Rib Eye with Bordelaise Sauce

[rkasal]

Ok, folks, we are ready to build upon what we learned in the prior lessons. Using some of those skills and information like how to properly dice an onion and the basics of making a stock, we are next going to make a rib eye steak with bordelaise sauce.

First, the usual warning: If you're easily offended, please read on. Several cows are used in the making of this recipe.

Let's get started. The principal parts of this meal are simple: a rib eye steak and the sauce. So, how do we make this sauce?

Well, one of the key ingredients, again, is a stock. This time, it's a beef or veal stock which we will make into a dark sauce. Tonight, in the first step, we will learn how to make veal or beef stock.

Yeah, you can skip this and buy beef stock from the store. It's not the same and again, learning how to make a stock will serve you in the long run IF you want to learn to cook.

This is called Fond de Veau Brun or "Brown Veal Stock."

If you recall from a previous lesson, Fond means "foundation."

The ingredients:

6 pounds of veal or beef bones 3 onions, quartered
2 pounds meaty veal or beef knuckle 4 tablespoons tomato paste
6 quarts of water Salt to taste
3 medium carrots, coursely chopped A dozen peppercorns
1 Bouqet Garni (see how to do this from previous recipe)

The six pounds of bones should be sawed into pieces

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

Put the bones and the knuckles in a roasting pan and roast. Turn occasionally until browned on all sides. This will take about 40 minutes.

Discard any fat and transfer the bones to a 3-gallon stockpot. Add the water to cover. Add the chopped carrots, onions, tomato paste, a little salt, the peppercorns, and the boquet garni. Bring to a boil and skim off all froth and foam that surfaces. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 1/2 hours while continuing to skim off all froth and foam. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

Cool the stock uncovered as quickly as possible. I place the base of the stockpot in a sink with cool water. The stock will keep for 2 or 3 days in the refrigerator. The stock will keep for several weeks IF it is boiled every day for greater than five minutes. Or, do as I do and freeze in small portions for future use.

One thing I do after complete cooling in the fridge is to remove all of the solidified fat that will be on the surface.

Tomorrow, we learn how to make a bordelaise sauce with this stock that I have adapted to make even easier to prepare.

 

[oldhway]

Ok, folks, we are ready to build upon what we learned in the prior lessons. Using some of those skills and information like how to properly dice an onion and the basics of making a stock, we are next going to make a rib eye steak with bordelaise sauce.

First, the usual warning: If you're easily offended, please read on. Several cows are used in the making of this recipe.

Let's get started. The principal parts of this meal are simple: a rib eye steak and the sauce. So, how do we make this sauce?

Well, one of the key ingredients, again, is a stock. This time, it's a beef or veal stock which we will make into a dark sauce. Tonight, in the first step, we will learn how to make veal or beef stock.

Yeah, you can skip this and buy beef stock from the store. It's not the same and again, learning how to make a stock will serve you in the long run IF you want to learn to cook.

This is called Fond de Veau Brun or "Brown Veal Stock."

If you recall from a previous lesson, Fond means "foundation."

The ingredients:

6 pounds of veal or beef bones 3 onions, quartered
2 pounds meaty veal or beef knuckle 4 tablespoons tomato paste
6 quarts of water Salt to taste
3 medium carrots, coursely chopped A dozen peppercorns
1 Bouqet Garni (see how to do this from previous recipe)

The six pounds of bones should be sawed into pieces

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

Put the bones and the knuckles in a roasting pan and roast. Turn occasionally until browned on all sides. This will take about 40 minutes.

Discard any fat and transfer the bones to a 3-gallon stockpot. Add the water to cover. Add the chopped carrots, onions, tomato paste, a little salt, the peppercorns, and the boquet garni. Bring to a boil and skim off all froth and foam that surfaces. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 1/2 hours while continuing to skim off all froth and foam. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

Cool the stock uncovered as quickly as possible. I place the base of the stockpot in a sink with cool water. The stock will keep for 2 or 3 days in the refrigerator. The stock will keep for several weeks IF it is boiled every day for greater than five minutes. Or, do as I do and freeze in small portions for future use.

One thing I do after complete cooling in the fridge is to remove all of the solidified fat that will be on the surface.

Tomorrow, we learn how to make a bordelaise sauce with this stock that I have adapted to make even easier to prepare.

Damn Randy, you are a multi-talented son-of-a-gun. We may never be completely on the same track politically (probably closer than you realize), but we might have to break bread together sometime. Cooking is a recently re-discovered passion for my wife and I and I'm gonna have to give the Georgian Chicken recipe a try. Keep em coming and if I ever get enough free time I'll try to add a few of my own( I've recently come upon a great Sauerbraten recipe that'll knock your socks off).

