Hi, I’m Kayleigh. I’m a sauce-o-holic. Oh boy, the sauces I like to eat drizzled all over my meat, fish, poultry or even potatoes are going to be my downfall. The death of my thighs. The onset of love handles. The… well, you get the picture, right? And it ain’t a pretty picture!

All kidding aside; I really like a good sauce, I just don’t like to drown my meat or chicken in sauce. It’s supposed to add flavor, not overrule anything else on my plate. I also like a creamy sauce, but not one consisting of pure liquid cream. Moderation is key for me.

Here’s one of my personal favorites. Especially when spooned over a perfectly cooked steak. Though I must admit it’s pretty darn good on grilled chicken as well. It’s a simple but amazingly creamy and flavorful sauce that has a wonderful kick to it.

 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp green peppercorns
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 oz butter or margarine
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cream
1 shallot
Worcestershire sauce
salt

 

Directions:

Finely mince a medium sized shallot. You could use 1/2 a small onion for this as well.

 

I like a good kick to my sauce, so I’m going for 1 tbsp dried green peppercorns. Feel free to tone it down a little! Before you ask me if this can be done with other colored peppercorns as well; I honestly don’t know. I always make my sauce with green peppercorns, so you’ll have to try it for yourself!

 

I’m using my mortar and pestle for this, but you could also put the peppercorns in a clean tea towel and smack-dab them with a dough pin or meat hammer. We’re going to (coarsely) pulverize them.

 

Melt 1 oz butter or margarine in a sauce pan.

 

Add the minced shallot to it. Cook over low heat for a few minutes, until the onions becomes a little softer.

 

Add the smashed up peppercorns. Cook everything for another minute.

 

Add 3 slightly heaping tbsp all-purpose flour. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring occasionally. Now turn off the heat and let the roux cool off a bit.

 

Time to make the vegetable broth. I’m using these cubes. MSG free and delightfully fragrant. I always fix 2 cups vegetable broth; more than I need, but quite handy in case the sauce needs some thinning later on. You can freeze the rest in ice cube bags. Always easy to spruce up sauces or stews.

 

Slowly and while stirring you pour about 3/4 cup of broth in with the roux (it might appear thin). Put the sauce back on the stove and turn the heat on.

 

The sauce will immediately start to thicken again, see? It’s beginning to look quite yummy.

 

Keep adding tiny splashes of vegetable broth and keep stirring until you have a consistency you like. I usually stop somewhere around 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups.

 

Take the sauce pan off the stove. Now you could add more cream if you like, but it’s really not necessary. Cream in and of itself is not going to flavor anything—you just want to add it for a little extra richness.

Add 2 tbsp cream -use whatever you like, heavy cream, whipping cream or half and half- and stir it in.

 

Finish the sauce with salt and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

 

This is a really simple and fantastic tasting sauce that has never failed me!