The Art of the Perfect Sauce: 75 Recipes to Take Your Dishes from Ordinary to Extraordinary

by Lorilynn Bauer, Ramin Ganeshram

Overview

Sauces, Dips & Drizzles to Elevate & Inspire Your Cooking with Ease

In The Art of the Perfect Sauce, Lorilynn Bauer and Ramin Ganeshram will help you breathe new life into your dinners with tasty sauces that are a breeze to make.

With decades of culinary experience between them, they know the importance of a good sauce for restaurant-quality meals in your kitchen. Using traditional and modern twist recipes for gravies, glazes, compound butters, syrups, aioli and so much more, you’ll be able to add depth to everything from meat and poultry to vegetables and fish.

Try pairing the Spicy Black Tea Jus with filet mignon for an elegant evening meal or toss Caramelized Garlic and Shallot White Wine Sauce with your favorite pasta for creamy perfection. A splash of Buccaneer Chimichurri pushes a freshly grilled steak to a whole new level and Candied Ginger and Apricot Sauce takes waffles from average breakfast to 5-star brunch in no time.

With this cookbook you can master the art of reinventing meals, one simple and delicious sauce as a time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624145049
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	365,391
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Lorilynn Bauer is a private chef, TV personality as seen on Iron Chef America, and she has more than 15 years of experience cooking in four-star properties across the Unites States. She attended the Culinary Institute of America and lives in Belmont, California.


Ramin Ganeshram is an award-winning journalist and cookbook author. She attended the Institute of Culinary Education and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and lives in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Mastering Sauces A TECHNIQUE PRIMER

THE FIRST STEP: A WELL-MADE STOCK

One of the first and foundational techniques learned by culinary students is how to make a rich and flavorful stock using meat bones and trimmings. Stocks are an important building block for sauces, and you'll find that many, although not all, of the sauces in this book make use of vegetable, chicken or meat stock.

While stocks are easily purchased at any grocery store, the ones you make yourself are going to be fresher and feature the flavor profiles you most favor. The recipes we provide are basic stock recipes, but you may certainly increase any of the aromatic ingredients (onions, garlic, carrot, celery or spices) to suit your taste. You will notice, though, that we never put salt in stocks and for a good reason: As stocks are boiled down in sauces, any salt they contain will intensify and potentially adversely change the sauce flavor.

Stock is also excellent as a soup starter or to replace water in stews or as a braising liquid for meats. Because stock can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 5 days and frozen for 2 weeks, we encourage you to have a go at making your own — you'll taste the difference in your sauces.

VEGETABLE STOCK

Vegetable stock is suitable both for vegetarian and meat-based sauces. Keep in mind that it is a darker stock than chicken stock and this will affect the color of your final preparation.

MAKES: about 2 quarts (2 L)

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 1 hour 50 minutes

5 lbs (2.2 kg) chopped mixed carrots, zucchini or yellow squash, green beans and red bell pepper
Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Toss the vegetables and onion in olive oil in an ovenproof dish or baking sheet. Roast the vegetables for 15 minutes, stirring once, then stir in the garlic and roast for 5 minutes more.

Place the vegetables and the bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley and thyme in a large stockpot with the water. Simmer on low for 1½ hours.

Ladle the stock through a fine mesh sieve into heat-safe/freezer-safe containers. Refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze immediately for up to 3 weeks.

CHICKEN STOCK

Chicken stock is truly the multipurpose stock of them all. It can be used for all manner of sauces from vegetable to poultry to meat or fish.

MAKES: about 4 quarts (4 L)

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 3 hours 25 minutes

8 lbs (3.6 kg) chicken carcasses or bones
Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Place the chicken bones or carcasses in an oven-safe dish and add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and roast for 25 minutes.

Put the roasted bones, vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley, thyme and water in a 12-quart (12-L) stockpot. Place the pot a little off center on the burner. Simmer on low for 3 hours, skimming impurities that collect on the side of the pot.

Ladle the stock through a fine mesh sieve into heat-safe/freezer-safe containers. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze immediately for up to 2 weeks. Skim any solidified fat from the chilled stock before using.

MEAT STOCK

Meat stocks — often now popularly called bone broth — are richly flavored and add intensity to sauces. They can be overpowering for poultry or fish sauces, so we most often call for their use with meat dishes.

MAKES: about 4 quarts (4 L)

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 3 hours 25 minutes

8 lbs (3.6 kg) meaty bones from beef, veal, lamb or venison
Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Place the bones in an oven safe baking dish and roast for 15 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, mixing well so that all the bones are coated.

Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and roast for 10 minutes more.

Put the bones, vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley, thyme and water in a 12-quart (12-L) stockpot. Place the pot a little off center of the burner. Simmer on low for 3 hours, skimming impurities that collect on the side of the pot.

