a L' Orange

a L' Orange

This is one of the all time classic sauces and does not have to be confined to duck. Venison, Elk and game birds in general are all delicious accompanied by this exquisite sauce.

a L' Orange is a reduction sauce , of course the stock is an essential ingredient and when combined with a large volume of orange juice you better plan extra time for making this sauce.

The main ingredients are

60 ml or 1/4 cup of raw sugar

30 ml water

30 ml Dry Sherry or white vinegar 

1 ½ cups orange juice

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Chopped shallots to taste

Orange rind

( Crisply fry small amounts of shallot and orange rind for garnish)

  

Boil up the sugar and water for several minutes, until the syrup caramelizes and turns a golden brown. Add the juice first and whisk briskly. then add the stock, vinegar and shallots. Let it all simmer until it is  reduced to about 1/3rd.
( This could take a couple of hours on low heat ) Then drop the butter in and allow it to melt completely before stirring it though with a wooden spoon. 

Some chef's add slices of orange to the sauce late in the process so the slices are plump, hot and juicy but I feel that this takes away from the subject matter. The Duck! Some crispy garnish is enough as the dish speaks for it's self.

Now as far as cooking the duck goes. There are only two ways in my view. Quartered and cooked low and slow, covered in stock . Or Low and slow covered in Duck Fat.

Enjoy

Vegetarian Sauces

There is little to say about vegetarian sauces. This blog describes  the discipline of sauce making. The tradition. If you apply the fundamentals the outcomes are endless.

Look at the types of sauces and methods shown in these recipes and make your own ingredient substitutions and apply them to vegetarian dishes. Just remember,  sauce making is fun!

Vegetarian stock can be replaced for any beef, chicken or fish stock in a recipe. Gluten free flour  and coconut butter can be substituted when creating a roux. Pan drippings can be from mushrooms. Almond milk instead of cream. Sauces made from nuts, are heavenly. Enjoy

Béarnaise Sauce

Béarnaise Sauce

60 ml Sauvignon Blanc

60 ml Tarragon Vinegar

(2 tablespoons of ground tarragon can be substituted)

3 Shallots chopped fine

6 whole peppercorns

1 sprig of Thyme

1 bay leaf broken up

150 grams of butter

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

1 pinch of finely ground cayenne

1 teaspoon of chopped tarragon leaves

Bring the wine, vinegar shallots, tarragon, pepper, thyme and bay leaf to a boil and reduce to a few table spoons of liquid. Strain and cool before adding the mixture to the double boiler on a low flame. Gradually add the butter in small clumps stirring until the butter has completely melted away. Now add slowly , bit by bit, the egg yolks until the sauce has thickened. Once thickened immediately remove from the flame and add a few drops of cold water. Stir in the cayenne and tarragon. Don’t forget that thickening with egg requires low heat. Check out the post about the thickening sauces.

Hollandaise

Hollandaise

4 tablespoons of Sauvignon Blanc

2 tablespoons of water

1 extra tablespoon of cold water

4 egg yolks

10 grams of butter

Pinch of salt and ground white pepper

Pinch of ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons of chicken stock reduced

or - 1 tablespoon of chicken glaze

185 grams of butter divided into smaller pieces

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Reduce the water and vinegar by 75% over high heat. Then take the mixture off of the flame and add the table spoon of cold water. Let stand for a few minutes. In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks with 10 grams of softened butter, spices and chicken glaze. Combine these mixtures in a double boiler over a low flame stirring thoroughly and adding butter slowly in small knobs until sauce is smooth and thick. Finally add the lemon juice just before serving. Great for veggies, fish, eggs. Should not be served with meat, a Béarnaise is better suited for this purpose but of course it is the chef’s choice. Do as you please.

Sate Sauce

Sate can be used with meat or vegetarian meals. Traditional sate uses peanuts but these days almonds, brazil nuts and cashews are often substituted successfully. The sate is a two step recipe involving a marinade. It is important to use the marinade and not just cook the course and serve it with peanut sauce. That is not a sate. My favourite is the chicken sate. This is the marinade;

500 grams of chicken

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of soya sauce

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 table spoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon crushed chilli

3 crushed clove of garlic

1 pinch of salt

1 teaspoon finely ground cumin

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and stir together, stir and turn over every ½ hour for 4 hours minimum, let stand for an additional two hours before cooking.

