Champagne Sauce for Ham

A short reduction sauce built on a brown sauce base, meant to be spooned over baked or boiled ham. The whole thing takes ten minutes once the brown sauce exists.

• Brown sauceThe base is not specified; in books of this kind it is usually a browned roux moistened with brown stock and simmered down, though a demi-glace would serve. A half cupful is 4 fl oz. Good jarred demi-glace or a reduced beef stock thickened lightly with roux will stand in.
• American champagneDomestic sparkling wine, often sweeter and coarser than the imported French bottle. Any dry-to-off-dry sparkling white works; the bubbles are lost in the boil, so a still white wine is an honest substitute, as the recipe itself allows.
• Balance of wine to sauceTwo parts wine to one part brown sauce is a great deal of liquid. The recipe asks only that it be brought to a boil and strained; if you want it to coat ham rather than run off it, you will need to reduce it further than the text directs.
• The clovesThree whole cloves in a cup of liquid is assertive after even a few minutes' boiling. Add them at the start, taste as it reduces, and lift them out early if the flavour dominates.
• SugarA teaspoonful is there to round out acidic wine, not to sweeten. With a modern dry sparkling wine you may want slightly more; with an off-dry one, less or none.
• StrainingStrain through a fine sieve at the end, as directed, to catch the cloves and any skin from the reduction. Serve warm.
• YieldAbout 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cupfuls as written, less if you reduce it further.