Skip to main content

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
Read More
The clams’ natural briny sweetness serves as a surprising foil for the tender fritter batter—just be sure to pull off the tough outer coating of the siphon.
Originally called omelette à la neige (snow omelet) in reference to the fluffy snow-like appearance of the meringue, île flottante (floating island) has a lengthy history that dates back to the 17th century.
Every sauce needs a few secrets. Ours is smoky, sweet, and savory—use it for burgers, fries, tenders, and more.
This classic 15-minute sauce is your secret weapon for homemade mac and cheese, chowder, lasagna, and more.
This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!
Rather than breaded and fried as you might expect croquettes to be, these are something more akin to a seared chicken salad patty.
Salmoriglio is a Mediterranean sauce with herbs, garlic, and olive oil. In this version, kelp is used as the base of the sauce.
Kewpie Mayonnaise is the ultimate secret ingredient to creating a perfect oven-baked battered-and-fried crunch without a deep fryer.