Monday’s are really busy for me at the restaurant.  Since we are closed for lunch service over the weekend, I start from scratch on Monday mornings and I have a lot of prep for both my fish and sauté stations.  I barely have enough time to finish all of my sets before lunch service starts at 11:30am.  So I really don’t have time to focus on creating elaborate specials.  After I get in and set up my station, I go and search the walk-in to see if there is anything that I can use to create a special.  Fortunately, for me today, the executive chef prepared a fish special and so all I needed to prep was the chef special

We make all of our own pastas at the restaurant from scratch and so in the freezer I found a sheet tray of wild mushroom ravioli.  Now, all I needed to come up with was a quick sauce. My special for today was, Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Madeira Cream Sauce, Sautéed Baby Shitake Mushrooms, Arugula Salad dressed with Lemon Vinaigrette and White Truffle Oil.

 

 

Making a cream sauce is an incredibly easy sauce to make.  You start with a base of sautéed onions and garlic and/or roasted garlic.  Deglaze with either chicken stock, brandy, Madeira, etc…whatever flavor you would like to impart in the sauce.  You can then add additional flavorings such as roasted red peppers if you wanted to make a red pepper cream sauce or tomatoes, saffron, or sage—the list is endless.  Add heavy cream to the mix, reduce to the desired consistency, season with salt and pepper to taste and blend together in a blender.   You end up with a rich flavorful sauce that took you minutes to prepare (not including the time to reduce on the stove) and seconds to blend.  

To finish the dish, you can add roasted or sautéed vegetables, or grilled chicken.  Garnish with some colorful greens dressed in a tangy vinaigrette for heightened flavor and texture.  And you end up with a delicious dish that was very easy to make.