Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 large shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp cognac
1/2 cup brown stock (see stocks)
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz shitake mushrooms, sliced
Directions
This sophisticated sauce will quickly become a favorite at your house.
Spoon it over grilled veal chops or a crisp roast duck, and you will
present a memorable dish indeed. It is outstanding over noodles for a
small but rich first course.
Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add
the shallots and garlic and saute until transparent, about 3 to 4
minutes. Then add the cognac and flame. To do this, remove the
saucepan from the heat and touch a lighted match to the edge of the
pan; the fumes of the cognac will ignite. Holding the pan away from
you, allow the flames to die down naturally. Add the stock and cream
and simmer over low heat until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add
the mushrooms and continue to simmer 3 to 5 minutes more. Season with
salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Yield: About 1 cup of sauce.
From The Complete Book Of Sauces by Sallie Y. Williams
Servings: 6 servings
Cognac Sauce Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Alcohol; Beverages; Sauce
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as an idea can be tracked way back into antiquity, at least as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and possibly even further. Interesting though that maybe, in the main part, these old cook books were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for meal preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe discovered, according to food historians is a collection of ancient tablets in Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel exhilarated and blissful. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there were a couple of interesting books which were published in the 1300s ; a cookery book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, they are nothing to do with the indian food that is served today, but instead recipes for the types of food on the menus of the nobility of the time. In the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought us many foods and herbs from the holy lands, such as rosemary and coriander. The introduction of these new herbs and spices led to a surge in recipe publications, the majority of which are now in private libraries. Over the following few centuries, the rich and powerful families of Wesstern Europe competed with each other to serve up the most extravagent meals, and consequentially cooks and their recipe collections were at a premium. Even so, it was during the 1800s that haute cuisine and cookery books became popular. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to assembling, verifying, and recording recipes to help cooks of their time. The arrival of TV brings us cooking programs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing everyone to access massive numbers of recipes like those on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this Cognac Sauce recipe.
