Sauce Bordelaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6- to 8-quart wide heavy saucepan or rondeau
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Heatproof measuring jug
• •Small saucepan for poaching
• •Slotted spoon
• •Wooden skewer for marking the reduction

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the marrow

   Keep the beef marrow thoroughly cold while you cut it into 1/2-inch cubes. A short stay in the freezer firms soft marrow enough for clean cutting, but don't freeze it solid. Return the cubes to the cold while the sauce cooks; warm marrow smears under the knife and melts before it can be poached.

   Ask the butcher for clean beef marrow removed from the bones. Marrow bones are splendid for stock, but extracting this quantity at home turns sauce-making into unnecessary excavation.
2. 2

   Reduce the wine

   Put the shallots, red wine, mignonette pepper, thyme, and bay into a wide, heavy pan. Measure the liquid depth against a wooden skewer, then mark one-quarter of that height. Bring the wine to a lively simmer and reduce it uncovered to 2 cups (475 ml), exactly one-quarter of its starting volume, stirring near the end so the shallots don't catch. This is the step that makes Bordelaise rather than wine-flavoured gravy. If it slips below the mark and becomes syrupy but doesn't smell scorched, add enough fresh wine to return it to 2 cups and simmer for another minute. Ça se rattrape. If it smells burnt, begin the wine reduction again; scraping bitterness into the finished sauce rescues nothing.

   Use volume as the judge, not the clock. Pan width and burner strength change the timing, but three-quarters reduced means three-quarters reduced.
3. 3

   Simmer the half-glaze

   Add the prepared half-glaze to the wine reduction and stir until completely united. Bring the sauce just to a simmer, then lower the heat and hold it at a quiet tremble for 30 minutes. Skim away the grey foam and excess fat as they gather at the surface; this despumage, or careful skimming, gives the sauce its clean flavour and clear gloss. If the sauce becomes sticky before the half hour is complete, the heat is too fierce. Add a small ladle of hot water, lower the burner, and continue gently.

4. 4

   Strain the sauce

   Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. Let it drain, then press the shallots only lightly; forcing them through muddies the sauce and brings bitterness with them. The source's linen straining cloth served the same purpose, but a good sieve is the honest home equivalent. Keep the strained sauce barely warm while you prepare the marrow, never boiling.

5. 5

   Poach the marrow

   Bring the water and salt to a boil in a separate saucepan. Add the chilled marrow in several batches so the cubes have room, return the water to a quiet boil, and poach for 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges turn opaque and the centres are hot and tender. Lift the cubes out with a slotted spoon and drain them carefully. If a batch begins losing its corners, remove it at once and spread it on a cold plate. The shape may soften, but the marrow is still good; prolonged boiling is what turns it into a slick of fat.

6. 6

   Finish the Bordelaise

   Stir the dissolved meat glaze into the strained sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the lemon juice a few drops at a time. Taste after each addition; the lemon should sharpen the wine, never announce itself. For the clearest Bordelaise, stop here. For a smoother but less transparent sauce, monter au beurre (finish by whisking in cold butter): take the pan completely off the heat and whisk in the butter a few cubes at a time, using up to the full amount. Never boil a buttered Bordelaise. If it looks greasy, whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) cold water away from the heat until the gloss returns. We don't apologize for butter, but we do treat it properly.

7. 7

   Sauce and serve

   Fold the poached marrow cubes into the Bordelaise just before serving and warm them for no more than a minute without boiling. Spoon about 1/4 cup (60 ml) over each portion of grilled or roasted beef, keeping several marrow cubes visible in every serving. The sauce should cling in a glossy coat and pool generously at the edge of the meat. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Half-glaze and meat glaze are finished foundations, not stock cubes under grander names. If you buy them, choose products led by meat stock and vegetables, with restrained salt and no dominant yeast flavour; dilute concentrates to their prepared consistency before measuring.
• •Use a dry, balanced red wine with enough body to survive reduction. It needn't be costly, but don't use a bottle that tastes sharply sour or aggressively oaked, because reduction concentrates every fault along with every virtue.
• •Keep the marrow cold until the water is ready. The cubes should emerge tender and intact, not rendered away; several small poaching batches are safer than one crowded saucepan.
• •Butter is optional because the source gives a choice. Leave it out for a clearer, more forceful sauce, or whisk it in for a rounder texture and softer shine. Butter, not margarine.
• •Bordelaise belongs with grilled butcher's meat, especially entrecôte, filet, or côte de boeuf. Serve a red Bordeaux alongside if you like, but let the sauce provide the ceremony. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.

Advance Preparation

• •The wine reduction can be made up to 2 days ahead, chilled, and kept covered. Reheat it gently before adding the half-glaze.
• •The sauce can be cooked and strained through step 4 up to 3 days ahead. Cool it promptly in shallow containers, refrigerate, and reheat at a bare simmer before adding the meat glaze, lemon, and marrow.
• •For longer storage, freeze the strained base without marrow, lemon, or butter in 1- or 2-cup portions for up to 3 months. Thaw it completely, simmer briefly, and perform the final seasoning and enrichment only when serving.
• •Cut the marrow earlier on the day of serving and keep it covered in the cold. Poach it at the last moment, because reheated marrow loses its clean shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)