Lesson 4 - Sauces

In lesson 4, we learned how to make some sauces.  The sauces we made were espagnole, tomato fondue, fond de veau lie (bound veal stock), béchamel, bordelaise and sauce chasseur.

Espagnole is made with veal stock, bacon, carrots, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic.  It is very good!  The espagnole sauce is used to make bordelaise sauce.  Bordelaise is typically served on steak.  It has bone marrow in it, which is unbelievably oily and fatty in texture.  I made the mistake of touching my lip after working with it and it left this horrible film.  The sauce is good, but incredibly rich.

Tomato fondue is a combination of tomatoes, butter, garlic, shallots and a bouquet garni (leek leaves and other herbs tied with twine).  The proper way to prepare the tomato is to take the core out and cut an x shape in the bottom.  You then boil it for about 30 seconds and drop it into an ice bath.  Because of the boiling, the skin will peel off easily.  The tomato is then cut and the seeds need to be removed.  We used tomato fondue for the sauce chasseur and in a lot of other recipes following this lesson.

Fond de veau lie is made with veal stock, mushrooms, madeira wine, cornstarch and chervil.  Chervil is a green, leafy spice that is very hard to find.  One of my classmates is growing it from seeds because she couldn't find it anywhere.

Béchamel is made with butter, flour, milk, and nutmeg.  Typically, béchamel sauce is used on vegetables or eggs.

Sauce chasseur is made with tomato fondue, clarified butter, mushrooms, shallots, brandy, butter, white wine, stock, chervil and tarragon.  This sauce is used on veal and chicken.  We got to flambé with the brandy - and I was too afraid of setting myself on fire, so the chef helped me.  But in lesson 11, I handled it myself!!!

For lesson 5, there are pictures and we actually made a salad and some soup!