Quay Po was very "saucy" yesterday

The meaning of “saucy” is "impertinent in an entertaining way; impossible to repress or control". Will you be surprised if I tell you that President Abraham Lincoln had used the perogative word “saucy” and had written out his true feelings about a lady visitor in a short note to himself? This note now belongs to the Library of Congress.  Interesting ha?

My use of the word in today's title is really just a bit word play as I worked in the kitchen making a big batch of cranberry sauce to go with my Quay Lo's roast turkey for Christmas. What lady doesn't enjoy being a little "saucy" now and then even if it only means you made "sauce"? 

As promised in my post on our Thanksgiving celebration last month, today I am sharing the simple recipe of my homemade cranberry sauce. Once you taste this homemade cranberry sauce, you will never want a store bought one. It is full of flavor, compliments fowl, lamb, or pork and is super easy to make. Even though I add a citrus note (well, maybe "chord" is a better word than "note") to the preserve this sauce is more simple in flavor than a chutney as it strikes a balance between tart, sour, and sweet. Perfect!

QPC homemade cranberry sauce

   

  

Ingredients:

(A)

24 oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp allspice

½ tsp ground nutmeg

2 cinnamon stick

(B)

1 cup orange juice

1 tbs orange zest

1 tbs lemon zest

Method

Place ingredients (A) in a medium pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced, stirring occasionally. Add in ingrdients (B) and mix well and turn of heat. Let it cool to room temperature. Remove cinnamon stick and serve.

Note:  Cranberry sauce can be made days ahead and serve cold or brought to room temperature before serving.

Roasted Pine Nuts White wine creamy sauce - Featured in Group Recipes

This is my own recipe of white wine sauce or gravy if you wish to call it.  I use three types of herbs, fennel, roasted pine nuts and roasted garlic in this recipe and they really make this sauce special! It is very versatile and can used with fish, meat, chicken or pasta. You can even serve it as a dip with crackers for appetizer.  Oh, this is a nice gift for a friend too. Okay,I do not want to elaborate further but let you find out for yourself  and if you like it, give me a buzz or leave a comment:D 

Roasted pine nut white wine creamy sauce/gravy

Ingredients

  1. ½ medium size chopped onion

  2. ½ clove roasted garlic (roast with skin on and then removed it)

  3. 1/3 cup chopped fennel

  4. 1 tsp chopped rosemary

  5. 1 tsp chopped thyme

  6. 1 tsp chopped dill

  7. 1/3 cup roasted pine nuts

  8. ½ tsp salt

  9. 2 cups full cream milk

10. 3 tb olive oil

11. 2 tb butter

12. ½ cup white wine

13. 1 cube chicken stock (without MSG)

14. salt & black pepper to taste

roux:
equal part of flour and fat.

Method

Put items 1 to 10 into blender and blend well.  For some blenders, you might want to add 1/2 cup milk to get the blender works better.  So when you add milk later, add  only 1 1/2 cup of milk instead of 2.  Heat wok with butter and when butter is completely melted, add the mixture from the blender and bring to boil. Add wine and chicken stock.  Let the wine evaporate and turn down the heat and add in milk.  Stir to mix well let it simmer for 10 – 15 mins. Use 1 teaspoon of roux to thicken the sauce. Finally add salt and pepper to taste.