October 22, 2014

Sauces for all of us

This has been an especially busy week for the two of us.  I was out of town for a couple of days and then had to stage a huge exhibit on Wednesday.  Devin is studying for his next final, coming up next week.  But in spite of the pace of our lives, the kitchen remains the heart of our home.  Sometimes I think that is amazing and then I remember that everyone has to eat... every day.  And then it makes more sense! 

     This week’s topic is sauces.  Devin is studying them in his class.  He discusses the five “mother sauces” in the details that chefs use.  I want to discuss the idea that sauces are easy to make and that a good sauce can transform a mediocre dish into a terrific one.  Many bottled sauces have extra ingredients in them to keep them shelf-stable and extend their lives, or to cut down on costs.  But with a few ingredients, it is amazing what wonderful sauces we can conjure up.  Like fresh applesauce, it tastes so much better than store-bought!

     

     There are five sauces out there that all other sauces come from; these are called the Mother or Grand sauces. These five sauces are hollandaise, béchamel, velouté, tomato sauce and Espagnole. Most professionally trained chefs know how to make these and they are very easy to make at home for the home cook. Here is a short explanation of how to make them and their ingredients:

     

     With the Hollandaise, all one does is make a reduction of wine, vinegar and peppercorns, then whip in egg yolks a little at a time until the eggs look like ribbons. After that, drizzle melted butter or oil into the sauce while whipping it to emulsify the sauce.

    

      Béchamel and Velouté are known as white sauces because they are created when roux is added to thicken them.   Béchamel is basically just warm milk thickened with a mixture of flour and butter called roux. Velouté is made by adding roux to warm stock and whisking them together.

     Tomato sauce is a little harder but not much. Start by roasting off tomatoes, and then add some tomato juice, shallots and garlic. Bring this to a simmer, let it reduce a little and puree the mixture.

     Espagnole is just like Velouté except there are some tomatoes and a mixture of vegetables called mireproix (50%onion, 25%carrot, 25%celery). Start by sautéing the mireproix, and then add tomatoes. After this, add the stock and thicken with roux. Let this simmer for about 45 minutes and its done.

     These five sauces are basic sauces that anyone can make. All that one needs is some time and a willingness to learn. From these sauces, you can make almost every other sauce. So the next time you’re in a restaurant, think about how easy it would be to make the sauce on your plate.  

     Today there are two simple but elegant recipes posted.  First, I am including a recipe for homemade Alfredo sauce because it is incredibly easy and because, with homemade ingredients, it is tastier and costs much less than the store-bought variety.  It is related to Bechamel sauce but my recipe doesn’t have flour in it.  I use Alfredo on noodles, on pizza crust, on rice.  It could be used over fish or chicken too. This has half of the butter that most Alfredo sauces have, so you are ahead of the game already.   If this was made with freshly grated Parmesan, you might want to lick the pot when you are done  :) 

  Quick Alfredo Sauce  (Lowfat)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter (1 stick)

1 pkg. cream cheese or Neufchatel Cheese (lowfat cream cheese)

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 cups milk

6 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Add cream cheese and stir with a whisk until melted and smooth.  Add milk and garlic powder.  Keep on mixing!  Stir in Parmesan slowly as you mix, and then add the pepper.  The sauce will slowly get thicker as it heats up.  Stir often until at desired thickness.  Then remove from heat. 

Notes:

That’s it!  Pour over whatever else you were making it to go with. 

I have made this with all non-dairy ingredients and it is also good.  My favorite is with lowfat coconut milk and non-dairy cream cheese.  There is also non-dairy Parmesan style cheese available too. 

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Below is one of the family favorites that highlights this wonderful sauce.  There aren’t any leftovers when this is served and it is easy to make.  It is also fancy enough to serve to guests.

Spinach Linguine Alfredo with Walnuts

Ingredients:

1 pound linguini noodles (use whole wheat or spinach ones if you can find them)

2 cups walnuts, chopped

1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 recipe Alfredo sauce, above, already made

Extra Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top, (optional)

Directions:         

1.     Cook the pasta as directed on the package. Do not overcook.   Drain and keep warm.

2.     While the pasta is cooking, spread walnuts on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees F.    Pay attention so they don’t burn!

3.     Add the chopped spinach leaves to the Alfredo sauce and mix them in. 

4.     Pour sauce over the cooked noodles and combine all ingredients. Don’t worry if it seems like there is too much sauce at first.  The noodles will soak it up.

5.     Add 1½ cups of chopped walnuts to the noodle mixture and combine.

6.     Serve pasta on plates and add some of the remaining chopped walnuts on top.  Add a bit of Parmesan if desired.

Devin and I hope that your week is filled with goodness from your kitchen.  If you have ideas about how to make any of our recipes better or how you used the recipes that we offer here, let us know.

Viki and Devin