HFF 5.12: Sauce

The Challenge: Getting Saucy. Make a sauce.

The Recipe: Sauce Piquante from Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery

The Date/Year and Region: 1865, London

How Did You Make It:  I chopped two very small onions, totaling ~3 Tbsp worth, fried them in butter, added 1 tsp flour, and browned it a little more than intended (but didn't quite burn it). I then added 1 pint of fresh-made vegetable stock in lieu of drippings,, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 bay leaf, and a few sprigs of thyme. I brought this to a boil, and let simmer until the rest of the meal was ready (15-20 ish minutes), then strained out the solids, and added a dash of black pepper,and ~1 oz of apple cider vinegar.

Total Cost: Unsure. Used home-grown onions and thyme, and homemade vegetable stock, so not very expensive.

How Successful Was It?: The sauce ended up quite thin, and rather strong, mostly tasting of vinegar plus some cayenne. I probably shouldn't have strained out the onion pieces; it does only specify the thyme and bay being removed. Tasted on its own, the sauce was a bit much (mostly vinegar-flavored), but poured over meat, it added a bit of a pick-me-up.

How Accurate Is It?: I already noted the onions, and I'm wondering if I should have stirred the sauce more before pouring, with how the vinegar flavor predominated. I'll probably make this again, but will be more careful about the vinegar and stirring it in well.

Per the instructions, I served this sauce with Fillet of Beef (er, shoulder roast baked in lots of butter), with a side of Broccoli ala Francaise, and also bread and mashed potatoes.

[The broccoli was the best part of the meal: nice and buttery and steamed. I forgot the lemon juice, and just poured a little melted butter over the vegetables after removing them from the water. It tasted very nice, and I had seconds. The bread and potatoes were modern recipes. The fillet of beef wasn't bad (it's hard to go wrong with a ton of butter, some salt and pepper), and I finished my piece, but beef isn't really my thing.]

I think this is an excellent color for
something named 'sauce piquante'.