Irish Parsley Sauce

JanuaryBride's Note:

Per www.greatfood.ie, "Parsley sauce - white sauce with freshly chopped parsley – is a staple of Irish cooking. We eat it with bacon and cabbage, it helps to moisten the meat."

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 2 ounces parsley, chopped finely
• 1 egg yolk (optional)
• 2 dashes hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan (non-stick is easier). Don't let it sizzle.
2. Add the flour, salt, and white pepper (black pepper at a push, but you'll be able to see black specks in the sauce).
3. Stir, over gentle heat, with a wooden spoon for a few minutes to let the flour cook and to amalgamate everything. If you don't cook it long enough at this stage, the sauce will taste floury.
4. Add a little milk to the flour and butter mix (you have now made a roux) and stir again. When it is amalgamated, add a little more milk and mix again. Add more milk, little by little, until you have a thickish creamy sauce. Cook the sauce for 5 minutes over gentle heat, stirring to stop it sticking. If you get lumps, press them with the wooden spoon against the side of the pan to mash them. If you need to, use a whisk, but be careful not to scratch a non-stick pan. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
5. For a richer sauce, add a little hot sauce to a raw egg yolk in a cup, mix well, then reintroduce into the main sauce.
6. Add the parsley, stir and serve immediately.

Reviews

[Chef #570804 Halifax Liz]

I don't have to make this before rating because my mum made this sauce often. We used to live in Ireland but we served it over mashed potatoes or, better still, scoop a hole in a mound of potatoes and fill it with the parsley sauce. Not kind to the waistline but comfort food at its best. She did not use an egg yolk.