Here’s the start of a great sauce. It starts with bones.
Deglaze the roasting pan and scrape, scrape, scrape all the bits off. I used sherry today, which gives a nice strong taste. Reduce until it’s almost a syrup.
Next goes in my gorgeous homemade stock – look at that gelatinous loveliness. Bring it to the boil, add some aromatics (a bay leaf, about five peppercorns and a sprig of thyme), and reduce it right down. When it’s nice and thick, pass it through a sieve, and you’ve got an amazing chicken sauce.
One last thing: don’t add salt to your sauce while it reduces. It becomes naturally saltier as it reduces, so add salt at the end if it needs it.