Sauce Nantua Recipes

SAUCE NANTUA

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet, and add the shrimp in their shells. Cook, shaking the skillet and stirring, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Cognac, and remove from the heat.
• Heat another tablespoon of butter in another skillet, and add the shallots, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf and thyme.
• Add the wine, broth, parsley sprigs, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, cayenne, salt, pepper and veloute. Let simmer about 30 minutes. Add the cooked shrimp in their shells and liquid.
• Pour the mixture into the container of a food processor or electric blender and process until shrimp are coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess.
• Pour the mixture into a food mill or colander and crush to extract as much liquid as possible from the shells and solids. There should be about 1 1/2 cups. Discard the solids.
• Return the mixture to a souce-pan and add the cream. Cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter.

CREPES MARYLAND WITH SAUCE NANTUA

Steps:

• Prepare the crepes according to any standard recipe. Set aside.
• If the crab meat is canned, it may be wet. Wrap it in cheesecloth, and squeeze gently to extract excess liquid. Do not break up the lumps.
• Heat the fish veloute, and stir in the cream, tarragon and cayenne. Gently fold in the crab meat.
• Lay out crepes on a flat surface, and add a twelfth of the crab mixture to each. Fold the crepes over to enclose the filling.
• Spoon an equal amount of the hot sauce onto each of four plates, leaving about 1/2 cup of sauce. Put three crepes on each plate, and spoon a little of the remaining sauce over each crepe and serve.

FISH MOUSSELINE WITH SAUCE NANTUA

Steps:

• For the sauce: Heat the butter over low heat. Saute the carrots and onions for 2 minutes. Chop the shrimp, add them, turn up the heat and fry until they turn bright red, about 3 minutes. Flame with the Cognac. Add the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add the tomato paste, cayenne, paprika, bay leaf and thyme and cook for 30 minutes. Stir in the cream and let bubble a further 10 minutes. Pull out the bay leaf and thyme and blitz the mixture in the food processor. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Bring the sauce back to a boil in a saucepan, reducing to sauce consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the fish: Put the fish, cream and egg in a food processor and whiz just a few seconds to form a paste. Stir in the parsley, salt and pepper and chill for 30 minutes.
• Before serving, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Butter 6 ramekins (or a terrine) and put a round of parchment in the bottom of each. Fill the ramekins with the fish mixture. Set them in a baking dish and pour boiling water around to come halfway up the sides. Bake until just set, about 20 minutes.
• Unmold onto warm serving plates. Spoon the sauce over the top, and serve hot.