OK, so I forgot about this blog for far too long and it's just inexcusable, but as I probably have 2 readers out there it's no big loss to my circulation if i lose them! :-) The reason for this rare post is that I needed a place to distrubute my recipe for the best sauce you can ever have with Christmas turkey and strange as it may seem - the North Americans don't seem to know about it - well that just has to change as this sauce, called Bread Sauce, (I know! not a great title and probably puts people off right away!) is not only the best thing about a Turkey dinner but it's also the best thing to smother on turkey sandwiches the next day - as it gets thicker and tastier left in the fridge.
Ok - first that name - would it be more appetising if we (I) called it Sauce A'la Pan? Here is MY recipe - you can forgoe the pre-prep stage if you want and play around with the onion/clove algorithm but I have made this many times and this really is the best way to get the fullest flavour.
The Pre-prep stage (can be done on the day but best done a few days in advance and lets face it - advance stuff for Christmas dinner or lunch is best, eh?) Get a large jar - maybe a large pickle jar or a large mason jar - it needs to have a wide opening as you need to get the onion in there.
Chop up some onion - 2 -3 medium - or a large one - up to you doesn't matter too much but the onion needs to be small enough to fit in the jar. Take about 6 or 8 cloves and add to the onion in a pan - pour over a litre or so of milk (your choice on the milk and just make sure you don't use too much that the milk and onion and clove don't fit in your large jar. Don't add any salt but I add a grind or two of black pepper.
The 'on the day' method for this often state that you stick the cloves in a whole onion and add to the milk - this is fine and aids the separation of the onion and clove from the milk but I feel this doesn't get the full flavour from the onion.
Bring to a light boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Cover and let it cool a bit. Pour it all into the jar. Cool with the lid just on - then when cold pop the lid on and stick it in the fridge to be forgotten about a few days.
On the day...... Get the liquor (the milk/onion/clove milk) out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to make the sauce. I would make the sauce about the same time I make the gravy.
Now - you need to prepare some breadcrumbs - white, no crusts and I tend to have a loaf that I've had in a brown bag for a couple days and let it go a bit stale (not mouldy). A whole loaf is usually enough. Cut off the crusts and whizz in a food processor - just make sure you don't have any big bits but conformity isn't that important. Sieve (pass) the liquor from the jar into a pan and bring to a simmer - add half the bread crumbs and mix. Now it's up to you how thick you have it - I tend to like it so I can spoon it from a sauce bowl rather than pour it.
Add the rest of the bread and decide your thickness as you do it - keep it warm, don't burn the bottom of the pan and transfer to a sauce bowl as you pour the gravy into your boat. people will probably balk at it if you call it bread sauce - so make something up - it's better than the cranberry sauce and almost as good as my gravy which I have just made the stock for - make as much as you can as the real delight is spreading it on a turkey sandwich the next day.
Here is your shopping list: Onion - white not red - 3 medium or one large one. Some cloves - at least 4 up to 8 Milk - 2% is best about a litre or so.
Bread - white and let go stale and made into breadcrumbs sans the crust. Some fresh black pepper.
There you have it!
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