What can I say about this sauce? It’s pure magic. And it’s a precious recipe. It’s the essence of a formal French meal to me. It also feels a little weird to be sharing, almost like a secret that is not for the rest of the world to know…but I’m going to ignore that and rather choose to spread the yumminess! Here’s all you need to know: this is the sauce. The only sauce that you will ever need for any Holiday meal or fancy dinner. Well, I must say, a cognac sauce with a beef broth base is another great recipe to have in your arsenal, and that recipe can be found here. My family and I make this to accompany the turkey on Thanksgiving, or whatever main we choose to make for Christmas and Easter. Likewise, it takes a lot of mains, particularly proteins, to a ten. If you want to impress some dinner guests, you know what to do. This is a rich cream sauce, with an incredible depth of flavour from the Madeira, red wine, mushrooms, shallots, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary. Now, technically, this sauce is typically made for poultry, and the aforementioned cognac sauce is to be paired with beef. I’m doing my due diligence in telling you this, but quite frankly I love both for either white or red meat, and I don’t like to follow rules that I deem unnecessary—so do with that as you will! This unctuous sauce fills the house with the most wonderful aroma. I highly recommend trying this out in lieu of the usual North American gravy. Your life will be forever changed.
Recipe:
Notes
I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.
A note on the chicken stock: I blended 400 ml of water with 1 tbsp of an Organic chicken concentrate. Chicken concentrate is a thick paste of sorts, that is meant to be added to water to form a bouillon. It is also quite salty. I use the brand Better Than Bouillon’s Organic Roasted Chicken Concentrate. I recommend using this product if you can, as this allows us to ensure that the salt is controlled, and I know that the flavour is good. It can be found in regular supermarkets, or even at Costco in Canada. It’s a great item to keep in your fridge—I always use it to cook rice, which makes it taste so much better, and it’s also great for use in soups and other sauces. If you can’t find it in stores, then you can replace the water with chicken bouillon (do not use low-sodium, or sodium-free). You may need to taste the sauce when it’s ready and add a touch of salt if necessary, as these products may vary in their sodium levels of course.
You can absolutely substitute portobello, chanterelle, girolle or morel mushrooms for the cremini mushrooms.
I use a French cooking wine for the red wine. By cooking wine, I simply mean that it doesn’t need to be costly. Use whatever you have, just ensuring that it is a rich and full-bodied wine.
This sauce can even be used as a pasta sauce, if you have leftovers! You can just add in something like asparagus and chicken to accompany it.
Like all cooked sauces, this sauce will only get better overnight and in the coming days, and will keep well in the fridge for upward of a week. If you want to make it for a special occasion, and want it at its absolute best, I’d recommend making it the day before.
If you double the recipe, the sauce will of course take longer to reduce. Feel free to add an extra tbsp or 2 of flour if you find yourself pressed for time, and need it to thicken more quickly.
Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 medium shallots (200 g, once peeled), fairly thinly sliced, about 2 mm thick
8 medium cremini mushrooms (300 g), medium slice, about 0.5 cm thick
400 ml chicken stock *see notes
1 cup red wine
2 medium sprigs fresh thyme
1 small sprig fresh rosemary
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup Madeira wine
1 cup full-fat cream
1 1/2 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
20 cracks black pepper
Instructions
Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat with butter.
When butter is melted and bubbling, add shallots. Cook, stirring often, for about 9 minutes, or until they are translucent and have taken on a little colour.
Add mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 12 minutes. They are done when they have gone through the process of releasing their liquids, and that liquid has cooked off.
Add 1 cup of the chicken stock. Stir. Cook with the lid off for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it has reduced a little.
Add wine. Stir. Cook with the lid off for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it has reduced a little.
Add in thyme and rosemary. Stir.
Sift in flour, stirring continuously as you do so. You must do so quickly, to avoid producing lumps of flour in your sauce. There will probably be some little ones anyway, even if you did this quickly, so stir and use the back of a spatula to crush them until the sauce is entirely smooth.
Cook for 1 more minute, to allow the flour to thicken up the sauce a little.
In a slow, steady stream, pour in the remaining chicken stock, while stirring continuously.
Add in 1/2 cup Madeira wine. Stir. Reduce for 20 minutes, with the lid off, stirring occasionally.
Add in cream, remaining 1/2 cup of Madeira wine, salt and pepper. Stir. Reduce heat to medium-low or low, depending on your stovetop—we want it to be gently bubbling away. Simmer for a further 15 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to a desirable consistency. It mustn’t be too liquid-y, and nor should it be overly thick, but rather somewhere in the middle. As long as it’s the viscosity that you like, consider it the right consistency!
Serve hot, over your poultry (or red meat) of choice. And be generous! Like all cooked sauces, it will only get better overnight and in the coming days, and will keep well in the fridge for upward of a week.
Enjoy!
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