 

[rkasal]

Damn Randy, you are a multi-talented son-of-a-gun. We may never be completely on the same track politically (probably closer than you realize), but we might have to break bread together sometime. Cooking is a recently re-discovered passion for my wife and I and I'm gonna have to give the Georgian Chicken recipe a try. Keep em coming and if I ever get enough free time I'll try to add a few of my own( I've recently come upon a great Sauerbraten recipe that'll knock your socks off).

Yummm, Sauerbraten. And roast pork. And dumplings. Add some pivo/bier/piva and the world suddenly makes sense.

Please feel free to jump in an add some of your own. There's another who cooks I've been exchanging PMs with who I hope also adds some recipes.

Perhaps it will evolve into a cooking thread which further creates a sense of community.

 

[JCABRANES]

Well, one of the key ingredients, again, is a stock. This time, it's a beef or veal stock which we will make into a dark sauce. Tonight, in the first step, we will learn how to make veal or beef stock.

Yeah, you can skip this and buy beef stock from the store. It's not the same and again, learning how to make a stock will serve you in the long run IF you want to learn to cook.

This is called Fond de Veau Brun or "Brown Veal Stock."

If you recall from a previous lesson, Fond means "foundation."

The ingredients:

6 pounds of veal or beef bones 3 onions, quartered
2 pounds meaty veal or beef knuckle 4 tablespoons tomato paste
6 quarts of water Salt to taste
3 medium carrots, coursely chopped A dozen peppercorns
1 Bouqet Garni (see how to do this from previous recipe)

The six pounds of bones should be sawed into pieces

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

Put the bones and the knuckles in a roasting pan and roast. Turn occasionally until browned on all sides. This will take about 40 minutes.

Discard any fat and transfer the bones to a 3-gallon stockpot. Add the water to cover. Add the chopped carrots, onions, tomato paste, a little salt, the peppercorns, and the boquet garni. Bring to a boil and skim off all froth and foam that surfaces. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 1/2 hours while continuing to skim off all froth and foam. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

Just a suggestion. The stock that you are making is similar to one I make commonly known as glace de viande. You really don't want to salt the stock because as it reduces the percentage of salt to stock rises (salt doesn't reduce with the stock). Depending on how much you are reducing the stock you could end up with something so salty it's unusable. Much better to salt the sauce to taste. Just my opinion... your recipie... carry on.

 

[HODAG]

photos.....

 

[rkasal]

Just a suggestion. The stock that you are making is similar to one I make commonly known as glace de viande. You really don't want to salt the stock because as it reduces the percentage of salt to stock rises (salt doesn't reduce with the stock). Depending on how much you are reducing the stock you could end up with something so salty it's unusable. Much better to salt the sauce to taste. Just my opinion... your recipie... carry on.

That's the difference there. This is a stock vs. a reduction or a demi-glace. "Salt to taste" for a stock probably would turn out to be too salty if reduced. "Salt to taste" when reduced would be ok.

How's the work going?

Might have to start getting the camera out per Hodag's suggestion.

 

[JCABRANES]

That's the difference there. This is a stock vs. a reduction or a demi-glace. "Salt to taste" for a stock probably would turn out to be too salty if reduced. "Salt to taste" when reduced would be ok.

How's the work going?

Might have to start getting the camera out per Hodag's suggestion.

Please do get the camera out. I'm a foodie... love to cook though BBQ... real BBQ (slooooow cooked)... is my favorite, but I can get fancy too when the mood strikes. Bought myself a new smoker in October and can't wait to fire it up. You're all invited when I do. Thinking brisket and or pork butt. I've smoked a turkey before but those can be tricky (too easy to dry them out).

Work sucks... aside from a really UGLY child pornography case I'm working on which now requires me to draft and file a brief, I just had 5,000 pages of reports dumped on me less than a month before trial on another case (Termination of Parental Rights)... can you say continuance. Trials are piling up and my normal therapy... my LT... is unavailable due to the weather. Can't wait for the rally season to start...

Now, back to the BMWMOA Food Channel.

 

[rkasal]

Please do get the camera out. I'm a foodie... love to cook though BBQ... real BBQ (slooooow cooked)... is my favorite, but I can get fancy too when the mood strikes. Bought myself a new smoker in October and can't wait to fire it up. You're all invited when I do. Thinking brisket and or pork butt. I've smoked a turkey before but those can be tricky (too easy to dry them out).

