Bordelaise Sauce
The modern interpretation is simpler than its original French grandfather, but just as delicious on grilled or sautéed beef and steaks.
Bordelaise Sauce is one of those sauces that scare cooks because they think its a complicated French preparation that requires ingredients they don’t have or can’t find and that would take a day or more to prepare. A hundred years ago, they’d be right. Classic Bordelaise was made from beef bone marrow and Demi-Glace. Demi-Glace was complicated because it was made with one of the French Mother Sauces, Espagnole Sauce, which in an of itself was a complex concoction that did literally take all day.
Williams Sonoma Demi-Glace
Fear not, however, modern cooks have figured out how to approximate the Bordelaise Sauce without nearly so much work. It helps to have a commercially prepared demi-glace, like this one from Williams-Sonoma. But be forewarned; because it is handmade, it is expensive to procure. A reasonably good substitute is a product more easily found on your grocer’s shelves, Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef Base.
Bordelaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter, plus 2 tbsp
- 1 small shallot, finely minced
- 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup beef stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
- 2 tbsp veal demi-glace (like, Williams-Sonoma or substitute Better Than Bouillon Roast Beef Base)
- 1/4 tsp powdered thyme
- 7-8 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
- fine sea salt to taste
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter and sauté the shallots until they begin to pick up a little caramelized color, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté another minute.
- Stir in the flour and allow it to thoroughly combine with the shallots, garlic and butter, and cook a bit until slightly browned.
- Whisk in one cup of dry red wine and de-glaze the pan, scraping up the crusty brown bits. Whisk until all is well blended and the sauce begins to thicken.
- Add the beef stock, thyme and pepper, stir to combine and bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Stir in the demi-glace until it has melted into the sauce.
- Allow the sauce to gently simmer until it is reduce by half
- Strain out the shallots or use an immersion blender so the sauce is smooth
- Whisk in the last 2 tbsp of butter. The sauce is now ready to use.
Notes
- Test the sauce for salt only after it has finished reducing; you may not need it.
- If the sauce is not thick enough to your liking, make a slurry of 3 tbsp all purpose flour and 3 oz warm tap water, thoroughly mixed, then add a little at a time to the sauce while it is simmering. Bring back to a simmer and stir for 1 minute while the sauce thickens. Add more if further thickening is desired.
