Turkey Gastrique!!

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So it was Passover, and I decided to make Turkey. My Turkey is just freaking amazing if I do say so myself. Anyhow, I was not in the mood for traditional cranberry sauce (yea I make that great too) so I decided on a Gastrique. I love Gastriques, and they are so simple to make. Gastriques are versatile, and you can customize them any way you want as long as you remember a few basic techniques. Google Gastrique and you will end up with a plethora of recipes. Gastriques and the variations like most thing are only limited to your imagination. So this is my suggestion..... read my simple recipe and make it yours by swapping out the vinegar, spices, herbs, wine, stock, berries, and creating something that fits your dish. Maybe use juice instead of stock (might need to reduce sugar), or use some of the spices and herbs you used in your original recipe. 

 Ingredients
1 cup of Sugar
1/4 cup of Water
1 cup of Red-Wine-Vinegar
1/4 cup of wine (I used a Cab)
1/2 tsp of Salt or to taste
A few peppercorns
1/3 cup of Cranberries
2/3 cups of Mixed Berries (Black, Blue, and Raspberries)
A few Sprigs of Thyme and Sage
1/2 of a cup of the Filtered Purge from the SV-Processed Turkey


 Toss the Sugar and Water in a saucepan on medium-high heat until the sugar granules dissolve and bubbles start to form. As the sugar begins to caramelize you need to decide when to stop and add vinegar. Gastriques intensity and flavors are controlled by the shade of the caramelization: Darker = more intense Light means = Less intense. Depending on what you are serving you will have to decide how intense you want the Gastrique. For Beef I would caramelize much darker. For Turkey something in between. So at this stage, I added Thyme and Sage.
Once you have decided on the caramelization shade add the vinegar. The sugar will harden, but this normal so keep cooking until it goes back to the liquid state. 



After you added the vinegar and returned the mixture to a liquid state, you can start adding other things. I added the thyme and sage in the beginning so to give it a headstart. Anyhow add the wine, berries, peppercorns, and salt. 
  


 After the berries have reduced and softened a bit add the filtered purge. Make sure to use a tool to smash the berries so they will release all their flavors and natural sugars.

 Give it a taste and adjust to your liking. In my world, there are no rules so go crazy and add what you want. If you like to finish with butter. 


 Filter everything through a sieve. At this point, you can put it back into a clean saucepan and add some fresh berries. Once the berries have heated through and your happy serve. 

I did not want any fresh berries in mine. I wanted a clean filtered sauce. 







Options.........only limited to your imagination.
    I am not saying I won't write down more recipes shortly, but I find, Gastriques easy to create. With just a few changes one can create just about any flavor combination. So consider the following.........
  • Try different kinds of vinegar
  • Try Flavored and infused kinds of vinegar
  • Wines, Brandies, Vermouth, Flavored Alcohols, etc
  • Try different kinds of fruit too..... not just berries but melons also. Zests or a combination of zest and fruits. 
  • If you want to do crazy add some chilis like Habanero, or Chipotle to add a little smoke. 
  • Just go crazy.........

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