Normandy sauce

Normandy sauce combines cider, mushrooms and cream, reduced together in 15 minutes. It goes well over chicken breast, an escalope, pork tenderloin or white fish. Our version swaps the thick cream for light cream and relies on the reduced cider for flavour.

Preparation: 10 min  |  Cooking: 15 min  |  Servings: 4  |  Difficulty: Easy

Approximate nutritional values per serving: 125 kcal · 3 g protein · 4 g carbohydrate · 8 g fat

Ingredients

• 250 g button mushrooms
• 1 shallot
• 10 g butter
• 200 ml dry cider
• 150 ml light cream
• 1 tsp mustard
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Slice the mushrooms and finely chop the shallot.
2. Fry them in the butter for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have released their water.
3. Pour in the cider and reduce by half over a high heat, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the light cream and the mustard, let it thicken for 3 to 4 minutes over a low heat, then season with salt and pepper.

Nutritional highlights

Dry cider is low in calories, about 36 kcal per 100 ml according to Ciqual, and reducing it concentrates the apple flavour without adding fat. The light cream binds the sauce with far less fat than a thick crème fraîche. Serve it with pork tenderloin, roast chicken or oven-baked cod.

Variations and substitutions

• With diced apple fried in a pan.
• With a spoonful of Calvados, flambéed at the start.
• With chicken stock instead of cider, for an alcohol-free version.
• With soya cream for a lactose-free version.

Storage and making ahead

Keeps for 2 days in the fridge; reheat gently over a low heat, adding a little stock.

💡 Good to know

Really do reduce the cider by half before adding the cream: that is what evaporates the alcohol and gives the sauce its apple flavour.

Read more

Discover more gluten-free recipes.

The ingredients in this recipe: button mushrooms · shallot · butter · cream · mustard.

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