The problem of demi glace came up after I wrote about my Daube of beef (or beef stew). I don’t use anything more than red wine and stock when I prepare it but I see demi glace listed as an essential ingredient for a French cuisine. Demi Glace or the absence of it must be that extra bit of complexity I taste when I order in a French restaurant then go home and try the recipe myself… something is missing. That something must be demi glace, a concentrated meat stock that comes from roasting bones for about 3 days.
I prefer to cook more simply. Never substitute gravy from a can or jar when a simple brown sause if easy to make and won’t bring your dinner down to hospital food blandness.
A simple wine,butter and pan dripping sauce is better than preprepared…and just what you might want to use instead of demi glace.
My first experiments with making sauces ended disasterously.Grainy, oily cream sauces where the cheese is seperate from everything…too salty au jus,white sauces that tasted only of flour or milk.
Mistakes just can’t be avoided sometimes!
There are some rules that have to do with basic chemistry such as adding cold liquids to hot flour and butter.This will make the flour go hard and lumpy.You’ll have to start over or go without.
Add warm liquid to a roux (hot butter with flour).
I like to use whatever is in the pan after I roasted or seared some meat to start a sauce.I then add a little flour to that(instead of butter) then pour in a little bit of the broth and then add a splash of wine or Dry Sherry or Madeira. Madieria is excellent for a sauce for meat or chicken. 2 tablespoons are plenty.You can also use tiny amount of Brandy.A sauce made from tarragon,cream,garlic,butter,shallots and brandy is a new favorite of mine. If not my jeans.
You should let a mixture of pan scrapings and alcohol reduce before adding cream or stock. Reducing will make salty things saltier so you should keep that in mind if you seasoned the meat before searing it.