22.8 Gravies and other sauces

Pan gravy

Pan gravy is made in the pan the meat or poultry roasted in. Strictly it is a sauce, a liquid thickened with roux, but it picks up extra flavor from the drippings, and its roux is made with some of the fat the roast gave off. It should have everything a brown sauce has, with a meatier taste. A smaller home version, made from pot roast drippings, is with moist-heat cooking. see chapter 9: Gravy from the drippings

• Lift the cooked meat out of the pan. Add mirepoix to the drippings if none went in during roasting.
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• Set the pan on the stove and cook off the remaining moisture so the fat clears. Pour off the fat and keep it for the roux.
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• Deglaze the pan with a suitable stock, loosening the browned juices. Finish the gravy in the roasting pan, or move the liquid to a saucepan, which is easier to handle.
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• Add stock or water to make the amount of gravy you need.
• Make enough roux in a separate pan with some of the saved fat, stir it into the liquid and bring it to a simmer.
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• Simmer until the mirepoix is cooked through, its flavor is drawn out and the flour no longer tastes raw. Strain and season.
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Pan sauces

Sautéed meat, poultry or fish often gets a sauce made in the same pan. The food comes out and is kept warm, and stock, jus lié or another liquid deglazes the pan. Like pan gravy, a pan sauce gains flavor from the drippings, but it is usually thickened by reduction, not starch. How to sauté is covered with dry heat. see chapter 8: Sauté and pan-frying

Coulis

A coulis is a purée of vegetables or fruit, strained before serving. A vegetable coulis may be hot or cold and goes with meat, fish, shellfish, poultry, vegetables or starches. It is often built on one vegetable, such as broccoli, tomato or sweet red pepper, cooked with onion, garlic, shallot, herbs or spices. Made with very little fat, it is a light choice next to a heavy classic sauce. A fruit coulis, often of fresh or frozen berries, is usually a dessert sauce: puréed fruit loosened with sugar syrup.

To make a vegetable coulis:

• Cook the main vegetable and flavorings in a suitable liquid.
• Purée them with a blender, food processor or food mill.
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• Simmer the purée with liquid to blend the flavors.
• Strain, thin and season.

Most coulis are about as thick as a thin tomato sauce, though some are left grainy or even lumpy on purpose. The main ingredient should lead the flavor and color.

Contemporary sauces

Modern chefs turn more and more to salsas, relishes, juices, broths, essences and flavored oils. These do not depend on meat stocks or starch. They are built on fresh vegetables, vegetable juice, aromatic broth and strong oils, and their names are not fixed the way classic names are. Most are quicker to make, often lighter and lower in fat, but they still rest on classic technique, and they should still suit the food, never overpower it.

• Salsa (Spanish for "sauce") and relish are usually cold, chunky mixtures of herbs, spices, fruit or vegetables, such as orange, pineapple, papaya, black beans, jicama or tomatillos. They belong to no classic family but suit meat, poultry, fish and shellfish, and are bright, colorful, quick and low in fat.
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• Chutney is a sweet-sour condiment of fruit or vegetables simmered with vinegar, sugar and spices; some are puréed and some keep their pieces.
• Vegetable juice sauces start from raw carrots, beets, spinach and the like run through a juice extractor. Heat the juice with stock, lemon juice or herbs, reduce it if needed, strain it through a fine chinois, season and whisk in butter. One vegetable gives the clearest flavor; mixing too many muddies color and taste. Menus may call these an essence or a tea. They suit pasta, fish, shellfish, poultry and vegetarian dishes.
• Broth, which menus may also call a nage, an essence, a tea or au jus, is a thin, well-flavored liquid served in a shallow pool under the food. It adds moisture and flavor without turning the dish into soup. Often it is just the cooking liquid, reduced and strained; or a flavored stock, tomato for example, can be clarified like consommé.
• Vinaigrette, oil with vinegar, citrus or another acid, makes a quick sauce that seems light, though the oil can add a good deal of fat.
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Flavored oils

A few drops of a strongly flavored oil dress or garnish salads, soups, vegetables, starches and main dishes. Choose a good-quality oil with little taste of its own, such as canola, peanut or safflower, unless the flavor suits olive oil, as basil does. Flavor comes out better if the herbs, fruit or vegetables are crushed, puréed or cooked first; warm the oil for dried herbs or spices, and sweat spices or seeds in a little oil to make a paste.

Fresh garlic in oil is a potentially hazardous food, though fresh garlic and cooking oil on their own are not. Some bacteria grow only where there is no oxygen. To flavor an oil, the oil and flavorings stand in a sealed jar at room temperature for anywhere from 1 to 24 hours, shaken now and then, until the flavor is strong enough; left longer, the oil can turn harsh or bitter. The oil is then poured through a chinois with a coffee filter inside and kept covered in the refrigerator.

Keeping gravy safe