Ladle the stock through a fine mesh sieve into heat-safe/freezer-safe containers. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze immediately for up to 2 weeks. Skim any fat that rises to the surface of the chilled stock before using.

A SAUCE PRIMER

THE TECHNIQUES

Pan Sauce

Pan sauces are quick and easy sauces that, once mastered, can elevate even the simplest preparation. They are very much sauces "of the moment" because they usually make use of the drippings or fond that comes from searing a protein in a hot pan as the basis for the sauce's flavor. The process for a pan sauce is always the same even if the individual ingredients differ.

1. Sauté aromatics such as onion, garlic, shallot, chives or leaks in the grease remaining in or added to your frying pan.

2. Deglaze the pan using an acidic liquid. Wine is usually used, but vinegar and citrus juices may be used as well.

3. Add stock to the pan along with any additional flavoring agents such as herbs, dried fruits or spices other than salt. Reduce the mixture until there are bubbles across the surface of the pan and the sauce reaches the nappé stage (see photo here).

4. Add butter to the pan and swirl to melt. This gives the sauce a sheen and velvety texture. If you are straining your sauce, add the butter afterward.

Simmer Sauces

Simmer sauces are those in which foods can be actually cooked or finished for flavor. Simmer sauces are made by combining ingredients that are allowed to simmer so that their flavors meld. They can be made ahead of time and stored, refrigerated, until they are used. Some examples of simmer sauces are Everyone's Favorite Tikka Masala or Fesanjan (Persian Pomegranate and Walnut Sauce).

Thickened Sauces

Thickened sauces are sauces that are usually made from available drippings that are then thickened with an agent such as flour, cornstarch or, sometimes, arrowroot. Thanksgiving gravy made from turkey drippings is a thickened sauce with which everyone is familiar and our Never Fail Go-To Gravy is a good example.

Emulsified Sauces

Emulsified sauces work by forcing oil and water together so that they blend without separating. This process if often aided by the use of an acid such as vinegar or lemon juice. Emulsified sauces can be cooked or cold (raw). Examples of cooked sauces are classic Hollandaise Sauce and Roasted Garlic Beurre Blanc. Cold sauces include common mayonnaise and Spicy Red Pepper Aioli.

Whisked Sauces

Whisked sauces use friction to temporarily bring ingredients together, most often to suspend an oil in liquid. Vinaigrettes like Saffron Mace Vinaigrette are a good example of a whisked sauce.

Gastriques/Agrodolces

Both gastriques and agrodolces are sweet and sour sauces that combine sugar, honey or other sweetening agent with an acidic liquid, most commonly vinegar, and flavorings that are simmered together into a syrup. Agrodolce, which translates to sour-sweet, is traditional to Italian cuisine. Gastriques are French and originally were used as a flavoring for other sauces and often comprised a bit of stock. Today the two terms are usually interchangeable.

Mignonettes

Mignonettes are sauces created specifically for raw oysters though they can be used for other raw shellfish such as clams as well. Mignonettes always make use of cracked black pepper and shallots, but the type of vinegar can change. Sichuan Peppercorn Mignonette is a good variation on the theme.

Compound Butter

With it wide variety of uses, compound butter is a handy sauce to have around. Simply a mixture of softened unsalted butter, spices or other seasonings that are then re-chilled to firmness, a pat of these flavored butters have been classically used on steaks and chops and steamed vegetables or as the foundation for a butter-based sauce. Sweetened compound butters are excellent on toast, muffins, waffles and pancakes as well or used as a foundation in dessert sauces. Five-Spice Brown Sugar Compound Butter is a good example of a compound butter that can do double duty for sweet and savory uses.

THE THICKENERS

Roux

Roux is a thickening agent that is made from cooking fat and flour together. The fat can be oil, melted grease or butter. The flour is added and the two are cooked together to the desired degree of doneness. There are light roux, which are only cooked enough to take the raw taste out of the flour all the way to extremely dark roux. The darker the roux, the more nutty or even bitter the taste the roux will lend to the dish it's thickening. Roux are usually made as the starting point of a thickened dish, with liquid such as stock or milk (as in Béchamel Sauce) added to the roux once it is made.

Beurre Manie

Beurre Manie is equal parts flour and butter kneaded together in a process that coats all the butter particles in flour. It is an excellent quick method for thickening a sauce, stew or soup. Beurre Manie can be made and kept, refrigerated, in an airtight container for several weeks so that it is easily at hand for a quick thickening agent. It is particularly good for thickening gravies without forming lumps.

Cornstarch

Cornstarch can be an effective thickening agent for sauces, especially those that are more translucent in color as it does not make a sauce opaque as flour does. Cornstarch is also good for both savory and sweet sauces. It is used by dissolving cornstarch in an equal amount of water to create a liquid that is roughly the consistency of heavy cream. This slurry is then added to boiling liquid and then the heat is reduced to a simmer to be stirred while it thickens.

