BACON SCALLION CREAM SAUCE

Bacon Scallion Cream Sauce image

Here we have a re-education - or an education, if you're a first-timer - in the virtues of an old-fashioned cream gravy. A few tablespoons of this elixir can uplift plainly cooked meat like a lamb chop or steak, layering on the richness of cream but also the freshness of scallion and black pepper. Use plenty of each.These days, home cooks are not likely to keep meat drippings around in the kitchen to make a fat-and-flour roux, but there's nothing wrong with hacking a substitute from a lump of butter and a slab of bacon. Then cook them together with flour to make a golden, toasty-smelling roux. After adding the broth and cream, the sauce will seem thin, but stay the course: don't even think of adding more flour. It takes a few minutes for the flour's starch to absorb the liquid. Take the gravy off the heat when it still seems a little too thin: it will thicken further at the table.

Provided by Julia Moskin

Categories quick, condiments, dips and spreads, sauces and gravies

Time 25m

Yield About 1 1/2 cups

Number Of Ingredients 8

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 thick slice bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon cracked black peppercorns
6 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced, plus extra for garnish
Salt

Steps:

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add bacon and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until fat has rendered. Add flour, then stir together and cook over low heat, stirring often, until golden and toasty-smelling, 4 to 6 minutes.
Add chicken stock and cream, and simmer over low heat until reduced to a thick, pourable gravy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in peppercorns and scallions, and taste for salt, adding more as needed. Serve hot.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 425, UnsaturatedFat 14 grams, Carbohydrate 13 grams, Fat 39 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 7 grams, SaturatedFat 23 grams, Sodium 496 milligrams, Sugar 4 grams, TransFat 0 grams