Sauce - Base 'Steak Diane Demi-Glaze

By Kwasome

**ATK"
This recipe yields a sauce base that is an excellent facsimile of a demi-glace, a very labor- intensive and time-consuming classic French sauce base. Because the sauce base is very concentrated, make sure to use low-sodium chicken and beef broths; otherwise, the base may be unpalatably salty. The sauce base can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to three days."

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 4 tsp tomato paste
• 2 small onions , chopped medium (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1 medium carrot , chopped medium (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 medium cloves garlic , peeled
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 tsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves

Preparation

Step 1

1 Heat oil and tomato paste in Dutch oven over medium-high heat; cook, stirring constantly, until paste begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add onions, carrot, and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is reddish brown, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is well browned, about 3 minutes, adding remaining water when needed to prevent scorching. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add wine and, using a heatproof rubber spatula, scrape up browned bits on bottom and sides of pot; bring to boil, stirring occasionally (mixture will thicken slightly). Add beef and chicken broths, peppercorns, thyme, and bay; bring to boil and cook, uncovered, occasionally scraping bottom and sides of pot with spatula, until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 35 to 40 minutes.
2 Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; you should have about 1 1/4 cups.
3 To Freeze For Another Use:
4 After straining the sauce base, portion the sauce into plastic ice cube trays and freeze. When the sauce has frozen, empty the trays into a zipper-lock bag for easy storage. Use these cubes to create a quick sauce for grilled, broiled, or pan-seared steaks or chops.
5 Variations: To make a very potent sauce for two people, melt two demi-glace cubes in a small skillet and finish by whisking in 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter. For a less rich sauce that can serve four, melt two demi-glace cubes with 2 tablespoons water and then finish with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Either way, the sauce base already has highly concentrated flavors, so you will probably not need to season this quick sauce with salt and pepper.