Please explain...

[ILoveAFullFridge]

...bread sauce.

I have lived in England for nearly half a century (WTAF!) and I don't think I have ever seen or tasted it.

[NearTheWindmill]

I'm afraid I buy Ocean Spray Cranberry sauce, tip it in a saucepan and warm it through with a slurp of port and a dash of orange juice. 1/4 the price of the luxury supermarket stuff, tastes as good and nobody has ever noticed.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes]

I didn't know you could get bread sauce in a packet and never had it in a restaurant, only ever had my mum's homemade, she brings it to us as her share of helping with the Christmas meal. Only her and DDad eat it though.

[Roussette]

Bread sauce is food of the gods if made properly.

WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes... I have fresh cranberries in the fridge. Do you make your own cranberry sauce? If so, any tips gratefully received! I've googled it and there's conflicting ways of making it so the cranberries are just sat there staring at me...

[LondonMother]

Mmmm... For years I've tried making omelettes as they sound as if they should be nice. I love scrambled eggs, tortilla and all other forms of egg dishes. Omelettes, however, leave me cold. My family tell me I make lovely omelettes, so I've had to conclude that it's me - I just don't like them.

[LondonMother]

Delia's recipe for cranberry and orange relish is vg. Includes port, cinnamon, ginger and posibly cloves, iirc. Very easy. She says to chop the cranberries. I don't bother, always turns out well.

[cozietoesie]

Roussette

The quick version is just some cranberries in a pot with some freshly squeezed orange juice, something sweet like sugar, and then a slow but fairly short simmer. Taste it to judge and add spices/booze or not as you feels right for you.

[cozietoesie]

I don't chop the cranberries either. No need in my book - the occasional stir will sort things fine.

[StarlightMcKingsThree]

Essential in a turkey sandwich!

[Roussette]

Thanks London and Cozie... I will give it a bash. Can I make it now for xmas day and just keep in the fridge? (have soooo much to do and I'm still working so anything I can do in advance helps)

[WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes]

I use this recipe for cranberry sauce, it has a touch of ginger but not spices. caramelised cranberry relish. I only use a very small amount of ginger and no port as we don't have it, I use a splash of red wine or sherry.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes]

This one keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks according to the magazine (I have a torn out page).

[ILoveAFullFridge]

Bread sauce ingredients make it sound a lot more interesting. We're having lamb with a fruity stuffing - do you think bread sauce would go with it?

Tricky, I find, to achieve dairy-free creaminess without making the sauce oily. A lot of recipes add extra marg in place of cream, but I usually use cornflour instead.

[Roussette]

Oooh thank you WhoKnowsWhere... that looks simple and just right and I think there's a bottle of port lurking somewhere in the back of the cupboard.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes]

Right, I've just made the cranberry relish. I made half the amount in that recipe and it made one full Bonne Maman jam jar. Yum.

[NorbertDentressangle]

I think bread sauce was invented with the sole purpose of making my brother dry heave at the mere sight of it.

Taunting him with it was one of the highlights of my Christmas as a child (evil sis that I am)

[hallowisitmeyourelookingfor]

DP nearly pissed his pants quite literally about 2 days ago when we were watching someone on telly make bread sauce (yep, that's how we roll on a Wednesday night) and I was in disgusted shock that it contains actual real life bread I've never had it before, it looks like a bowl of sick. I will never be having it future either.
I then started ranting and raving, 'how am I supposed to know, you get things like mince pies and they don't have mince in them' only for him to guffaw loudly and repeat it's minceMEAT over and over to me. Well to be fair to myself, they don't contain meat either do they? Still about that one.

[DameDeepRedBetty]

A friend's mum gave us a very simple cheat's bread sauce.

Chop an onion in half. Place together with a handful of cloves, a bay leaf and blade of mace in the bottom of a fairly large ovenproof lidded pot. Blitz some day old white bread, half fill the pot with the crumbs. Pour on some milk to just cover. Put the lid on, and place on a baking tray in oven with the roasting chicken or turkey for the last hour of cooking time.

I put it on a baking tray as the milk sometimes boils over and it's easier to clean a baking tray than the bottom of the oven.

It will have a brown crust on top but beneath will be a perfect yumptious bread sauce, no lumps or chewy bits!

No stirring - what's not to like?

[Roussette]

I've made it too WhoKnowsWhere and I have to say it is delicious! I didn't have root ginger, so just added a smidge of dried ginger (and a good glug of port) Yum!

[WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes]

[ILoveAFullFridge]

I bunged all the ingredients in a tub, using Oatly instead of milk and a tablespoonful of mayo instead of butter and cream, and left it in the fridge for 24h. Today I removed the onion, cloves, bayleaf, peppercorns, and liquidised the lot (I had used a fresh bagel as had no stale bread).

Yes, it looks like a cross between puke and baby food, but it tastes gorgeous. I shall reheat it in the oven on Xmas Day.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Bread sauce is gorgeous.

I use onion, milk, peppercorn and cloves then heat and leave it slowly simmering.
Overnight to infuse, remove the spices and liquidise the cooked soft onion into the milk.
I have some fresh naice bread slices in the freezer to use up.
Add some butter and fresh nutmeg et voila.

I haven't used bay leaves though,

[ancientbuchanan]

By tradition only with poultry, bread sauce. I've done Delia (never fails), the chef variant( ok so long as I remember to take it out in time) and my mother's. If you make it before hand, it is prob best to microwave to reheat, as it sets like concrete and you have to stir more milk in otherwise.

Along with mincemeat ( which used indeed to have meat in it, so ha to your oh, hello), one of the relatively few mediaeval dishes that survive.

Like stuffing something to make the meat go further and provide a contrast to the other more demanding flavours. Yes, a subtle taste. But should not be as bland as porridge or wallpaper paste.

[Davros]

We buy M&S bread sauce, it's divine. We stock up at Xmas and put some in the freezer to keep us going for the next few weeks. It's also great with bangers and mash

[LondonMother]

Well, I made bread sauce. I think I could have executed it a bit better but I liked it a lot and both children felt there was something to be said for it. So I think it will become a fixture on our Christmas menu! Thank you, MN.