Sage and ale sauce - perfect for game birds or poultry

Sometimes a meal or, in this case, a sauce is created almost by accident. I was planning on making a cider sauce to go with a roast guinea fowl, however, it turned out there was no cider in the cupboard, while there was some fresh sage that needed to be used.

The creation was a delicious sauce that I think would work well with any game bird, or poultry and served almost as a gravy. The flavours are drawn from the fats and juices of the bird in the roasting tin, so this is essential for the sauce to pay off.

Ingredients

Fats and juices from a roasted bird
1 tbsp of plain flour
150ml water
250ml pale ale
sprig of sage
half a small onion
1/2 tsp salt
level tbsp of red currant jelly

Method

1. After roasting a bird and possibly potatoes in a tin there will be nice crispy bits, fats and juices in the pan. Drain the bird of all the juices into the pan and then put it on a medium heat.
2. Add the flour and mix into the pan to make a paste and then add the finely chopped onion.
3. With the pan sizzling add the water and stir strongly for a minute.
4. Now add the beer and sage leaves.
5. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, making sure all the crispy bits are scrapped off the bottom of the pan.
6. Add salt to taste and then before serving melt and stir in the red currant jelly.

Serve with the meat and crispy roast potatoes.

More red currant jelly may be required if you use a bitter beer in this recipe.