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Basic Crab Pan Sauce

Editor's note: Use this pan sauce to flavor Chef John Besh's Busters and Grits.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced fennel bulb
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
Leaves from 1 sprig fresh tarragon
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup dry vermouth

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    1. Heat the oil in a small skillet over moderate heat. Add the onions, garlic, fennel, and pepper flakes. Cook the vegetables, stirring often, for 3 minutes.

    Step 2

    2. Add the thyme, tarragon, bay leaf, cream, vermouth, and stock, increase the heat to high, and reduce the sauce by half, 10 to 12 minutes. Strain sauce.

Reprinted with permission from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh., © September 2009 Andrews McMeel Publishing
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