Cooked salad cream and other sauces 10/05/1996

From Simon Hopkinson in The Indépendant

5 tbsp milk

2 dsp sugar

1 tsp dry mustard powder mixed with a little milk

1 tsp salt

soft butter, size of a walnut

2 eggs, well beaten

3 tbsp vinegar (malt, naturally)

 ,Place milk, sugar, mixed mustard, salt and butter in a basin. Stand over a saucepan of just-simmering water. Stirring well, carefully add beaten eggs. Pour the vinegar into the basin in which the eggs were beaten, making sure any of the remaining egg is rinsed with vinegar (a clear hint of wartime rationing here, but excellent advice for any scrupulously thrifty cook), and add to the pan. Stir constantly until thickened. Cool and spoon generously over the salad. Any sauce left over can be stored in a screw-top jar and put in the fridge, where it will keep well for a couple of weeks or so.

Egg and anchovy sauce, enough for 4-6 pieces of poached fish

450ml/3/4 pint milk

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves

1 sprig thyme

1 bay leaf

freshly grated nutmeg, a scrap

little salt and pepper

40g/11/2oz butter

25g/1oz flour

100ml/4fl oz double cream

12 tbsp anchovy essence

4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and grated

2 tbsp chopped parsley

squeeze of lemon juice

Heat together the first seven ingredients and bring up to a simmer. Cook very gently for 5 minutes, switch off the heat, put a lid on and leave to infuse for 30 minutes.

Melt the butter in another, preferably thick-based, pan, and stir in the flour to make a roux. Strain the flavoured milk on to this, stirring constantly, and bring up to a simmer. If you have a heat-diffuser pad, set the pan on to this and cook ever so gently over a thread of heat, for about 20 minutes. Add the cream, anchovy essence and fillets, eggs and parsley. Check for seasoning. Just before pouring over the fish, add a squeeze of lemon juice.