Ingredients
1 large shallot
3 cloves of garlic (2 for sauce)
3 sprigs of rosemary (2 for sauce)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups red wine (400ml)
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups beef stock (400ml)
4 tbsp of butter (divided)
olive oil
Directions
Dice shallots, open up garlic. Season Steaks with salt and pepper. Sear until medium rare. Remove steaks and butter in pan. Add a little more olive oil. Sauté shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add red wine to deglaze. Let reduce for 8 min over medium high heat, stirring often. Add balsamic vinegar. Reduce by half, about 10 min or so. Turn down heat, add butter. Fine strain (optional). Take off heat, add a little more butter. Serve over steak, chicken, etc. Enjoy :)
The first thing I want to do is get all of my vegetables prepped and in place. We’re only working with a few so there isn’t too much to do but I want them to be ready so I can start the sauce right as the steaks come off the skillet. To start I’ll chop up my shallot - I am just using one large one here. That should be plenty. The size doesn’t matter too much - I think the smaller the better but I am going to fine strain this at the end so it really doesn’t make much of a difference. Then we want to pull out 3-4 cloves of garlic - I will use these not only for the steak but also with my sauce so just keep a few on hand ready to go. I am not going to chop these. Im actually going to leave the garlic whole so I can microplane them into the sauce as it’s cooking. We’ll also want to make sure to have a few sprigs of rosemary on hand - that’s going to add an earthy flavor profile to the dish.
I am going to generously season both sides of the filet with salt and pepper, making sure to really rub it in.
I’ll heat up my skillet, add some olive oil - make sure to bring that to temperature before throwing the steaks on. We want the oil glistening while just starting to smoke.
I am getting some nice color on these. Ill flip. After the first flip - I’ll give it 4 minutes or so, then I’ll add a few knobs of butter followed by a crushed clove of garlic, and a sprig of rosemary. Try not to add these in too early because they will just burn if you try to add them in right away. I like to wait until the steaks are around 60-70% cooked before adding. I’ll baste these with all that flavorful butter. I like my steaks medium rare so once mine hit 130°F-135°F, I’ll take them off to rest.
As soon as those steaks come off, I’ll dump out some of that cooked butter and add some fresh olive oil - let that come back up to temp and add my shallots. Then I’ll microplane my garlic adding garlic this way is a wonderful way to optimize it’s flavor but since the pieces are so small, we run the risk of burning them - so if you do opt for the microplane, make sure to constantly move them around in the pan so they don’t just turn to tar. After a few min of letting that cook, I’ll add a couple sprigs of rosemary and a few knobs of butter. As soon as the butter has melted, it’s time to deglaze the pan with red wine. I am using a cabernet sauv here, any red will work though. Ill add about 400ml or roughly a cup and a half. Make sure to scrape up all those bits of garlic and shallot that become carmelized on the bottom of the pan - those are going to add tons of flavor to the sauce. And I am just going to reduce this for about 8-10 min - I’ll speed this up but you can see how much thicker and darker it becomes the longer you cook it.
Now for the secret ingredient, and it’s nothing wildly out of the ordinary but I never really thought to use it for a reduction sauce - balsamic vinegar. Its rich flavor is really going to add another level of complexity to the sauce. Lastly, I’ll add 400ml or about a cup and a half of beef stock. Now as carmy from the bear would say - reduce, reduce, reduce. I am going to let this simmer for about 15 min or so, or until it reduces by about half and it passes the streak test - more on that in a few. If you unfamirler with the process of reducing - it’s rather simple. Were essentially boiling away some of the liquid. It allows us to maximize flavor while minimizing some of the volume of the sauce - we’re just accentuating and highlighting the floavor of the wine and vinegar here. Now for the steak test - take your spoon and scrape the bottom of the pan - if it leaves a streak, then turn down the heat to low and add a few more knobs of butter. Stir that in until fully melted and it’s time to fine strain. You don’t have to strain btw, you can leave in all the chunks if you prefer - personally I just like to have a nice, smooth sauce that looks beautiful on a plate but the sauce is just as good when it’s not strained - perhaps better. I’ll try to get as much sauce out of this as I can, leaving a little behind as possible. And here we are. The last thing I’ll do is add a couple more knobs of butter to really give the sauce a nice, silky finish.
7 авг 2024