Flour

Plain flour can be used as a thickening agent although it is generally not as effective as cornstarch and can be lumpy. We find that adding a very small amount of flour to a sauce, using a handled, fine mesh sieve while whisking the sauce vigorously is the most effective way to make use of flour as a thickening agent.

Arrowroot

Arrowroot is a powder made from various tropical roots and tubers that have thickening properties. It is used as a flour in gluten-free baked goods and is an excellent non-animal gelatin. Arrowroot provides a thickening quality that is even more translucent than cornstarch but is used in the same manner: by whisking together equal amounts of arrowroot and liquid and then adding to the desired preparation.

SAUCES FOR Poultry

Poultry — in particular chicken and turkey — have the bad reputation of being dry and flavorless. Of course, this has more to do with the skill of the cook and the method of preparation than the bird itself, but it is true that these are milder in flavor compared to meats like beef, pork, lamb or fish.

The good news is that this makes the most common forms of poultry clean canvases for creative saucing. In fact, just by using a different sauce, simple roast chicken can work for many days of meals, all with a different taste.

Stronger tasting poultry like duck, quail or pheasant hold up well to sauces too, although pairing these requires a bit more finesse to ensure that the flavors don't clash. Darker, more robust poultry like duck, for example, does very well with rich berry notes — whether from wine or from whole fruit itself — something that is also true of pork. Refer to theSauce Table for a chart that shows crossover uses for the sauces in each section.

COCONUT CREAM AND TURMERIC SAUCE

Both coconut and turmeric fall into the realm of newly popular superfoods, and together they are a healthy food powerhouse. We like to use fresh turmeric for this sauce, both for its milder flavor that combines well with the sweetness of the coconut and the white sweet potato (found in Caribbean markets), as well as its deep orange hue.

This complex sauce, redolent with the warmth of ginger and cardamom, can be used two ways — either as a simmering sauce or a spoon-over sauce. To simmer chicken, simply add the chicken pieces to the sauce before reducing it and simmer on medium low heat. You can also make this sauce separately and spoon over chicken or turkey that you have prepared by your favorite dry heat method such as roasting or searing.

MAKES: 1½ cups (360 ml)

PREP TIME: 5 minutes

COOK TIME: 15 minutes

2 tbsp (30 ml) vegetable or coconut oil
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and add the shallots, ginger and garlic. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until the shallots are softened.

Add the turmeric, cinnamon and white pepper and sauté, stirring, for 30 seconds more.

Pour in the stock and mix well. Add the coconut milk, lemon juice and maple syrup. Mix very well.

Add the sweet potato and reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is fork tender. Season with salt and cardamom and simmer 1 to 2 minutes more.

Pour the sauce into a food processor or high-powered blender and purée until smooth. Return to the pan to reheat if necessary. Add a little more stock, if needed, or reduce for 15 or 20 minutes to achieve a sauce consistency. Serve over pan seared or roast chicken. If using as a simmer sauce, do not reduce and add raw, boneless chicken to the sauce and simmer until done, about 25 to 30 minutes.

SAVORY YUZU AND GINGER SAUCE

Yuzu is an extremely sour Japanese citrus fruit that is most often combined with soy sauce as a dip for fried foods, particularly dumplings. We find that the brightness of the yuzu makes it work well as a pan sauce for seared chicken breasts. This sauce can also be used as a dip for fried chicken wings.

MAKES: ½ cup (120 ml)

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 20 minutes

2 tsp (10 ml) safflower oil
Heat the oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat.

Add the shallot and sauté until translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the grated ginger and sauté for 1 minute more.

Add the sake and stir well with a wooden spoon, until most of the sake evaporates from the pan and about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) is left, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the yuzu juice and soy sauce and simmer until the mixture is reduced by half, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and mix well. Simmer for 8 to 9 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by half and the mixture is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Season with the white pepper.

Add the butter and stir until melted. Serve as a sauce to accompany chicken or fish or as a dipping sauce for dumplings.

HOISIN HABAÑERO SAUCE

Hoisin is a popular Chinese condiment that can be used on anything from Peking Duck to dumplings. Hoisin is thick, sweet and aromatic thanks to Five-Spice Powder, which combines star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, fennel and cloves. In this stock, we offer a spicy counterpoint to the sweetness of hoisin by combining it with habañero chili pepper brightened up with ginger and rice wine vinegar. The boldness of this sauce makes it good for enlivening barbecued chicken or even used as the flavoring in a chicken and vegetable stir-fry. You can find hoisin sauce in the Asian foods section of most grocery stores.

