Suprême

Chicken velouté reduced with cream until it is ivory and heavy. The most useful sauce in the book for anyone cooking poultry.

500 ml — light chicken stock

25 g — butter

25 g — plain flour

150 ml — double cream

50 g — button mushrooms

5 ml — lemon juice

4 g — salt

Make a velouté with chicken stock and add the mushroom trimmings. Reduce it by a quarter.

Add the cream in three additions, letting the sauce come back to a simmer between each. Added all at once, it dilutes faster than it reduces and you end up cooking it to death.

Strain, correct with a few drops of lemon and a knob of cold butter swirled in off the heat.

Poached chicken, vol-au-vent, chicken pie, rice pilaf.