Saving school II - use only what you need

Lately I have been a bit obsessed with cooking sauce. Sauce/gravy/jus, whatever you wanna call it. Yesterday I bought a piece of meat I hadn't cooked before, and when it was done in the pan, I added some cream, some milk, some spices and stock and stirred it vigorously. Good thing, since the meat turned out to be a bit chewy.

Anyway, after a while of stirring and cooking I was thinking about what my friend told me. He usually adds a bit of sherry. Since I'm not an 80-year-old woman I didn't have sherry at home, so I added a bit of that cognac I got like three years ago from a friend who had been to Mexico or wherever he was (sorry just checked, it was Greek Metaxa), and when adding it I switched off the stove. Which meant that the cooking process stopped and the alcohol was not reduced.

A win-win in my world. Why cook off the alcohol? That's what giving it the taste if you ask me. Plus the fact that I saved on electricity. That's how I cook eggs btw, I don't crazy-cook them, I gently boil them and switch off the heat before they're done, 'cause the aftercook anyway.

Just as I don't open the fridge door fully, I just open it a bit, take out what I want, not letting the cool out. So even if I don't want to admit it, I may have gotten this instilled in me by my father. He used to put the heating down in the house, while my mother used to increase it when he didn't pay attention. Good thing I live alone.

And the sauce/gravy/jus tasted just delish! That subtle hint of Metaxa took it to a new level as they say in Masterchef.