VEAL ET. AL.

MY FAVORITE CARNIVOROUS DISH of all time is veal. Scallopini, Osso Buco, roasted, grilled, in tomato sauce, you name it, there is nothing like it. As summer is now approaching its end (the autumnal equinox is Thursday), it's that time of year to start preparing for winter and comfort food. With that said, I want to talk about sauces, Espagnol in particular, and demi-glace. These two sauces - one being converted into the other, form the basis for almost all brown sauces (Brunoises) of any merit (Bordelaise, Chasseur, Bigarrade, etc.). 

I have made this numerous times but this time around, it turned out especially well. Time is the key ingredient to making demi-glace. 

DEMI-GLACE

Demi-glace is a sauce that has been reduced over a matter of hours, even days. The photo above shows the last stage of making the sauce, already strained and reduced from 8 gallons to 6-8 cups.

It's easy enough to begin. Take about 3 lbs. veal bones (I like necks), a couple of beef shanks and the carcass of a chicken and cook in about 8 gallons of water. Bring to the boil, skim off the foam and put in an herb bouquet of thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, peppercorns and bay leaf, in addition to one large onion, the white of one leek, 3 carrots and two stalks of celery. Bring to the boil again and turn down to simmer. Continue to simmer for several hours and allow it to reduce by half. 

Take the pot of the heat, allow to cool, degrease and strain through a large sieve lined in cheesecloth or paper towels. Refrigerate and de-grease again. (You can sift through the bones and extract the meat(s) if you like and use it for another purpose (pot-au-feu, stew, meat loaf, etc.)

The next day, make a roux as follows:

Reheat the stock. 

Make a mirepoix of diced onion, carrots and celery (about a cup in total). Sauté in 1 stick of butter in a large enough pot to hold all of the veal stock until the onions and leeks become translucent. Add 1/4 cup flour and 3 tbs. cornstarch and mix well and cook the flour mixture until completely blended and becomes a roux. The idea is to cook the flour until it no longer even resembles the very idea of "flour." 

Pour 2/3 of the heated stock into the pot with the roux and mix completely and bring to the boil. The sauce should become very thick. Turn the sauce down to the simmer. Add 4 tbs. tomato paste, 1/2 cup madeira. mix thoroughly and bring to the boil again. Turn the heat down to a simmer and slide the pot half-way off the flame and simmer partially covered for several hours, skimming scum off every 15 minutes or so. The sauce should reduce by at least half. At this point, you can refrigerate the sauce again and de-grease once more before making the demi-glace.

Take the Espagnol Sauce off the stove and strain this sauce through a sieve in the same manner that you did the stock. In a new clean pot heat the sauce again and add the other third of the veal stock and more Madeira if you like. Cook this on a low flame and allow to reduce to a thick syrup for at least 2 hours, skimming the scum from the top often. You should be left with about 2 cups. Salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool completely. The result is practically fat-free but very rich brown sauce.

Place in small containers and freeze (will stay in the freezer for about 4 months) or you can reserve some in the refrigerator if you intend to use it within the week. A very nifty way to store them frozen is to pour the demi-glace into ice cube trays, freeze and then unmold into zip lock bags so you can use small amounts as needed.

There is indeed a lot of effort employed here but it is well worth the effort if you think about the ease it will facilitate in simply throwing in a cube of demi-glace into a pan with some of the juices from whatever it is you're cooking and transforming it into a memorable - a flavorful - sauce.