Steak Sauce Base
Ingredients
1 small onion, roughly, chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, halved
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups red wine
4 cups beef broth
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2 packages unflavored powdered gelatin (5 teaspoons)
Instructions
1. Process onion, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic in food processor into 1⁄8-inch pieces, 10 to 12 one-second pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
2. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until simmering; add beef and tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until beef is well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add vegetable mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until any released moisture has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Add wine and bring to simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add beef broth, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns; bring to boil. Reduce heat and gently boil, occasionally scraping bottom and sides of pot, skimming fat from surface, until reduced to 2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan, pressing on solids with rubber spatula to extra as much liquid as possible (you should have about 1 cup stock). Sprinkle gelatin over stock and stir to dissolve. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring stock to boil. Gently boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1⁄2 cup, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. (Leftovers can be frozen for up to a month.)
Comments
This recipe is from the Cook’s Illustrated 2011 Annual and I believe it was described as being a quick cheat for demi glace. I doubled the recipe, since I don’t like making (recipes that call for partial packages of things, in this case, the 8 ounces of ground beef. That means that, for a pound of ground beef, a bottle of wine, and two boxes of beef broth, I was left with ONE cup of this stuff. One. It also took significantly longer to do all the reducing due to the increased volume.
The verdict? So not worth it.
Shown here in Pan-Seared Steaks with Herb Sauce and Spaghetti al Limone.
Cook’s Illustrated 2011