Escoffier At Home

Tag: escoffier recipe

0049. Sauce Genevoise, Geneva Sauce

Escoffier recipe for making Geneva Sauce, Sauce Genevoise, at home (Escoffier, 49).

This is a very rich and complex fish sauce. When you cook it, the house smells of salmon and red wine. Pretty yummy!

Mise en place:

Sauce Genevoise

In a large saucepan, sauté the carrots, onion and parsley in butter until tender. Add the thyme sprigs, bay leaf, peppercorns and salmon heads.

I had my local fishmongers split and clean the salmon heads for me. (I suggest you do the same!)

Cover and let steam for 20 minutes. Uncover, drain off the butter, and add 750ml (1 bottle) of red wine.

Simmer and reduce by half. Stir in 500g of Sauce Espagnole Maigre and gently simmer for an hour. Strain into a clean saucepan…

Add 500g fumét de poisson, an additional 500g red wine, and reduce some more! And while you’re at it, why not enjoy that remaining 250ml of leftover wine?

Finish the sauce by whisking in 150g of cubed butter and some fish essence, anchovy paste or fish sauce to taste.

Ingredients
100g (3/4 cup) diced carrot
80g (1/2 cup) diced onion
20g (1/3 cup) chopped parsley
35g (7 1/2 teaspoons) unsalted butter
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 fresh bay leaf
16 whole, black peppercorns
1000g (2 pounds, or about 3) salmon heads, split in half and cleaned
750ml (3 cups, or 1 bottle) red wine
500g (2 cups) fish Espagnole sauce
500g (2 cups, or 2/3 bottle) red wine
500g (2 cups) fish fumét
150g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter
3g (1/2 teaspoon) fish essence, anchovy paste or fish sauce, to taste

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Kitchen knife and cutting board
Measuring bowls
Large stockpot
Wooden spoon
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Strainer or chinois
Medium Saucepan
Plastic containers

24 November 2012
0139. Sauce Normande, Normandy Sauce

Escoffier recipe for making sauce normande, Normandy Sauce, at home (Escoffier 139).

This sauce is special for serving with Sole Normande but also has a wide range of applications as a basis for other fish sauces. It is a very smooth, white, cream-based sauce with a light, but complex, taste. Perfect in recipes using whitefish, such as sole or tilapia.

Not the easiest of recipes unless you already just happen to have some velouté de poisson, mushroom stock, mussel stock and fumét de poisson laying around…

Mise en place for sauce normande:

Sauce Normande

In a large stockpot, whisk together fish velouté, mushroom stock, mussel stock and fish fumét. Bring to a simmer.

In a bowl, whisk together lemon juice, egg yolks and 180g of heavy cream. Whisk this “sour” milk into the just-simmering sauce, and reduce it by one-third on low heat. This will take some time, as you’ll want to keep the heat low to avoid scorching the sauce.

Once it has reduced, remove the sauce from the heat and strain into a clean saucepan. Finish the sauce by whisking in 114g of cubed, room temp butter and 120g of heavy cream.

Let cool and store in a sealed plastic container.

Ingredients
660g (2 3/4 cups) fish velouté
111g (1/2 cup) mussel stock
130g (1/2 cup) mushroom stock
167g (2/3 cup) fish fumét
3g (1/2 teaspoon) lemon juice
5 egg yolks
180g (3/4 cup) heavy cream
114g (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
120g (1/2 cup) heavy cream

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Kitchen knife and cutting board
Measuring bowls
Large stockpot
Wooden spoon
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Strainer or chinois
Medium Saucepan
Plastic containers

24 November 2012
0017. Sauce Espagnole Maigre, Fish Espagnole Sauce

Escoffier recipe for making sauce espagnole maigre, fish espagnole, or lenten espagnole sauce, at home (Escoffier, 17).

Also called Lenten Espagnole, this sauce is made with fish fumét and mushrooms instead of brown stock and meat (usually salt pork or bacon) as in regular Espagnole. Guess you can get away with having this rich sauce during Lent, eh?

I made a quick version of this sauce instead of the two-day Escoffier method. (Ha! Only 6 hours.)