Now for the nut sauce.

3 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 finely chopped medium onion

3 crushed cloves f garlic

1 teaspoon of finely crushed chilli

2 tablespoons of sherry

2 table spoons of Soya sauce

1 tomato, poached seeded and peeled

3 table spoons of crushed pulped nuts

Sauté the onions garlic and chilli until soft. Stir in the sherry, Soya sauce and tomatoes, then reduce over a medium to high heat. Stir in crushed nuts and simmer. Serve over chicken in a covered bowl. Do not add marinade to the Sauce.

Garlic Prawns

Some would say that the garlic prawn is an easy dish. I would argue not.

1 kilo of shelled green prawns

150 ml olive oil

100 grams of butter

10 peeled cloves of garlic

1  teaspoon of finely chopped ginger

1 hot chilli seeded and chopped fine

20 whole black peppercorns broken with the back of the knife

Lay out the prawns on an oven pan, one that can capture the juices.

Mix all ingredients except the oil, smear the butter, herbs and garlic all over the prawns. Place them in the oven pan which has been warming in a hot oven. The butter should melt quickly infusing the herbs, now add the oil stir and place in the oven until the prawns turn pink. Remove and serve immediately. This is a dish best enjoyed without soaking up the juices with a crispy sour dough bread. However if you can not help yourself, enjoy and wash it down with heaps of Pinot Grigio. Never do the Garlic prawns in the frying pan. 

Cold Sauces for Fish

Cold Sauces for Fish

Most cold fish sauces use a fresh mayonnaise base so we will first discuss how to make fresh mayonnaise before discussing what to add to make it a tartare or an cocktail sauce.

Mayonnaise

2 egg yolks ( room temperature )

1 teaspoon of mustard seed (finely ground)

1 teaspoon of raw sugar

1 tablespoon  lemon juice

1 pinch of ground white pepper

200 ml olive oil

1 teaspoon of boiling water

I always dampen a tea towel and place the bowl on that to avoid slipping when hand batching the mayonnaise. Electric beaters are a much better prospect for mayo. Some chef’s would disagree, but hey, as you like it.

Dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice. Put yolks, mustard, salt and pepper into a bowl and whisk well with a wire whisk. ( or beaters ) add the lemon juice and sugar into the mixture, again whisking al the time. Start to add the oil slowly, I mean very slowly. I try and see how few drops I can get into the bowl, whisk, whisk, whisk, and whisk some more; do you think your finished whisking, whisk some more. Keep trickling in the oil and keep whisking. When the mayonnaise takes on the texture that you desire for your recipe add the boiling water and stir a bit more this will help to stabilise the mixture and then bung it straight into the fridge. Real mayonnaise will not keep. It is of the moment.  

The secret to making this recipe aioli is adding two crushed cloves of garlic with the egg yolks at the beginning of the recipe.

Tartare Sauce

1 teaspoon of finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon of finely chopped onions

1 teaspoon of finely chopped capers

1 teaspoon of finely chopped spiced sweet gherkins

1 teaspoon of tarragon

1 cup of mayonnaise

Mix well and chill

Cocktail Sauce for Prawns

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup tomato sauce

a dash of grappa

a dash of Tabasco

a squeeze of lemon juice

2 pinches of crushed chillies or paprika

1 teaspoon of finely chopped sweet spiced gherkin

1 teaspoon of grated horseradish

Mix ingredients chill for 20 minutes then serve.

Garlic Prawn Sauce

1 cup of Mayonnaise

5 sautéed garlic cloves ( to pulp )

1 teaspoon of finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon of fennel

This dish is a cold prawn dipping sauce not to be confused with the hot dish "Garlic Prawns"

Smash the cooked garlic up with the parley and fennel add the lemon juice and mix into the mayonnaise before serving. Great for cold fish appetisers.