I don't know whether I love bread sauce because it's genuinely delicious, or because it's so infused with childhood memories. If it hadn't been a part of our family Christmas, perhaps, like most Australians I describe it to, I'd grimace at the idea of a sauce made of leftover bread and milk.
So, if the idea alone turns you off, trust me - and trust 80 generations of Britons - because bread sauce has been a means to transform stale loaves into silky, savoury hugs since medieval times.
When my grandmother and her companion* "Uncle" Gordon would arrive on Christmas morning, my brother and I would be sent out to their car to help them carry the goodies to the house. There would be gifts, Marks & Spencer Christmas crackers, fruit jellies and a cooking pot full of bread sauce. Grandma and Uncle Gordon would bicker all the way into the kitchen and keep bickering until the whisky (Gordon) and the sugar-sweetened wine (Grandma) had been poured.
I won't describe Grandma's fruit jellies because she's dead and definitely the haunting kind, but I can safely say that her bread sauce was perfect. This recipe is based on my memory of hers.
*A friendship that evaded classification for over 60 years.
You don't need to wait for Christmas. I'll plan a roast chicken dinner as an excuse for the bread sauce. Hell, you don't even need the chicken. I eat bowls of the stuff with nothing but a puddle of gravy in the middle. Sauce with more sauce... mmmmmm.
The ingredient ratios may need some tweaking because different types of bread will thicken the sauce to different degrees. You're looking for a thick porridge consistency, so feel free to add more milk if yours feels too clumpy. Likewise with the seasoning - trust your tastebuds over my recipe.
Ingredients
150g crust-free stale white bread torn into thumb-sized pieces
1 litre milk
1 whole onion, peeled
18 whole cloves (less if you don't love cloves)
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1/4 nutmeg grated
Method
Stud your onion with the whole cloves and halve it. It's not strictly necessary to make a smiley face with the cloves, but why not.
Simmer the studded onion halves and bay leaves in the milk for 20 minutes, keeping an attentive eye on it so it doesn't bubble over. Turn off the heat and let the flavours infuse for another 20 minutes.
Add the stale bread, return the pan to a low heat and let the mixture simmer gently, stirring until the bread has broken down and the sauce has reached a porridge-like consistency. Stir in the grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.
If you like, you can remove the onion and bay leaves before serving.
That's it. Serve with roast chicken, turkey, ham - or eat it straight out of the pot with a spoon.
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