Sambal Cream Sauce

So a couple years back I bought a cookbook at Chapters - mostly because it was dirt cheap, partly because it had a recipe with lychee nuts in it. The book's called "Try This and Marry Me" by Raphaele Vidaling. Here's a sampling of some of the recipe names: Sea urchins with basil mousse, Sesame seed and pistachio ice cream, and cucumber layered with mint-infused mousse. Well, I decided to check in there for some ducky goodness and I got two hits. The first one is Duck Breasts with Prunes and Coffee Sauce. The second is Breast Filet of Duck with Balsamic Caramel. Yummy eh? Well the first one I think I can swing quite easily. The second will be more difficult. One of the ingredients is creme fraiche which, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, is not carried normally by any of the major grocery chains in town. Sweet, eh? So, I have a few options. Either I luck out and find it in town, I check in Calgary the next time I'm there or I substitute with half sour cream and half whipping cream.
For dinner tonight I did what I said and made a cream sauce. I emulated one actually from The RedStone Grill. One of their appetizer items is a Sambal Cream sauce with pasta and shrimp. The cookbook that my sister-in-law gave me had Julia Child's Blanc Beurre recipe. I made it into a cream sauce (with a touch of garlic added) and then I added a bit of sambal. When I tasted it, it was fantastic. Way better than the RedStone recipe. Unfortunately I let it sit too long before I served it since I hadn't cooked the shrimp yet (stupid mistake). So it thickened and then all the wrong flavours came out.
Here's the recipe I used:
Sambal Cream Sauce
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp chives
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp dry white wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
bit of pepper

Boil the above until there's about 1 1/2 tbsp of liquid left. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 c. half and half or heavy cream. Whisk! Put over medium-low heat and simmer (whisking all the while) until thickened. Whisk in 1/8 tsp. sambal oleak. Serve right away over shrimp and pasta.

Anyway, this is post 2 today so I'd better keep it short.

Mrs. Vander Leek ;)