Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce

Still cooking a lot with lemons. Sometimes you need a nice sauce to boost the flavor of your entree, especially if you just picked up a rotisserie chicken on your way home. Make sure the chicken is hot, spoon some of this sauce over each portion and you will impress your family and friends. They'll never know that it's easy.

I posted this recipe soon after I started blogging, a good long time ago, and it's still a great sauce to put over chicken, fish, or just a plate of cauliflower rice. Do use a fresh lemon so that the zest has lots of lemon oil. I ran through the rain and grabbed one from my Meyer Lemon shrub, but one recently  purchased from the market or farmer's market - Eureka or Meyer are both great - is fine.

The key thing to remember is to add the liquid all at once, then stir vigorously until it thickens, which doesn't take long. You might think that this way there will be lots of lumps, but if you cook the flour mixture a minute and then stir, stir, stir once the liquid goes in, the flour will mix with the liquid and you'll get a great sauce. If you have more lemon zest than called for, just throw it in...just gets you a more lemony flavor which is delicious. You can skip the capers if you don't care for capers, but I think they add more zing. I used brown mushrooms because they have more flavor, but regular white mushrooms are fine. Fresh parsley is a very good idea.

Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce

an Elle crafted recipe

2 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
1 cup prepared mushrooms (wiped clean, sliced)
1 clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons wheat flour or potato flour
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
juice of one lemon (zest the lemon first)

Pepper to taste

zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the prepared mushrooms, stir to coat with the oil, and saute' 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, stir, and saute' 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the wheat flour or potato flour, stir to combine with mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook for another minute, stirring frequently.

In a measuring cup mix together the broth and lemon juice. Add to the mushroom mixture all at once, stirring constantly, and continue to stir until mixture thickens. You can save about 2 tablespoons of the broth mixture and add some at the end to adjust the thickness to what you prefer. Add pepper to taste.

Add the lemon zest, capers, and Italian parsley. Stir to combine. Taste and add salt and/or pepper if needed. (I avoid adding salt and often by now you will see that it isn't needed, but now is the time to add it if you find you do need to.)

If holding the sauce while you cook what it will garnish, cover sauce with plastic wrap laid right on top of and touching the sauce. Cover the pot. Re-heat (removing the plastic wrap first), if needed, using low heat.

Makes enough to sauce 4 servings.

Lemon Caper Sauce for Pork

Now that it is citrus season I'm looking for ways to include lemon, lime, orange and tangerine flavors in my cooking and baking. Add garlic and capers and you really wow your taste buds!

Although you can use this sauce on chicken, turkey (dark meat preferred for both), an assertive fish like salmon, or veal, I chose to use this sauce on some pork chops that I first marinated in buttermilk for an hour. I tried coating the buttermilk slathered chops with a seasoned flour mixture for cooking, but the coating, once browned, slid right off the chops so I don't recommend that method.

If you really must have breading, you could blot the chops, coat with flour, coat with beaten egg, coat with panko or bread crumbs and then let it set for 10 minutes before sauteing. If you use a gluten free flour like potato flour and then some breadcrumbs from a gluten free bread you could easily make this gluten free chops. Potato flour can thicken the sauce instead of the wheat flour, too.

The Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce uses olive oil but no butter or other fat. It is absolutely delicious with a strong lemon flavor, a bit of zip from the garlic, lots of zing from the lemon zest and capers, and the mellowness of the mushrooms, too. Altogether wonderful! I cooked it up at least 1/2 hour before I made the chops, covered the finished sauce with plastic wrap laid right on the sauce to prevent a skin from forming, then covered the pot to keep it warm. The sauce part is silky and you can adjust the thickness to your taste by adding the last of the broth once the sauce has thickened...just a teaspoon more broth can thin it out a fair amount.

Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce

an Elle crafted recipe

2 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
1 cup prepared mushrooms (wiped clean, sliced)
1 clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons wheat flour or potato flour
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
juice of one lemon (zest the lemon first)

Pepper to taste

zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the prepared mushrooms, stir to coat with the oil, and saute' 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, stir, and saute' 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the wheat flour or potato flour, stir to combine with mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook for another minute, stirring frequently.

In a measuring cup mix together the broth and lemon juice. Add to the mushroom mixture all at once, stirring constantly, and continue to stir until mixture thickens. You can save about 2 tablespoons of the broth mixture and add some at the end to adjust the thickness to what you prefer. Add pepper to taste.

Add the lemon zest, capers, and Italian parsley. Stir to combine. Taste and add salt and/or pepper if needed. (I avoid adding salt and often by now you will see that it isn't needed, but now is the time to add it if you find you do need to.)

If holding the sauce while you cook what it will garnish, cover sauce with plastic wrap laid right on top of and touching the sauce. Cover the pot. Re-heat (removing the plastic wrap first), if needed, using low heat.

Makes enough to sauce 4 servings.