Work sucks... aside from a really UGLY child pornography case I'm working on which now requires me to draft and file a brief, I just had 5,000 pages of reports dumped on me less than a month before trial on another case (Termination of Parental Rights)... can you say continuance. Trials are piling up and my normal therapy... my LT... is unavailable due to the weather. Can't wait for the rally season to start...

Now, back to the BMWMOA Food Channel.

Where do you find papers large enough to roll a turkey to smoke?

 

[JCABRANES]

Where do you find papers large enough to roll a turkey to smoke?

I was going to make that joke but it seemed a bit too obvious. Great minds (I can already hear people groaning) think alike.

 

[Threeteas]

Maldon salt...epicurean choice. Pyramidal crystals release more flavour for less sodium intake. Been produced for over 2000 years oin the same way.

JC...what smoker did you get?
Do you brine and smoke or just smoke?

Anyone make sausages?

 

[oldhway]

Where do you find papers large enough to roll a turkey to smoke?

EZ widers extra extra wide... But they have a really fowl smell with turkey

 

[hlothery]

Why would anyone want to put sauce on a good steak?

 

[rkasal]

Sauce and steaks

Tonight we learn to make the Rib-Eye Steak with Bordelaise Sauce. When cooking with wine, use wine that you would drink. It doesn't have to be expensive wine just wine that you would serve.

I've adapted a typical bordelaise sauce making it easier to create. I've also left out bone marrow which is often poached separately and served on top of the steaks with the sauce poured over all. It's becoming more difficult to obtain marrow unless you have a butcher shop slice bones.

Sauce ingredients:

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 1 small shallot diced like we did the onion
4 cups of our beef/veal stock 1 1/2 cups bordeaux or syrah wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Demi-glace 2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch Salt to taste
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

The Demi-glace can be purchased prepared. I will teach later how to make it at open. It's good to keep at hand. This recipe will be great even if you do not have it.

I actually use more thyme than this. I grow it and other herbs in pots at home and in the ground at the lake. All year long, I usually have fresh herbs but always have a supply of dried at hand the I know where it came from.

Keep the butter refrigerated or better, separate into tablespoons and keep in the freezer until use.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook the diced shallot unti browned while stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, wine, soy sauce, tomato paste, thyme, and bay leaf. Don't add more of the tomato paste as it is for color and not taste. Add the Demi-glace if you have it for extra meaty flavor. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer. Cook, uncovered until the sauce is reduced to 2 cups. This takes about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, we prepare the steaks.

Two things about meat like beef or pork: 1) start cooking the meat when it is at room temperature, and 2) let the meat rest for about five minutes after cooking. This allows the juices to return to the center of the meat. Cooking brings the juices to the surface. Resting makes the meat more juicy.

The best way to prepare steaks is in a well-seasoned cast iron pan searing it on both sides then finishing under the broiler in an oven. Assuming no cast iron pans are available, this recipe will work with a non-stick pan.

Steak ingredients:

6 Rib-eye steaks Unsalted butter as needed
Olive oil as needed Freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste

Heat a tablespoon of butter and some olive oil over high heat in a large frying pan. Season three of the steaks with salt and pepper on both sides of the steaks and brown for three minutes on each side. Transfer to a serving platter and cover to keep warm. Do the other three steaks similarly.

By now, the sauce should be reducing nicely. We now learn two new techniques: 1) making a slurry, and 2) Mounting the sauce (get your minds out of the gutter)

We make the slurry with the cornstarch and water. This combination is a thickener for the sauce. A rule of thumb is to add equal parts of water to cornstarch. Mix together briskly in a small bowl using a fork untit completely blended. Whisk a little but not all of the slurry into the sauce until the sauce thickens. Add more as needed but slowly while wisking and wait for the results. If you add too much and the sauce becomes too thick, you can add either more water or stock but do it slowly.

Remove the bay leaf. I like to leave the pieces of shallot and thyme in the finished sauce. My preferences are more homestyle than finished five star restaurant. If you wish, you can now strain the sauce.

Mounting the sauce with butter...

Always keep the butter cold and preferably in the freezer until needed. Use in small cubes or no larger than tablespoon size. Keep the sauce over very low heat and add the butter cubes one at a time while constantly whisking. The idea is to not just let the butter melt but to become one with the sauce. Sounds kind of Eastern philosophy here. The intent is to increase the volume of the sauce and to make a smooth texture with a sheen.

Test for final seasonings such as salt and pepper. Serve right away over the steaks.

The same wine used to make the sauce is a perfect companion to the steaks with bordelaise sauce.

 

[BOKRIJDER]

Why would anyone want to put sauce on a good steak?

