heat and stir in ground chiles
4) Return to heat and blend in garlic, spices and stock
5) Allow to simmer for 10 minutes and season with salt
Another of the “mother” sauces, this rich butter sauce was the darling of the Nouvelle Cuisine days of the 1970’s. A puddle of sauce is all you’ll need to enrich any fish or poultry dish
BEURRE BLANC
Makes about 1 ¼ cup
- 2/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, diced into ½-inch cubes and very cold
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Mix together vinegar, wine and shallots in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow mixture to reduce until you have 2 tablespoons of liquid remaining.
- Over very low heat, add diced cold butter, one piece at a time and whisking continuously, until all of the butter has been incorporated and sauce is creamy and emulsified.
- Whisk in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Sauce may be held in a pan of warm water or in a thermos until serving
* For beurre rouge use red wine vinegar and dry red wine
CHICKEN MARSALA
Serves 6
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
- 1/2 cup dry Marsala
- 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Drizzle of white truffle oil*
Method:
1) Trim chicken breasts and cut ¼ -inch slices across the grain of the meat. Pound each slice, with the smooth side of a meat mallet until very thin, about 1/8-inch. Put flour on large plate.
2) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. When butter foams, quickly sauté mushrooms until lightly browned. Remove mushrooms from pan. Add remaining olive oil and 2 more tablespoons of butter to pan. Season scallopine with salt and pepper and lightly flour it. Saute in butter/oil mixture until lightly browned on both sides
3) Remove chicken from pan, turn heat to low and add orange juice. Allow to reduce by half and add Marsala.
4) Allow Marsala to reduce by half and then swirl in remaining 2 T butter. Add parsley, mushrooms and chicken, making sure to add juices from the chicken to the pan. Season with salt and pepper
5) Drizzle in truffle oil and serve on warm plates with creamy mashed potatoes
* Available in most specialty food stores
MAYONNAISE VARIATIONS
There are too many great commercial mayonnaises on the market to warrant making your own. But buy your favorite brand and flavor it up for use in many dishes as I list below
Aioli– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with 2 cloves finely minced garlic and the juice of ½ lemon. Use with poached fish, potato dishes and a light layer on sandwiches
Andalouse– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with ¼ tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon finely minced pimientos and a few drops of hot sauce. Use on chicken and hard boiled eggs
Au Curry– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with 1 teaspoon good quality curry powder that has toasted in a small skillet for several minutes over medium heat. Use in chicken salad and for cold pork sandwiches
Dijonnaise– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed together with ¼ cup Dijon mustard. Use on sandwiches and cold chicken and meat dishes
Remoulade– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with 2 teaspoons each of minced cornichons, and capers, with ½ teaspoon each of chopped tarragon, parsley and chives. 1 teaspoon chopped anchovies is optional. Use on shellfish, cold meats and poultry
Rouille– Burn the skin off a small red bell pepper and allow it to cool in a paper bag. Peel pepper and puree with 1 cup mayonnaise and ½ teaspoon cayenne. Serve with fish soup and bouillabaisse
Suedoise– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with 1 cup applesauce and 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish. Use on cold roast pork and poultry.
Tartare– 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with 2 teaspoons each of minced parsley, chives, cornichons, capers and 1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped. Served with cold or hot fish dishes
Verte– 1 cup mayonnaise pureed with ½ cup mixed fresh herbs; cilantro, basil, parsley, chives, watercress. Use on fish dishes and chicken either hot or cold
Over blanched asparagus, on poached eggs or with chopped tarragon added to it and transformed into béarnaise, hollandaise is the richest of all mother sauces
CLASSIC HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
Makes about 2 cups
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 3 large egg yolks
- ½ pound unsalted butter, melted and clarified*
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Method:
1) Combine water, lemon juice, salt and white pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow it to reduce until there is 2 tablespoons liquid remaining. Allow to cool
2) Place egg yolks in a medium metal bowl and whisk in lemon reduction. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until mixture thickens. Take bowl off the heat and slowly drizzle in clarified butter and vinegar, alternating drops of each and whisking continuously.
3) Hold hollandaise at 150° until use (a small thermos is perfect for keeping sauce warm.)
- To clarify butter- place butter in a small saucepan and set over low heat. Allow butter to melt completely and then carefully skim milky foam off the surface using a small ladle or spoon. Avoid the milky water left in the bottom of the pan when whisking into hollandaise.
Chef Chat- this task is a bit tricky if you are working alone. To prevent the bowl spinning as you whisk in the butter and vinegar, wet a large tea towel and wrap it in a circle the same circumference of your bowl. Place the bowl on the towel and nestle it down so that it will not move as you whisk.1) Trim chicken breasts and cut ¼ -inch slices across the grain of the meat. Pound each slice, with the smooth side of a meat mallet until very thin, about 1/8-inch. Put flour on large plate.
CRÈME ANGLAISE
Makes about 2 cups
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 egg yolks
Method:
1) Place the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and keep hot.
2) Whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add egg yolks and whisk until the mixture whitens and forms a ribbon.
3) Pour warm milk over egg mixture whisking constantly
4) Return mixture to pan and slowly return to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Allow custard to cool and adjust thickness by adding more milk
Chef chat: For a delicious topping for apple or peach pie add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves and a pinch ground cardamom to the sauce at the very end and create a Spiced Crème Anglaise.
QUICK RED CHILE CARAMEL SAUCE
Makes ¾ cup
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 7/8 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons hot ground red chile
Method:
1) Place heavy cream, brown sugar, and butter in a heavy saucepan. Whisk mixture to combine and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and allow sauce to simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce thickens.
2) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, salt and red chile. Store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks; warm up to serve.
