Demi-Glace & Espagnole Sauce
It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional chef like Gordon Ramsay, Paul Bocuse, Wolfgang Puck, Jamie Oliver or Sanjeev Kapoor, there are a few “culinary basics” that everyone should know including us, home cooks. One of them is the 5 French Mother Sauces.
The reason why it’s called that is because each of them has its own “kids”, if I may put it that way. If we take Béchamel, one of the mother sauces, from this basic sauce there are a few other secondary sauces that can be made including Mornay, Soubise, Cheddar Cheese, Cream, Nantua, Cheesy and Mustard. The same applies to the other “moms”; Hollandaise, Espagnole, Velouté and Classic Tomato.
In the past I’ve posted my Basic Brown Sauce recipe. It’s great as is but by adding one extra ingredient, this sauce turns into an Espagnole which, as mentioned above, is one of the 5 Mother Sauces. The added ingredient is Tomato Purée… that’s all! Now on the other hand, making a “traditional” Espagnole Sauce is more complex than my Basic Brown Sauce. After cooking the mirepoix (combination of onions, carrots and celery), then adding the tomato purée, there’s that beef stock, aka called “brown stock” made from bones that have been roasted first, that is poured into the mixture… As you can see, it’s time consuming and for us, every day cooks, we can find an easier way with almost the same results.
Without making everything from scratch, there’s still hope to make a nice decent Espagnole sauce by cutting corners; buy a good quality store-bought beef broth with low-sodium or even unsalted. The reason behind this is while the sauce is reducing (first when making the Espagnole and then the Demi-Glace), the salt will intensify in the process making it extremely salty. The other option is to buy a demi-glace base or concentrate. Either way, you can still have a beautiful sauce for your recipe.
Ok, now that my basic brown sauce turned into a shortcut version of an Espagnole sauce, let’s make a secondary one… Demi-Glace! Why go through all that trouble to make a sauce? It’s because it’s so worth it!
Demi-Glace is a rich dark sauce that is a mixture of half Espagnole and half brown stock reduced by half which is what the word “demi” means in French while glace means “ice”. This sauce is very concentrated and is a delicious base for other sauces like a nice red wine (Marchand de Vin) or Mushroom sauce over grilled meat like steaks. I like to use Demi-Glace for my Steak Diane recipe. It’s also great to add to stews and soups.
There’s a long list of recipes where you can use Demi-Glace. It’s obviously a perfect match when it comes to grilled meats or roasts. Making this secondary sauce will bring your dish to restaurant quality. Eventually, I’ll be posting the “long version” of it but in the meantime, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this shortcut.
Bon Appétit!
Check out these other incredible sauce recipes…
– Béarnaise Sauce
– Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
– Smoky Buffalo Wing Sauce
– Iguana’s Mushroom Sauce
– Seafood Cocktail Sauce
– Bolognese Sauce
– Triple Chili Wing Sauce
an for even more sauce and marinade recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Sauces & Marinades
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Demi-Glace & Espagnole Sauce
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Ingredients
ESPAGNOLE SAUCE ~ 2 1/2 CUPS
- 4 tbsp. clarified butter tips & tricks
- 1 cup red onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup celery, diced tips & tricks
- 1/2 cup carrots, diced
- 1/2 tsp. dried chervil (substitute tarragon)
- 4 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
- 4 cups cold low-sodium beef stock Footnote #1
- 3 tbsp. tomato purée tips & tricks
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I always use mixed peppercorns)
- 1 bay leaf
DEMI-GLACE
- 2 1/2 cups Espagnole sauce
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium beef stock Footnote #2
- 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 10-12 whole black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 parsley stems with leaves on tips & tricks
Directions
ESPAGNOLE SAUCE
- In a large pot over medium heat, add clarified butter and when sizzling, add mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot) and cook for 6 minutes or until soft.
- Add chervil, stir well before adding flour; cook for a few minutes. Pour in beef broth and add tomato purée; season with black pepper and bay leaf. Stir well, bring the mixture to a boil then reduce back to medium and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the sauce through a fine sieve resting on a bowl pressing down on the vegetables to extract as much liquid and flavor as possible; discard the solids.
- Pour the Espagnole sauce in a measuring cup to know the volume; transfer back to a clean pot.
DEMI-GLACE
- Pour in beef stock equal to the same amount of Espagnole sauce; i.e. if it was 2 ½ cups Espagnole sauce, add 2 ½ cups beef stock (*see footnote #2). Bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, prepare the spice/herb sachet. In a sachet or cheesecloth, combine thyme leaves, peppercorns, bay leaf and parsley; tie shut or use kitchen twine if using cheesecloth; set aside.
- When the sauce is boiling, add the sachet to it. Stir well, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the liquid has reduced by half, about 40 to 50 minutes.
- Retrieve the sachet and discard it.
- Line a fine sieve with cheesecloth over a large bowl. Pour the demi-glace through it; discard the cheesecloth and proceed with the recipe otherwise pour it in an ice cube tray and transfer to the freezer. When frozen, place demi-glace cubes in a re-sealable freezer bag for later use.
- If not using the demi-glace for another sauce, season it and serve it as is.
Notes
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Hello,
I’ve read your two brown sauce posts and I’m curious what you do with your Basic Brown Sauce (without tomato) that you cannot do with an Espagnole. I understand the thought process and the desire for different flavours and am curious what you actually use it for. The post mentioned Salisbury Steak though the recipe linked did not use your Basic Brown Sauce. I just spent the better part of three days making glace de viande/meat glaze/OG bouillon and I’m scoping out new recipes now.
Good morning Jess. It’s not like either one cannot be interchangeable. The Basic Brown Sauce doesn’t have the flavor from the tomato. I use the Basic for my Coq au Vin (Espagnole is not the right call for this dish). It can also be used for the base of a nice hot chicken sauce or peppercorn sauce. Spooning over mashed potatoes is so delicious or even served with sausages. Perhaps I should’ve been more specific (I’ll update it after the New Year), the basic brown sauce can expedite the making for the Salisbury Steak. Demi-Glace which is the proper term for glace de viande is a long process when making it from scratch but the results are fantastic. I use Demi-Glace for my Steak Diane but can also be used into risotto, stews, soup, etc. Have a fantastic day ☀