A proper French sauce does not alter the flavor of the steak, it will complement the flavor. The fine steak flavor will remain, a follow up or finishing after taste is added. Whole different game than the common flavor altering Barbecue sauce and like additions.

Motard

 

[From MARS]

Food Rally, Anyone?

How about a rolling rally where we ride from house to house experiencing the best our host has to offer in the way of food and beverage? If we space them about a days ride apart and generally head towards Gillette, attendance at the national may set a record. The last stop would require ample parking space for both bikes and bloated riders.

Or maybe, at the rally, we could have a chili cook-off or camp-stove cooking competition. Charge a few bucks to sample the grub and donate the proceeds to the local charity selected by the organizing committee.

Tom

PS: Sometime I'll share the experience of the "Miss Brazos Bottom Beauty Contest" held at a chili cook-off in Texas. What fun!

 

[rkasal]

How about a rolling rally where we ride from house to house experiencing the best our host has to offer in the way of food and beverage? If we space them about a days ride apart and generally head towards Gillette, attendance at the national may set a record. The last stop would require ample parking space for both bikes and bloated riders.

Or maybe, at the rally, we could have a chili cook-off or camp-stove cooking competition. Charge a few bucks to sample the grub and donate the proceeds to the local charity selected by the organizing committee.

Tom

PS: Sometime I'll share the experience of the "Miss Brazos Bottom Beauty Contest" held at a chili cook-off in Texas. What fun!

I had thought about hosting an event a couple of days before the rally for people coming from the East. Will give it some more thought.

 

[From MARS]

I had thought about hosting an event a couple of days before the rally for people coming from the East. Will give it some more thought.

I had planned on riding west across CO before heading north and coming into Gillette from the west. Now I'll have to start rethinking my route.

Tom

 

[JCABRANES]

Maldon salt...epicurean choice. Pyramidal crystals release more flavour for less sodium intake. Been produced for over 2000 years oin the same way.

JC...what smoker did you get?
Do you brine and smoke or just smoke?

Anyone make sausages?

I bought a Brinkmann offset wood/charcoal smoker. Nothing really fancy.

The turkey gets brined. I saw a great brine recipie on Good Eats a few years ago that helps keep the turkey moist through the smoking process (and makes it darn tasty). Beef and pork get a dry rub.

I find the key to taste is the right combination of wood and meat. I keep experimenting with woods but so far I've found that mesquite is best for smoking. I like apple and cherry for pork. Mesquite and Hickory so far for beef.
Dinner when I BBQ is an all day process, a minimum of 10 hours to about 14 hours... but the results are usually worth the wait.

 

[JCABRANES]

How about a rolling rally where we ride from house to house experiencing the best our host has to offer in the way of food and beverage?

Part 2 of my home make-over is to repair the slate entrance to my home (a small foyer). As some of you may know I got ambitious last year and put in a bamboo floor in my family room. In the process of making "small" repairs to the slate floor in the adjoining foyer I managed to loosen enough of the tiles so that I'm going to have to re-lay a portion of the floor. That will be this year's Memorial Day project. In conjunction with that project I have decided to smoke a ham. Soooo... since I have no prior experience in laying a tile floor, anyone who wants to come to SE Wisconsin and help lay less than 6 square feet of slate tile will be amply rewarded with all you can eat BBQ pork and beer.

Just a thought.


BTW Tom, when we start working on your schoolhouse see if you can borrow a smoker (none of that electric smoker crap, no gas smokers) and I'll be happy to provide the vittles for the rest of the work crew.

Jack

 

[From MARS]

Part 2 of my home make-over is to repair the slate entrance to my home (a small foyer). As some of you may know I got ambitious last year and put in a bamboo floor in my family room. In the process of making "small" repairs to the slate floor in the adjoining foyer I managed to loosen enough of the tiles so that I'm going to have to re-lay a portion of the floor. That will be this year's Memorial Day project. In conjunction with that project I have decided to smoke a ham. Soooo... since I have no prior experience in laying a tile floor, anyone who wants to come to SE Wisconsin and help lay less than 6 square feet of slate tile will be amply rewarded with all you can eat BBQ pork and beer.

Just a thought.


BTW Tom, when we start working on your schoolhouse see if you can borrow a smoker (none of that electric smoker crap, no gas smokers) and I'll be happy to provide the vittles for the rest of the work crew.

Jack

When we find out about the water issue in town, I'll get in touch. I can find a good smoker for you to use.

If I could figure out how to get it to you, I have several 1/2" thick slate chaulkboards; each of which is bigger than six square feet. Or did you mean six feet square? Never mind, I re-read your post and picked up on that you are "re-laying" your floor.

Tom