French Sauce Supreme Food

FRENCH SAUCE SUPREME

Steps:

• 1. Chef's Note: This sauce (gravy) is so good you'll want to suck it up with a straw. Kidding aside, this sauce is absolutely wonderful.
• 2. Gather your ingredients. Isn't it amazing what you can do with a few simple ingredients.
• 3. Add three of the four tablespoons of butter to a saucepan over medium heat.
• 4. Melt the butter, and wait until the foaming subsides.
• 5. Add the flour, and begin to whisk until thoroughly combined.
• 6. Chef's Note: We're making a blond roux, so make sure that the mixture does not brown.
• 7. Chef's Tip: Most roux's are made with 50% flour and 50% fat.
• 8. Add the cold chicken stock to the roux, and whisk as the mixture begins to thicken.
• 9. Chef's Tip: You might want to have a bit of additional chicken stock on hand just in case you need it. We're not looking for thick gravy. But something silky smooth.
• 10. Chef's Note: When you add cold chicken stock to a hot roux, you are working with different temperatures, and this is essential to avoiding any lumps.
• 11. Continue to whisk, as the mixture begins to thicken.
• 12. Bring to a lite boil, and continue to whisk for an additional 15 minutes.
• 13. Add the crème fraîche, and whisk and allow it to reduce for another 15 minutes.
• 14. Remove from heat and pass through a chinois, or fine sieve.
• 15. Chef's Tip: Use a rubber spatula to push the sauce through the sieve.
• 16. Chef's Note: Do you really need to pass the sauce through a fine sieve? Well, if you followed the advice of adding a cold stock to a hot roux... probably not. However, I do like to complicate things.
• 17. Season to taste, and then return the mixture to the pan, and bring to a lite boil.
• 18. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, and whisk until combined.
• 19. Chef's Note: The addition of the remaining butter at this point will help to give the sauce its silky consistency.
• 20. Remove from the heat, add the sherry, and whisk to combine.
• 21. Chef's Note: The traditional thing to do here is add Madeira wine, but I like the sherry better.
• 22. Pour the sauce over a mound of garlic mash potatoes, some baked chicken, or use in a stew or potpie. Enjoy.
• 23. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.