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This sauce always makes a meal taste special. You can use either an inexpensive wine, or some extra of whatever you’re having with the meal. Try this with the chestnut, sage and red wine loaf.

SERVES 6

425ml (15fl oz) vegetable stock

425ml (15fl oz) red wine

1 bay leaf

a piece of onion

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

a pinch of dried thyme

5 tsp black peppercorns

2–3 parsley stalks

1 tbsp redcurrant jelly

salt and freshly ground black pepper

40g (1½oz) butter, softened

20g (¾oz) plain flour

Put the stock and red wine into a saucepan with the bay leaf, onion, garlic, thyme, peppercorns and parsley stalks and bring to the boil. Let the mixture bubble away for 10–15 minutes so that the amount of liquid reduces to half. Strain into a clean saucepan and mix in the redcurrant jelly and some salt and pepper.

Next make a beurre manié: simply mash half the butter with the flour to make a paste and add this, in small pieces, to the still-warm sauce, mixing well after you’ve added each piece. This is an easy, foolproof way to thicken a sauce.

Put the sauce back over the heat and stir it until it has thickened slightly.

Let the sauce simmer gently for a few minutes to cook the flour. Check the seasoning again and beat the remaining butter into the sauce just before serving to make it look glossy and appetizing.

Tip

If you want to prepare the sauce in advance, after you’ve added the beurre manié and simmered the sauce for a few minutes, take it off the heat and dot the remaining butter over the top of the sauce to prevent a skin forming. When you’re ready to eat, heat the sauce gently and stir the butter in.