Cream Sauce disaster- please HELP!

[lmenichel]

I don't usually cook with cream but decided to try and make a cream sauce for some boring chicken we were having for dinner tonight. My problem is that the sauce didn't get thick. I thought cream was supposed to make sauces thicker? Am I wrong?

I used about 2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup wine, then added about 1/2 cup whipping cream. I stirred and stirred, nothing happened. Brought to a boil and simmered forever, nothing. Added more cream, nothing. Finally resorted to cornstarch and it thickened right away! I really don't want to use cornstarch or flour next time to thicken it because I don't like the taste, any ideas????? What did I do wrong?? :)

[Cookin4Love]

Cream by itself won't thicken that amount of broth. The best you could hope for with that much liquid is a reduction, which would take quite awhile. If you have a small amount of pan drippings, adding cream will produce a nice sauce. Otherwise, you will have to either cook down the liquid into a reduction or use a flour or cornstarch thickener. Sorry it didn't work out the way you planned. I hate it when that happens. :)

[ctd1103]

To rid the taste of the flour in the cream sauce, add it to your "fat" (i.e. heated olive oil or butter) and let it cook over low heat for a few mins (I stir mine constantly during this process) by cooking the flour you get rid of the pasty-flour taste...... it'll look all clumpy in your pan, but after a few minutes, add a good splash of your liquid and whisk till smooth while continuing to add the rest of your liquid - you'll end up with a beautiful and thick sauce. (I usually add equal flour to the "fat" - most often 2tbls fat to 2tbls flour - I also season with salt and pepper.) I use this method quite a bit to cut down on cream sauces that are high in fat - will use broth as my liquid, then add a few good splashes of fat-free half and half or whole milk to make it creamy. I did this the other night for some boring chix I was cooking, and added a handful of freshly grated parm cheese, rosemary, sauteed onions and mushrooms and artichoke hearts - super yummy! :)

[lmenichel]

Thanks so much to both of you for your help! I'm going to try it again later this week with your suggestsions. Thanks again!!!!!

[Hammster]

Hey Imen, here is another idea.
For that amount of liquid, mix about 2-3 tbsps of flour into a cup of sour cream. Add whatever other seasonings you might like to the sour cream. Tarragon is a good one with chicken. And it goes well with the wine in the sauce. (I'm assuming you used white wine?) (Rosemary would be good if you used red)
Anyway, take about 1/4 cup of the hot liquid and whisk it into the sour cream/flour mixture to temper and thin the sour cream. Then pour the sour cream mixture back into the pot of liquid. Bring the mixture to a bare simmer, DO NOT BOIL OR THE SOUR CREAM WILL BREAK, and let it simmer for a few minutes up to 10 minutes until the raw flour flavor is cooked out and the sauce thickens.
You may have to whisk vigorously at first in case you have any flour lumps when you first pour the sour cream into the liquid. If it's mixed well before pouring there shouldn't be any lumps.

On a side note:
2 1/2 cups of liquid is a lot of liquid to thicken. Maybe you want to try less broth?