Sauces

Often smooth and subtle, either piquant or mild, a sauce will enhance simple grills, roasts and vegetables and will make cold meats twice as nice. Give sauces your individual attention for the few minutes it takes to make them and you should have success every time.

How to Make Better Sauces

• Use a heavy-based saucepan that stands steady and will allow sauces to cook gently without scorching.
• Stir a sauce all the time as it is brought to the boil so it thickens evenly. If a smooth sauce goes lumpy before boiling, a vigorous beating with a whisk will correct it, but if it’s lumpy after boiling, you’ll need to strain it.
• Infuse milk with a bay leaf or onion when making a white sauce. It not only gives the sauce a subtle flavour but warm milk is also easier to mix into the roux.
• For vegetables such as cauliflower or leeks that are to be served with a sauce, use half vegetable cooking water and half milk to make the sauce. The cooking liquid from fish baked in milk or white wine is also good to use. The sauce will have a flavour that complements the dish.
• Where both a hot and cold liquid are used in a roux sauce, stir in the hot liquid first to keep the roux soft and prevent it from going lumpy.
• A home-made stock used in a rich brown sauce will give it a flavour and gloss that’s infinitely superior to a brown sauce made with water and a stock cube.
• A stainless steel conical strainer called a chinois is the best to use for straining most sauces. It’s strong enough for vegetable purées to be pushed through and there’s no danger of a metallic taste. The V-shape point means you can easily direct sauces into small saucepans or bowls without any spills.
• Check seasoning often. Cream added to a sauce will mellow the flavour so always re-check seasoning after adding the cream.
• I have a pepper mill just for white peppercorns and use it for white sauces. This way there are no dark speckles of black pepper in the sauce.