Green Peppercorn & Mustard sauce

A sauce for all seasons and almost any roast meat, this simple combination of white wine and crème fraiche spiked with mustard and green peppercorns is marvellous with beef, lamb AND pork.

Nici Wickes’ Green Peppercorn & Mustard sauce.It makes a great substitute for gravy.

 

Ingredients (Makes 1 ½ cups)

 

200 mls white wine

50 mls cider vinegar

20 mls water

2 shallots – peeled & sliced

2 Tbsp torn fresh mint

Grind of black pepper

250 grams crème fraiche

1 tsp smooth dijon mustard

2 tsp green peppercorns, drained and gently crushed (jars of brined green peppercorns are found in most supermarkets)

Salt to taste

 

 

How to make Nici Wickes’Green Peppercorn & Mustard sauce

 

1. In a small pot, bring the wine, vinegar and water to a simmer, then add the shallots, torn mint leaves and black pepper. Simmer and reduce the liquid to about ½ cup.
2. Turn off the heat and remove the mint and shallots as they have done their job of flavouring the sauce.
3. Whisk in the crème fraiche, mustard and green peppercorns and return to the heat. Bring to the boil then simmer until it has thickened slightly to the consistency of thick, pouring gravy.
4. Taste and add salt to taste (a decent pinch ought to be enough). Serve with beef, lamb or pork. Substitute the mint for dill if you want to serve it with fish or chicken.

 

Nic’s top tip:  Sometimes you may be short on time or short on enough pan-juices to make a decent gravy so having a standby ‘goes with anything sauce’ like this can be handy.