Create a flavorful sauce in just a few minutes.

Flecks of meat and spices float in rich gravy, intensely-sweet caramelized vegetables swirl within creamy sauce, colorful bits bob in flavorful broth. Sauces add dimensions: smooth and creamy, piquant and textural, or simply savory. Meals become more memorable, from first aromatic whiff to final taste. Tiny crunches, velvety smooth sauce, tongue tingling heat, or sudden flavor burst upon your taste buds.

Deglaze: Easy and economical, the basis of these sauces starts with what stuck to your pan after roasting or sauting. Bits of cooked meat, roasted-on vegetable chunks, and dried-on drippings you might otherwise throw away or wash down the drain are deglazed with water or other liquid.

Natural sugars (or starches converted to sugars) caramelize during exposure to high temperatures. Sticky bits of food bond tightly to a pan's surface. Warm liquids gently melt these bonds, dissolving and suspending cast-offs into a simmering sauce.

Deglazing is easy to master. Follow these simple steps:

1. Gently heat liquid (water, wine, cider, juice, brandy, champagne...) in your "food-glazed" pan, or pour hot liquid over cooked-on food bits in a roasting pan.

2. Stir, gradually scraping deposited food up from the bottom, swirling it into a suspension.

3. Simmer to condense.

4. Stir in spices, herbs, slurries (flour, cornstarch or other thickeners dissolved in a small amount of liquid) and any flavor enhancing additions that suit your tastes.

Suggested variations, listed below, can be made using left-over foods or items you have on hand. Change or alter these sauces to fit your needs.

VARIATIONS:

For a thin sauce (such as an "au jus" for a French-dip sandwich), sauce may be ready to serve. Options: add a swirl of butter, chopped fresh herbs, and final seasoning.

For a creamy sauce: milk, cream, or half-and-half may be added now, or with thickener (see description of slurry below). Do not boil after adding dairy!

For a thicker sauce, make slurry of flour stirred into an equal part cool liquid. Gradually stir into sauce. Alternative: instead of four, cornstarch or arrowroot may be used as thickener.

Sauce is ready when appropriately thickened. Add any final touches, such as sour cream, grated cheese, a swirl of butter, chopped fresh herbs, and final seasoning. Adjust heat if cooled, and then serve.

For a piquant sauce: a puree of roasted vegetables, pesto, sundried tomatoes, tapenade, salsa, or a medley of chopped hot peppers, onions, assorted ingredients may be added. Heat thoroughly.

Serve sauce or gravy over meat, potatoes, or other vegetables. Create a pot pie from left-over meat and vegetables mixed into your sauce, topped with pastry or biscuits (home-made or from grocery dairy-case). Serve your sauce with pasta, or as a base for hot dips. Offer your sauce as a condiment on hot sandwiches.

Get creative: paint your plate or the food with swirls and dots like your favorite restaurant or TV chef.

Look to your favorite restaurant for inspiration. Consider their menu descriptions. What do they serve with a sauce, and how? What ingredient mixtures sound intriguing, and how would you change or interchange them? Would you add or remove an ingredient, roast or use raw something they deep-fried or steamed?

Explore your imagination and let it guide you. Play with your food, and get saucy. Enjoy!

Learn more about this author, Debra Menager.
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