photo from LisaisCooking
Bordelaise Sauce—The impossible made possible
Filet Mignon is great but with Bordelaise Sauce it becomes transcendent. Bordelaise is silky, luscious, rich, it has depth of flavor without being heavy. Classically French for good reason, and like many worthy French classics it’s terribly time consuming, terribly difficult, and requires ingredients that are virtually impossible to find. It’s a reason you go to 3 star French restaurants.
Wanting Bordelaise, but not wanting to fly to France, I looked at recipes. Whoa, it takes 26 hours to make. It requires 10 pounds of veal bones. Roast the bones for 2 hours. Cook a stock for 24 hours. Make another sauce, Espagnole. Meanwhile reduce red wine and shallots. Then make the sauce with the red wine reduction, the 26 hour veal stock, and the Espagnole sauce. About 27 hours. Too much time, too much work. I need to find an better way.
Bordelaise made simple and in Omaha: Demi-Glace at Wohlner’s is the secret. With Demi-Glace you can fast forward 26.5 hours; you go to the last steps which take about 3o minutes, most of which can be done ahead of time. 
photo at Angela’s Food Love
Classic French Demi-Glace: a 30 hour reduction
Frank’s Fast Forward Bordelaise—saves you 26 to 30 hours
Makes about 2 cups 8 servings (note: recipe can be cut in half)
- 2 1/2 cups dry red wine
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus additional as needed
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 ounces Demi-Glaze Gold Classic French Demi-glace dissolved in 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
- Salt
- 2 teaspoons chopped flat leaf parsley
- Pinch of cayenne pepper-optional
Methods/steps
- In a saucepan, combine the wine, shallots, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced to about 2/3 cup. Remove thyme and bay leaf. If desired, strain out shallots and return the red wine reduction to the saucepan.
- Whisk in the demi-glace and gently simmer the sauce for 10 minutes. These first 2 steps can be done ahead of time.
- Place the pan over low heat to warm , whisk in the lemon juice and butter, and continue whisking until the butter is melted then remove from heat and stir in minced parsley . Season the sauce to taste with salt, additional pepper. Serve sauce warm but do not allow to boil once you add the butter.
Note: You can cut the recipe in half. If so, use only half of the Demi-Glace Gold and 4 oz. of warm water. Use a dry spoon when removing 1/2 the Demi-Glace Gold from the package, then place the remaining Demi-Glace Gold in a small zip lock bag and refrigerate for up to a couple months.
Bordelaise is classically served with Cote du Boeuf(3”prime rib cooked as steak)
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February 11th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
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