Saucy talk

Tasting

Redmond Cabot

These months, with their still-short days, sideways rain and howling winds, are a great time to improve your culinary capabilities in the warmth and (relative) safety of the kitchen. Why not take the opportunity to hone your basic sauce-making skills? I find people often ignore basic sauces at their peril!

For very little hassle one can, within reason, produce a satisfying and complementary sauce for any occasion. For hours, people will dilly-dally over meat preparation or worry about how to cook fish, but then shortcut the saucy side of things – throwing together some commercial made-up gravy, or walloping on a knob of butter at the last minute.

What’s the point of devoting all that time and effort to the meat or fish or other centre piece and then ducking out of preparing even a basic sauce to complement it? Lack of knowledge, experience or practice could account for it I suppose. That’s where I come in! Yes, follow my recipes and prattle, and, even if you make a mistake, you’ll soon learn your way around a pepper or hollandaise sauce! Happy to be of service.

Cauliflower cheese

A mainstay in the Cabot household. This is important as it starts with your basic ‘roux’ (white sauce base from flour cooked with butter-fat), which is so, so versatile. The basic building block is always simple, but remember, even great skyscrapers are built on ordinary foundations!

What you need

• 1 cauliflower
• 450ml milk
• 20g plain flour
• 40g butter
• 100g strong cheddar, grated
• Bunch parsley
• Seasoning

What you do

To make your basic white sauce, you melt better in a heavy-bottomed pot (to prevent burning). When it’s melted and starting to sizzle – careful not to overcook it to brown – turn the heat up high and sieve in your flour, mixing and swirling with a wooden spoon. Once all the butter and flour is mixed, it is important to ‘cook it out’ a bit, maybe just 30 seconds or so,  before you start adding the milk.

It is great sport whisking the flour and butter with the milk, trying to avoid those lumps that none of us cooks like. (I remember in Home Economics class in school, one enterprising friend used to underhandedly engage in the banned practice of whizzing their white sauce in a blender to achieve perfect consistency. I see you Spencer!)

When you first add the milk, you will get quite a sizzling reaction as the lumpy (hot) base meets cold milk. Furious swirling or whisking is required at this stage. After the initial mixing it becomes a more steady progress. Pour in, stir, let it cook and thicken a bit, repeat. Season to taste. As regards temperature, I start with medium-high to melt butter, switch to full high for cooking out the butter and flour mix and adding the first batch of cold milk, then return to medium to slowly cook out remainder of sauce. Nothing worse than the burning bottom of a lovely new white sauce.  

Hey presto! That is your basic white sauce. To make the fancily-named Béchamel sauce simply heat milk beforehand with an onion, some mace and bay leaf to infuse the milk with their flavour. To make a pepper sauce for your steak, you could start with lumpy roux, thin it out with water, use less milk, and add your peppercorns for effect. To make a classic parsley sauce simply substitute 50ml milk for cream at end, add chopped parsley, and squeeze of lemon and serve in warm jug.

For my Cauliflower Cheese Sauce simply add the grated cheddar. I like white, strong cheddar for flavour and colour. Cook ’til melted. Don’t over cook; you are almost turning the heat off as soon after the cheese hits the pot. I find the cheese thickens the sauce somewhat, so leave sauce slightly runny before adding the cheese.

Break your cauliflower head into smaller-sized florets, cook in salted water until al dente, strain, place in a Perspex oven dish, cover with cheese sauce and place in a fan oven for eight minutes, or under the grill for five minutes to add colour to the top. Garnish with chopped parsley, and enjoy.

Apple Sauce

Suitable for for any pork dish, this apple sauce is as good as you can get for a Sunday roast or dinner party dish.

• 3 Bramley apples, peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 25g butter
• Squeeze lemon
• Pinch salt

Heat apples, half the sugar, the lemon juice and a splash of water until all are mixed. Slow-cooked for half hour. Add the rest of the sugar to taste, and season. Voilà.

Red Cabot is interested in food, nature and small things. He sells his food at Westport Country Markets in St Anne’s Boxing Club, James’s Street car park, Westport, every Thursday, from 8am to 1pm.