A Bread Sauce Recipe

Because nothing goes with turkey quite like this

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

A short post today, because it’s Thanksgiving in the US and I have to get on with cooking the whole thing (which I love to do). As part of the feast, I’ll be making bread sauce, which is a Very British Sauce (we love our carbs in viscous form) that I added to the Thanksgiving menu for my American family years ago, and which now generates very specific requests from attending guests. “WILL THERE BE BREAD SAUCE?” they want to know.

Of course there will. Here’s how.

Ingredients:

• Five-ish slices of white bread

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 2 cups milk

• Butter

• Fresh thyme (optional)

• 2 star anise

• 5 cloves

• 1 bay leaf

• Cracked black pepper

Put the bread into a food processor and turn into breadcrumbs. Add a few leaves of thyme and some salt and pepper and blitz again for a couple of seconds. This can be done ahead.

When you’re nearly ready to serve the meal...

In sauté pan melt some butter (a tablespoon or so). Sauté the chopped onion with 2 star anise, 5 or 6 cloves, one bay leaf, some cracked peppercorns or fresh-ground pepper. When the onion looks done (golden) turn the heat way down and add the milk. Stir for a few moments. The goal is to infuse the flavors into the milk, not cook it. Take the pan off the heat.

Sieve the milk into a medium bowl; discard the onion and spices. Now you have a bowl of warm, spice-infused milk, and a pile of breadcrumbs from earlier.

Now, while the milk is still warm, start stirring in the breadcrumbs bit by bit until the sauce is just a bit thinner than you want it (and you want it thick but still identifiably liquid). If you run out of breadcrumbs quickly blitz some more. Leave the sauce just a bit thin because it thickens slightly as it sits.

Serve immediately on any type of poultry whatsoever, but especially turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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