Mustard Cream Pan Sauce

Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
¹⁄₂ cup red wine
1 teaspoon brown sugar
¹⁄₂ cup beef broth
¹⁄₄ teaspoon fresh tarragon, minced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons half and half
1 tablespoon whole grain or Dijon mustard

Instructions
1. Once steaks are cooked, transfer them to platter, tent with foil, and pour off excess fat from skillet. Melt butter in empty skillet over medium-low heat. Cook shallot until softened, about 2 minutes.

2. Add wine and sugar to skillet and simmer over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 3 minutes. Add broth and any juices from plate with resting steaks and simmer until liquid is reduced to ¹⁄₃ cup, about 3 minutes.

3. Off heat, whisk in tarragon, cream and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.  Serve sauce with steaks. 

Comments
The 2009 Cook’s Country Annual had a few different pan sauces to go with steak and this one sounded like it would go well with the Nutty Barley Bake I had planned for dinner.  I cooked the sirloin steaks in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 3-4 minutes per side to get medium-rare.  Then I made this sauce in the same skillet, scraping up the fond and getting all of that delicious beef flavor.  I found the pan sauce to be delicious and reminiscent of Béarnaise Sauce thanks to the tarragon.  Making a simple pan sauce like this is a great way to pass the time while your steaks are resting. 

Shown here with Nutty Barley Bake.

Cook’s Country 2009