MAKES: about 1 cup (240 ml)

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 15 minutes

2 tsp (10 ml) safflower oil
Heat the safflower oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the scallions, ginger and garlic. Sauté for 1 to 2 minutes or until the garlic begins to lightly brown.

Add the habañero and sauté for 1 minute. Add the rice wine vinegar and cook for about 30 seconds or until the vinegar is reduced by half.

Stir in the chicken or vegetable stock, hoisin sauce and ketchup. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by half. Strain out the habañero pepper. Stir in the salt and adjust, as needed, to taste. Serve with barbecue chicken, dumplings or seared duck breast.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Art of the Perfect Sauce"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Lorilynn Bauer and Ramin Ganeshram.
Excerpted by permission of Page Street Publishing Co..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Mastering Sauces: A Technique Primer 11

The First Step: A Well-Made Stock 11

Vegetable Stock 12

Chicken Stock 13

Meat Stock 14

A Sauce Primer 15

The Techniques 15

The Sauce Table 18

Sauces for Poultry 27

Coconut Cream and Turmeric Sauce 29

Savory Yuzu and Ginger Sauce 30

Hoisin Habañero Sauce 33

Smoked Tomato and Marcona Almond Romesco 34

Savory Cashew and Cardamom Cream Sauce (Korma) 37

Hot Honey Sauce 38

Tamarind, Tomato and Fennel Sauce 41

Fennel and Tangerine Vinaigrette 42

Avocado Chipotle Cream Sauce 45

Pimenton Southern White Sauce 46

Soursop Sweet and Sour Sauce 49

Pinot Noir, Cranberry and Roasted Orange Sauce 50

Our Never-Fail Go-To Gravy 53

Persian Pomegranate and Walnut Sauce (Fesanjan) 54

Everyone's Favorite Tikka Masala Sauce 57

Dukkah Compound Butter 58

Sauces for Fish 61

Szechuan Peppercorn Mignonette 63

Lemon Verbena Agrodolce 64

Apricot Sauvignon Blanc Pan Sauce 67

Umeboshi Plum Vinegar Glaze 68

Sour Cream and Caramelized Sweet Onion Sauce 71

Rum Lime Glaze 72

Garlicky Three Chili Clarified Butter Sauce 75

Roasted Garlic Beurre Blanc 76

Meyer Lemon and Tarragon Beurre Blanc 79

Miso Brown Butter Sauce 80

Charif 83

Saffron and Mace Vinaigrette 84

Sauces for Meat 87

Madeira, Black Pepper and Allspice Pan Sauce 89

Spicy Black Tea Jus 90

Creamy Green Peppercorn Pan Sauce 93

Red Wine and Fig Pan Sauce 94

Grilled Peach and Bourbon Sauce 97

Slow Roasted Tomato and Cerignola Relish 98

Gochujang and Sake Barbecue Sauce 101

Pinot Noir and Cassareep Pan Sauce 102

Burnt Sugar with Scotch Bonnet Steak Sauce 105

Sour Cherry Chili Sauce 106

Root Beer Glaze 109

Coriander and Ginger Glaze 110

Cuban Mojo 113

Buccaneer Chimichurri 114

The Ultimate Roast Beef Gravy 117

Sauces for Vegetables and Pasta 119

Pimento Cheese with Tequila Mornay 121

Broccoli Pesto 122

Caramelized Garlic and Shallot White Wine Sauce 125

Gorgonzola White Wine Sauce 126

Curry Butter Sauce 129

Sage Brown Butter Sauce 130

Spicy Red Pepper Aioli 133

Coconut Nectar, Pineapple and Thyme Glaze 134

Grilled Japanese Eggplant and Roasted Tomato Sauce 137

Fiddlehead Fern and Garlic Pesto 138

Roasted Purple Carrot and Ginger Sauce 141

Golden Beet Sauce 142

Sauces for Dessert 145

Hibiscus Syrup 147

Extra Dark Mexican Chocolate Sauce 148

Sweet Almond and Cardamom Cream Sauce 151

Rum and Orange Glaze 152

Passion Fruit and Cognac Syrup 155

Sweet Pickled Ginger 156

Guava and Ginger Glaze 159

Candied Rhubarb Sauce 160

Guinness Chocolate Sauce 163

Salted Coconut Sugar Caramel Sauce 164

Candied Ginger and Apricot Sauce 167

Rummy Fruit Compound Butter 168

Five-Spice and Brown Sugar Compound Butter 171

Dipping Sauces 173

Chinese Scallion and Ginger Sauce 175

Tamarind and Date Sauce 176

BasBaas 179

Tropical Fruit Salsa 180

Coconut with Harissa Dipping Sauce 183

Buying Guide 184

Glossary 185

Acknowledgments 187

About the Authors 187

Index 188