I've been meaning to post this for a couple days... When I got done making the chicken stock from scratch, which was quite an interesting experience, I had several cups of the stuff. Approximately, seven cups of it now reside in my freezer for later use, some in one cup containers and some in a muffin pan. However, after all that effort, it would have been a shame not to use some straight away, so I followed along on the sauce-making portion of the course at eGCI. This required several steps to get to the final sauce, which I served over chicken baked with a dash of salt and black pepper on Wednesday evening.
Step One: Veloute Sauce
1 oz. butter
1 oz. flour
2 cups chicken stock, heated
I started with about three cups of stock and reduced it somewhat, and then went ahead. Note that the measurements are by weight, not volume, for the first two ingredients. Make a roux with the butter and flour, and cook over low heat about 4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Gradually add the hot stock to the roux, beating constantly until it boils. Simmer the sauce very slowly for 1/2 hour, skimming the skin off the surface as needed. Strain to remove the thickened bits.
Step Two: Sauce Allemande
2 cups Basic Veloute Sauce (about what you just made)
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup heavy cream
juice from 1/2 lemon (to taste)
salt (to taste)
white pepper (to taste)
In a heat-resistant bowl, whisk egg yolk and cream. Bring your veloute back to a simmer temperature (not boiling). Temper your egg mixture by slowly beating in 1/2 cup of hot sauce. (This is an important step which avoids causing the egg/cream mixture to curdle.) Stir this mixture back into the sauce pan. Stir slowly and bring up to a simmer (do not boil). Add lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. This should yield about 2 cups of sauce.
At this point, one can personalize the sauce in a variety of ways. Since this was the first time I made it, I took the instructor's suggestion and added the following ingredients:
1/4 cup capers
1 TBSP fresh tarragon
dash of white wine vinegar
This seemed like an awful lot of work for a sauce, but, oh, it was worth it....which is, of course, easy for me to say, since I wasn't doing the actual cooking. *grin* The allemande sauce is extraordinarily good, especially with the addition of the capers/tarragon/vinegar, and, if you're willing to put the effort in (incuding making your own stock), then I'd say you won't be disappointed with the results.
Posted by: Michael at August 11, 2003 9:13 PMp.s. Thanks for sharing the results with me Jenn!
Posted by: Michael at August 11, 2003 9:14 PM