Bread Sauce (BBC Good Food)

Tempo

35 min

Picante

Dificuldade

Fácil

Rende

8porções

Ingredientes

600 ml

milk (leite integral)

50 g

butter (manteiga)

onion, chopped (cebola, picada)

cloves (cravo-da-índia)

peppercorns (pimenta-do-reino em grãos)

garlic cloves (alho)

bay leaf (folha de louro)

thyme sprigs (raminhos de tomilho)

100 g

white breadcrumbs (miolo de pão branco amanhecido, ralado fresco)

4 tbsp

single cream or mascarpone (creme de leite fresco ou mascarpone)

Pinch nutmeg, freshly grated (noz-moscada ralada)

Modo de preparo

01**Infuse.** Place milk, butter, onion, cloves, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf, thyme into a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer. **Simmer 20 min** on the lowest heat — the milk should never boil. The whole kitchen will smell of Christmas.
02**Strain.** Pass through a sieve into a clean pan, discarding all the aromatics. You should have a fragrant, golden-flecked milk.
03**Bread in.** Return milk to low heat. Whisk in breadcrumbs. **Simmer 3-4 min** — it should thicken to a porridge consistency.
04**Finish.** Stir in cream (or mascarpone) + a generous pinch of grated nutmeg. Season with salt. Serve hot.

Bread Sauce (BBC Good Food)

The classic British roast-bird accompaniment — chicken, turkey, goose. Milk infused with clove-studded onion, peppercorns, bay, garlic, thickened with breadcrumbs. A polarising sauce (you either get it or you don't); Simon gets it.

Heat: 0/5.

Notes

Clove-studded onion technique: stab the cloves into the cut sides of a halved onion (rather than free in the pot) — easier to fish out later. But chopped + sieved works fine.
Breadcrumbs: use miolo de pão branco amanhecido (stale white sandwich bread, crusts off), pulsed fresh. Farinha de rosca (dried breadcrumb) won't have the right texture.
Cream choice: creme de leite fresco gives more body; mascarpone gives more richness. Either works.
Make-ahead: can be made up to 3 days ahead. Reheat gently on hob or microwave on medium for 3 min, stirring; add a splash of milk if thickened.
Why no freezing: breadcrumb sauces split badly on thawing. Make fresh.
Pairing: roast chicken, roast turkey, roast goose. Not beef or lamb. Goes with potato gravy on the same plate; doesn't fight it.