Thickening sauces the dairy way

[col klink]

I've been having a blast the last month or so creating sauces from the marinade that I use for my meats. But I'm looking to improve them, they're just not restaurant quality, they're just to thin!

On Tuesday, I made a marinade of curry and mango chutney with some mustard, olive oil, and fresh cilantro, parsley, rosemary and green onions. I was so happy with the marinade I had to constrain myself from drinking it! Anyways, after the marinated lamb went on the smoker, I wanted to make a sauce out of it so I reduced it by half after straining the particulates. Since the oil was easily emulsified, I kept it in and added about 2 cups of fresh whipping cream to thicken. I reduced that by half again but the sauce never really thickened (until chilled, then it was like sour cream). It was damn tasty but thin and spread out to the lamb, kale and the twice baked potato. I'd like it so the diner has the choice of eating the lamb with or without the sauce.

Now I know you can add a simple roux or corn starch to thicken the sauce, but I'm looking for a way to thicken without starch. Is there a good dairy way to thicken? I've tried butter and it's ok, but I really like the flavor that cream added to the sauce. Do I need to reduce by more or do I need to submit to Darth Starch?

[Jinmyo]

Reduce more and mount with cold butter right before napping.

[Malawry]

You don't have to add beurre manie or another flour thickener. Reduction is a wonderful way to thicken a sauce. I recommend you degrease your sauces of the excess oil so the mouthfeel is better and so you can justify adding cream and butter (their lushness feels better on the tongue, imo, than oils).

This technique is one we use a lot in school:

Degrease your marinade by letting it settle and skimming the fat off the top.

Cook it down "a sec," until it's almost completely dry. Once it gets thicker and glossier, reduce the heat and swirl the pan periodically so that the edges of the sauce don't overcolor and stick to the pan edge

Add plenty of cream

Cook down to sauce consistency

If you like you can save the straining until now, so the aromatics in your marinade get infused into the cream.

And then serve the finished sauce.

If you like you can mount with butter, but I think it's overkill with a creamy sauce like this. Be careful with the fruit in the particular marinade you just mentioned; natural sugars can caramelize quickly. You don't have to cook completely "a sec" if it starts to color up rapidly; use your judgment.

[CathyL]

Malawry, that is the best three-paragraph cooking lesson I've ever read.

[polly]

I think for 'at home' sauces, malawry's way is good.

In a restaurant, sauces will usually have stock in them which increases in body as it's reduced.

But for non stock, creamy sauces, it's best to reduce the flavour base until it is concentrated, then add the cream etc a la malawry.

Happy cooking

[Suzanne F]

What CathyL said. Well done, Malawry -- now I can't wait until you finish school and REALLY get into food writing!

[Jinmyo]

Bravo Rochelle.

[col klink]

Malawry, thank you so much! I never would have thought to reduce the base sauce down so low.

The olive oil I was using was blended in very well, how long would it take it settle out? Now when I'm smoking something, unless it's poultry or fish, it's going to be going for 3+ hours, would that be enough typically? I suppose it depends on the ratio of oil in the mixture and the emolient.

As I think back, when I started working on the sauce, I believe the oil separated but since I don't have one of those gravy separaters, I just whisked the oil back in. I shall now buy one!

[Wilfrid]

I know it's not what you want, Colonel, but for what it's worth, I find that very careful thickening with flour is the easiest way to get the restaurant-type consistency and silkiness. Two parts to being careful: I mix the flour with some of the liquid in a separate bowl, and then add the roux in tiny increments so as not to overdo it. And I bring the sauce to a boil so the flour's thoroughly cooked.

You probably knew all that, but someone might be interested. Such sauces certainly don't have to be floury in any unpleasant sense.

[Malawry]

Wilfrid is right that, used properly, flour thickeners like beurre manie and roux can make for a delicious, full-bodied sauce without a starchy mouthfeel. If using a roux, incorporate the liquid slowly, a ladle or two at a time, and make sure your sauce is smooth and lump-free before you add more liquid. For both roux and beurre manie, make sure to not only bring the sauce to a boil, but then gently simmer it for several minutes to cook out the floury taste.

Fat separators are nice and easy to use for degreasing the marinade. You can also use a skimmer or a ladle. And you don't even have to wait for the marinade to settle to take off the fat; if you're in a hurry, just start reducing it and skim off the scum and the fat bubbles that rise to the top as it starts to cook. Just like a stock.

How long will it take for the marinade to settle on its own? Depends on how you emulsified it in the first place. If you emulsified only by force, as for a basic vinaigrette beaten with a whisk or with a blender, it will settle fairly quickly. If you used an agent like mustard that encourages oils and liquids to hold an emulsion, it will take longer.

And ya'll flatter me so. Where's that embarrassed smiley Cabrales uses sometimes?

[col klink]

And ya'll flatter me so. Where's that embarrassed smiley Cabrales uses sometimes?

Thanks for your help Malawry! You're so dreamy!

[KateW]

There is a way of thickening that our stocks and sauces chef at JWU RI told us about, but never got to show us, that I haven't tried yet and is a bit time consuming but may be worth mentioning. If you boil some garlic (not peeled I believe) in some water like 4 or 5 times, changing the water each time, it will cook out all the flavor so you aren't altering the flavor of your sauce, and supposedly the garlic can now be used as a thickening agent. If you do try this, I'd be interested to know if it works.

[col klink]

Last week I smoked up another leg of lamb with basically the same marinade. For some reason, I added mustard to the marinade, a habit I guess. So that made the sauce difficult to separate so instead of letting it sit and waiting for it to separate, I just threw it on the stove and started reducing. Every once in a while I'd throw it in the fat separator and after a while, eventually all of the olive oil was removed.

I reduced it almost to a thick paste before I added about two cups of heavy cream. I reduced that by a half and I had a nice, not necessarily thick, but certainly thicker than my previous sauce. When it hit the plate, it didn't immediately run to the corners but stayed nicely in place. I was quite happy with it. Thanks again Malawry!

[Stone]

Reduce more and mount with cold butter right before napping.

Brando, right?

[Shermar]

That's it! I'm printing this thread. So clear! So concise!

Thank you all!