Prune Sauce Food

PRUNES IN ARMAGNAC

Steps:

• Place 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags, add the prunes and honey, turn the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 3 minutes to plump the prunes.
• Pour the prunes and all the liquid into a medium bowl and stir in the Armagnac, vanilla, orange juice, vanilla bean, and cinnamon sticks. With a vegetable peeler, cut 4 large strips of zest from 1 lemon and add to the mixture. Cut the lemon in half, cut 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices, and add to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours. (If you're not serving the prunes that day, refrigerate them in their liquid.)
• To serve, place the prunes in shallow dessert bowls and serve cold, at room temperature, or slightly warmed, spooning the macerating liquid over them. Add a scoop of ice cream, a drizzle of Armagnac, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkling of grated lemon zest. (You'll be surprised how much flavor this adds!) Serve immediately.

BRAISED PORK FILLETS WITH PRUNES AND CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Simmer the prunes in the wine over moderate heat, covered, until plump and tender, about 10 minutes. Strain and reserve the red wine.
• Bone and tie the pork fillets. Saute the fillets in the oil until they are a rich golden brown on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer fillets to a plate. Add the mirepoix and the bones to the pan and saute to brown lightly, 8 to 10 minutes. (Additional oil may have to be added to keep the mirepoix from burning.)
• Add the wine from the prunes and deglaze the pan. Place the pork fillets on top of the mirepoix (the liquid should come part way up the pork chops), cover, and simmer gently over very low heat or until the fillets are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Place the fillets in an oven pre-heated to 325 and immediately turn off the heat. The meat should be cooked within 10 and 15 minutes. Take care not to overcook the pork. Use tongs to transfer the meat to a heated platter and remove the strings. Arrange three prunes on each fillet, then cover the fillets with foil.
• Pour the rest of the contents of the pan through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing down on the vegetables to extract all the juices. Return the juices to the pan and reduce by half rapidly, stirring and scraping any brown bits that cling to the pan. Add the cream and continue to boil down rapidly until the color becomes a light beige and the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Whisk in the jelly and continue to cook, whisking, until the jelly is dissolved. Taste and correct seasoning of the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the fillets, sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH PRUNE SAUCE

Steps:

• Pat chicken thouroughly dry with paper towel and sprinkle sides with salt and pepper In a 10 to 12-inch skillet melt two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of oil over high heat.
• Add chicken skin-side down and reduce heat to moderate.
• Fry until sides are golden brown.
• (Don't worry if the inside is pink, we will be cooking the chicken more later) Transfer the chicken to a plate.
• Add the celery, carrot, and onion to the fat remaining in pan, stirring occasionally, and cook until the vegetables are soft but NOT brown.
• Return the chicken to the pan and lay the parsley and bay leaf on top.
• Pour in 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Lower the heat and simmer for thirty minutes, basting it from time to time with the juices in the pan Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of water, the 1 1/2 cups of prunes, the lemon juice, and the sugar.
• Place on high heat.
• Bring prunes to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until prunes are tender.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken from the skillet and arrange attractively on an ovenproof platter.
• Scatter the cooked prunes over the top.
• Cover the platter loosely with foil and put it into the oven.
• Press hard on the vegetables with a spoonback releasing the juices.
• Discard vegetables.
• Set juices aside.
• Melt two tablespoons of butter in the skillet and add the flour.
• Cook on high heat until flour is golden brown.
• Pour in the 1/2 cup of reserved prune juice and the 1/2 cup of reserved pan juices (if there is less then 1/2 cup, make up for it by augmenting it with the chicken broth) Boil until sauce is smooth and thickened.
• Serve at once.

PRUNES IN ORANGE SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine orange and lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, and cinnamon in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer on high heat and add prunes.
• Turn the heat as low as possible and cover. Simmer gently for only about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them so prunes don't get soggy. Add chopped walnuts and cook for another couple of minutes.
• Remove prunes with a slotted spoon and turn the heat to medium-high; reduce the liquid to about half. Pour the syrup over the prunes and chill or serve warm. If using cinnamon stick - leave it in the syrup with the prunes.