Brandywine Sauce Food

COQ AU VIN

Steps:

• Season chicken with 2 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a large bowl, combine chicken, wine, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or, even better, overnight.
• In a large Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, cook lardons over medium-low heat until fat has rendered, and lardons are golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer lardons to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in pot.
• Remove chicken from wine, reserving the marinade. Pat chicken pieces with paper towels until very dry. Heat lardon fat over medium heat until it's just about to smoke. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken in a single layer and cook until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. (Add oil if the pot looks a little dry.) Transfer chicken to a plate as it browns.
• Add diced onion, carrot, half the mushrooms and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to pot. Cook until vegetables are lightly browned, about 8 minutes, stirring up any brown bits from the pot, and adjusting heat if necessary to prevent burning.
• Stir in garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then stir in flour and cook for another minute. Remove from heat, push vegetables to one side of pot, pour brandy into empty side, and ignite with a match. (If you're too nervous to ignite it, just cook brandy down for 1 minute.) Once the flame dies down, add reserved marinade, bring to a boil, and reduce halfway (to 1 1/2 cups), about 12 minutes. Skim off any large pockets of foam that form on the surface.
• Add chicken, any accumulated juices and half the cooked lardons to the pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, turning halfway through. Uncover pot and simmer for 15 minutes to thicken. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick or other large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pearl onions, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, shaking skillet often to move onions around. Uncover, push onions to one side of skillet, add remaining mushrooms, and raise heat to medium-high. Continue to cook until browned, stirring mushrooms frequently, and gently tossing onions occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove onions and mushrooms from skillet, and wipe it out.
• In same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until bubbling. Add bread and toast on all sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side. (Adjust heat if needed to prevent burning.) Remove from skillet and sprinkle with salt.
• To serve, dip croutons in wine sauce, then coat in parsley. Add pearl onions, mushrooms and remaining half of the cooked lardons to the pot. Baste with wine sauce, sprinkle with parsley and serve with croutons on top.

CHICKEN WITH BRANDY SAUCE

Steps:

• Trim fat from chicken breast halves.
• Cut breast sections in half so that you have four roughly equal pieces.
• Take a gallon zip top bag and cut the two edges open so that the sides are only joined at the bottom edge of the bag.
• Place breast sections in bag one at a time and pound flat with a mallet or a flat heavy object until chicken pieces are only 1/4 to 1/2" thick.
• Season breast sections on both sides with 1 tsp of fresh ground pepper and salt to taste.
• Heat a frying or sauté pan to medium/medium high heat. Do NOT use a non-stick pan. You can't make decent pan sauces with Teflon. I prefer a stainless steel pan but cast iron would work (preferably enamel coated cast iron).
• Put flour in a bowl and press breast pieces into it to coat chicken fully.
• Add olive oil to pan and let it come up to temperature. It should only take a couple of seconds.
• Add breast sections. Brown the chicken to a golden brown then flip and do the same on the other side. It should only take roughly 3 minutes per side or you have the chicken too thick. Do not crowd the pan. If you have to cook the chicken in batches keep the first batch warm by wrapping in aluminum foil.
• While chicken is frying, chop Italian parsley to 1/8 cup.
• Remove the last batch of chicken from the pan and wrap in foil to keep warm.
• Turn up heat under pan to medium high and add chicken broth. If pan is hot enough, the broth will boil immediately. Use a wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. This is where all the flavor is.
• Add brandy, lemon juice and remaining black pepper and then reduce liquid by 1/2.
• Reduce heat to low and add butter and parsley. Stir in butter until sauce is smooth.
• Place chicken pieces on plates and then pour the pan sauce over the chicken. Don't drown it.
• Enjoy!

BRANDYWINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Blend all ingredients in medium saucepan.
• Heat on medium-high until first bubbles form. Stir constantly to keep from burning.
• Remove from heat.
• Can be used hot or at room temperature.

BRANDY PEPPERCORN SAUCE

Steps:

• 1.In a small sauce pan mix the Demi sauce mix and water. 2.Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, and then immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Hold for later use. 3.In another sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat; add red onion and black pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until onions begin to soften. 4.Remove the pan from the heat, add the brandy, Demi mixture, and cream. Carefully place the pan back on the heat. CAUTION: MIXTURE MAY FLAME UP. 5.Bring mixture to a boil, immediately reduce heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has slightly thickened. 6.Hold warm until ready to use.

BRANDY SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. In a medium bowl, lightly beat egg yolks.
• In a small, heavy saucepan, bring cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Add butter and sugar, and stir until completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Whisk 1/4 of hot cream mixture into egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Transfer egg-yolk mixture back to saucepan, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking frequently, until mixture is very thick, about 5 minutes. (Mixture will have the consistency of a thick pudding.) Remove from heat, and stir in cognac. Transfer sauce to a clean bowl, and place in ice bath to chill. Brandy sauce will keep in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for 1 week.

WALNUT ICE CREAM WITH BRANDYWINE CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• For the ice cream: Preheat oven to 325° (300° for convection oven). Place nuts on a pan, then toast until dark and golden, 15-20 minutes. Let cool, then grind until fine in a food processor.
• In a saucepan, heat the cream and 1/2 cup sugar to just below the boiling point. Add the ground nuts and let steep at room temperature for at least an hour, or until a strong walnut flavor has permeated the cream. Pour through a coarse strainer into a large plastic bowl, then pour again through a fine-mesh strainer such as a chinois into another large plastic bowl.
• In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, mix 6 tablespoons sugar with the powdered milk, and slowly add the whole milk, whisking constantly until the powdered milk is dissolved. Place over high heat until it's just below the boiling point.
• Place yolks in a large bowl. Add a ladleful of the hot milk mixture to the yolks and mix well. Add about a third of the hot milk to the bowl with the yolks and stir. Pour the contents of the bowl into the pot with the milk and cook for another 30 seconds or so, until the milk begins to steam.
• Remove from heat and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into the walnut-infused cream. Cover and chill until completely cold, 3 hours or overnight.
• Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
• For the caramel sauce: Cut the tomato into large pieces and process in a blender or small food processor until smooth. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer. Measure out 1/2 cup puree; set aside any extra.
• Combine 1/4 cup water and the sugar into a broad, heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook over high heat until the sugar is a tawny golden color. Turn off the heat and add the tomato puree. Do this carefully and step back in case of any of it splatters.
• When the foaming eruption has subsided, stir the caramel mixture with a wire whisk, turning the flame back on if necessary, until all of the candy threads have melted into the caramel. Remove from heat and let cool. Taste for tomato flavor intensity and add any extra puree, if desired.
• Serve the ice cream drizzled with the caramel sauce.

BRANDIED TOMATO SAUCE (FLAMBE')

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, mushrooms, shallot, leek, and salt until soft, about 7 minutes.
• Add brandy and 1/4 cup Madeira. Turn heat to high and CAREFULLY ignite the alcohol using a match or bbq lighter (be sure your stove fan is turned off). Cook over high heat until flames die out. Reduce temperature to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced by half.
• Add chicken stock, tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
• Puree in a food processor or blender. Strain if desired. Return to pan and place over medium heat. Whisk in remaining tablespoon butter, broken in small pieces, and remaining tablespoon Madeira. Season with salt and pepper to taste. spoon over cooked gnocchi or pasta.