FRENCH SAUCE SUPREME

French Sauce Supreme image

Sauce Suprême is one of the classic "small sauces" of French cuisine, that is, one made by combining a basic or mother sauce with extra ingredients. When I was at Cordon Bleu, we worked a lot with sauces, and this one is versatile and tasty. It is extremely easy to make, and it packs amazing flavor. This is an excellent sauce...

Provided by Andy Anderson !

Time 40m

Number Of Ingredients 7

Ingredients

4 Tbsp sweet butter, unsalted
3 Tbsp flour, all purpose variety
3 c cold chicken stock, freshly made
2 Tbsp crème fraîche
2 Tbsp dry sherry
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps:

1. Chef's Note: This sauce (gravy) is so good you'll want to suck it up with a straw. Kidding aside, this sauce is absolutely wonderful.
2. Gather your ingredients. Isn't it amazing what you can do with a few simple ingredients.
3. Add three of the four tablespoons of butter to a saucepan over medium heat.
4. Melt the butter, and wait until the foaming subsides.
5. Add the flour, and begin to whisk until thoroughly combined.
6. Chef's Note: We're making a blond roux, so make sure that the mixture does not brown.
7. Chef's Tip: Most roux's are made with 50% flour and 50% fat.
8. Add the cold chicken stock to the roux, and whisk as the mixture begins to thicken.
9. Chef's Tip: You might want to have a bit of additional chicken stock on hand just in case you need it. We're not looking for thick gravy. But something silky smooth.
10. Chef's Note: When you add cold chicken stock to a hot roux, you are working with different temperatures, and this is essential to avoiding any lumps.
11. Continue to whisk, as the mixture begins to thicken.
12. Bring to a lite boil, and continue to whisk for an additional 15 minutes.
13. Add the crème fraîche, and whisk and allow it to reduce for another 15 minutes.
14. Remove from heat and pass through a chinois, or fine sieve.
15. Chef's Tip: Use a rubber spatula to push the sauce through the sieve.
16. Chef's Note: Do you really need to pass the sauce through a fine sieve? Well, if you followed the advice of adding a cold stock to a hot roux... probably not. However, I do like to complicate things.
17. Season to taste, and then return the mixture to the pan, and bring to a lite boil.
18. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, and whisk until combined.
19. Chef's Note: The addition of the remaining butter at this point will help to give the sauce its silky consistency.
20. Remove from the heat, add the sherry, and whisk to combine.
21. Chef's Note: The traditional thing to do here is add Madeira wine, but I like the sherry better.
22. Pour the sauce over a mound of garlic mash potatoes, some baked chicken, or use in a stew or potpie. Enjoy.
23. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.