Using the Demiglace - Pan Sauce for Steaks

I came up with the following because I wanted to taste the demiglace in a relatively simple sauce.

Pan Sauce for Two Steaks
2 cooked steaks (grilled, pan-fried, or broiled)
3 tablespoons (shot glass) cognac
1/2 cup no or low salt veal or chicken stock (see previous post for veal stock recipe)
1 tablespoon homemade veal demiglace (see previous post for recipe)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and black pepper to taste

Add cognac to pan on medium-high heat and reduce by about half. Add stock and reduce by about half. Add demiglace. Whisk in butter, one tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with steaks.

Taking Bourdain's advice - Making Demiglace

I've made white chicken stock numerous times, using Julia Child's old-school classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but had never roasted bones and/or tried another main ingredient. I used the following recipe for veal stock from Gourmet magazine, adapted from Bourdain's buddy, Michael Ruhlman (also check out the Las Vegas episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations):
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/105520

I bought the veal bones at Wagner's Meats, aka the Mt. Airy Meat Locker.
http://www.wagnersmeats.com/

Roasted bones and vegetables make the house smell great and the stock is rich, flavorful, and salt-free, making it perfect for reducing into a demiglace. The high amount of gelatin in the veal knuckle bones makes the stock gelatinize when refrigerated.

For the demiglace recipe, I used Bourdain's list of ingredients and combined several recipes I'd found. I used the following:

Veal Demiglace
4 1/2 cups veal stock (from the above recipe)
1 cup dry red wine (I used a cabernet)
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf

I reduced it until it coated the back of a spoon, which yielded a 1/2 cup. Tasted straight, I felt it was a bit heavy on the shallots and black peppercorns but I've been very pleased with it in sauce for steak.

Cooking like a professional chef

from Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain


Important ingredients that professional chefs use:

shallots - Use in sauces, sauté items, and dressings.

butter - It's the first and last thing in the sauté pan. Sauté in oil and butter and then finish sauces with it.

roasted garlic - Sliver thinly for pasta (like in Goodfellas), use a mix of fresh and roasted garlic in Caesar dressing. Avoid burnt, old, and jarred garlic, as well as garlic that was cut too long ago. Don't use a garlic press.

chiffonaded parsley - Thinly sliced washed, dried parsley (flat leaf, I assume).

stock - "the backbone of good cooking"
Roasted bones, roasted vegetables, and water, then reduce, strain, and freeze.

demiglace - Combine stock, red wine, shallots, fresh thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Slowly simmer and reduce until it coats a spoon. Strain and freeze in ice cube trays. Make sauces with demiglace and finish with butter.

fresh herbs - Throw out your dried herbs. Use fresh herbs to cook and garnish. Garnish suggestions:
* chervil - chicken breast
* basil - pasta
* chives (uncut) - fish
* mint (with whipped cream and raspberries) - desserts