Classic Sauce Espagnole Maigre

fish stock + brown roux + mirepoix + bouquet garni + mushrooms + butter + wine + tomato

Classic Sauce Espagnole

brown stock + brown roux + mirepoix + bouquet garni + salt pork + butter + wine + tomato

Modern Sauce Espagnole

brown stock + brown roux

Mise en place:

Sauce Espagnole Maigre

In a large stockpot, sauté a mirepoix of diced carrots, onion, mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf in the butter until translucent.

Then add the tomato paste and let brown. Deglaze the pot with the dry white wine and reduce until almost dry.

What kind of dry white wine is best for fish-based sauces?

Ever notice they never say what kind to use? It’s always the very vague ‘dry white wine’ you’ll see in recipes. I’ve found sauvignon blanc, chablis, and Noilly Prat vermouth work well. Each has its own flavor, and will affect your end result. But go for the lighter whites, stay away from the sweet whites like sauternes and reislings, or oaky whites like chardonnay.

Add the fish fumét.

Gently simmer to reduce the stock, skimming off any foam from the surface, for about 5 hours.

Strain and add the brown roux to the reduced stock. Simmer gently for another hour, stirring so it does not stick.

Brown roux can sometimes have a pronounced flavor. Try the sauce, and if it has a floury flavor, simmer some more.

Remove from heat, strain, and stir occasionally until the sauce is completely cold.

Ingredients
65g (1/2 cup) diced carrots
40g (1/4 cup) diced onions
65g (3/4 cup) diced button or brown mushrooms
35g (7 1/2 teaspoons) unsalted butter
33g (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
100g (1/2 cup) dry white wine
1000g (4 cups) fish fumét
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
125g (1 cup) brown roux

Total time: Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 6-8 hours

Yields: 2-4 quarts of stock, depending on how long you simmer it.

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Kitchen knife and cutting board
Measuring bowls
Large stockpot
Wooden spoon
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Strainer or chinois
Medium Saucepan
Plastic containers

20 November 2012
0022. Velouté de Poisson, Fish Velouté

Escoffier recipe for making velouté de poisson, fish velouté sauce, at home (Escoffier, 22).

Velouté (“veh-looh-TAY”) is one of the five ‘mother sauces’ of classical French cuisine. Fish velouté, or velouté de poisson (“veh-looh-TAY day PWAH-sohn”) is used in making lighter-colored and compound sauces such as Sauce Bercy, Sauce Normandie, and others. Fish veloute is a white sauce lightly flavored with fish stock, or fumét, and thickened with a blond roux.

Mise en place for fish velouté:

Fish Velouté

Heat the fish fumét up in a medium saucepan, and gradually stir in the cold (or room temp) blond roux. Colder roux works best when it is mixed with a hot liquid. A couple general rules about roux: The darker the roux, the more flavorful it will be; and the lighter the roux, the less you’ll need to thicken a sauce. This is because the longer you cook your roux, the quicker the starch in the flour breaks down. A blond roux does well to both flavor and thicken a velouté de poisson, while keeping the velouté light in color.

Simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid a skin forming on the surface, and voila! There you have it.

Ingredients
1000g (4 cups) fish fumét
155g (1 1/4 cups) blond roux

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Measuring bowls
Medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Plastic containers

20 November 2012
0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux blond, blond roux, at home (Escoffier, 14).

What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blond (“roo BLON”), is made the same way as roux blanc. The only difference is it’s cooked few minutes more, until the flour starts turning a golden blonde color. Keep cooking it and you get roux brun.

Mise en place for blond roux:

Blond Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 15-20 minutes — or until the flour smells nutty and begins to turn a golden color. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

This roux is used to thicken up lighter-colored sauces, like fish velouté.

White roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for different lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified unsalted butter
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012
0015. Roux Blanc, White Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux blanc, white roux, at home (Escoffier, 15).

What is roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blanc (“roo BLONK”), is cooked much shorter than roux blond and roux brun. This can be made in just a few minutes.

Mise en place for white roux:

Roux Blanc, White Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for 5-10 minutes — or until the flour smells a little nutty and takes on a sheen. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

Remember, you want to cook it just long enough to cook out the real floury taste.

This roux may used to thicken up white sauces.

Blond roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked longer until the flour browns more. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified unsalted butter
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012