Christmas is the time to dress meals up a little, transform a dish with a fancy sauce that you wouldn't bother to make at any other time. Joanna Farrow's Sauce offers more than 100 different sweet and savoury sauce recipes that will make all the difference. Step-by-step recipes guide the cook through the sauce-making process to ensure perfect results every time. Tips and techniques for choosing ingredients and equipment are also included.

Jenny's ginger and orange sauce, which only takes ten minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook, offers a great way of adding a piquant touch to lamb steaks, chicken or duck breasts and perfect for Christmas.

YOU WILL NEED: 25g (1oz) piece of root ginger - peeled Half bunch spring onions 25g (1oz) butter 1 stick celery - chopped 2 tbspns plain flour 450ml (pt) chicken or vegetable stock Finely grated rind and juice of one orange Several sprigs of thyme 1 tbspns sherry Salt and pepper METHOD: Finely shred the ginger.

Trim the spring onions and finely chop, keeping the white and green parts separate.

Melt the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan until bubbling.

Add the celery and white parts of the spring reheat onions and fry gently for three minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring for two minutes until golden.

Remove from the heat and gradually blend into the stock.

Return to the heat and add the orange rind and juice and thyme sprigs.

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer very gently, partially covered with a lid, for 30 minutes.

Complete the sauce by straining through a sieve into a clean pan, pressing the mixture to extract the juices, Add the sherry, chopped ginger and chopped green of the spring onions, check the seasoning and then reheat to serve with chicken, pork or lamb.

Note: This sauce can be added to the pan half way through cooking the chicken, pork or lamb so that it will take up a little of the meat juices. This will enhance its flavour further.