We're
making a red butter, or "beurre rouge" [burr roojh] sauce with the pan
drippings. It's made the same as a classic beurre blanc [burr BLAHNGK].
One uses red wine (rouge) and the other uses white wine (blanc).
They're both made the same way using shallots, vinegar, wine, and cold
butter. For this beurre rouge, substitute Madeira (a dark, strong wine)
for the red wine. That makes the sauce stronger, and a better match for
steak. As soon as the steaks are done, lower the heat to medium, wait two minutes, and then add the shallots, see Step 1. Add
the shallots before the wine, so they can brown (also called
caramelizing). You're looking for maximum flavor to match-up with the
robust steak. Caramelizing the shallots brings out that extra flavor. Just
as soon as the shallots have browned (1-2 minutes), deglaze the pan by
adding the Madeira and balsamic vinegar, see step 2. Stir and scrape
the bottom of the pan to loosen up all that good stuff. That'll give
the sauce tons of flavor. Cook and stir
the sauce until it's reduced to half of what you started out with. One
way to check this is to look for rings inside the pan, telling you
where the level used to be. You can also repeatedly tip the pan,
sending all the sauce to one side. Establish a mark and keep checking
the level. It's important to reduce all
the way to half, because that's what concentrates the flavor. Now start
whisking in cold butter, one tablespoon at a time, see Step 3. Stir
slowly and steadily, waiting until one piece of butter has melted
before adding the next. This part takes a
little patience. But it's also important in making sure the sauce
develops the right (very smooth!) texture, see Step 4. These
butter sauces are delicate, so they don't hold long (10 to 15 minutes,
tops). Immediately pour a little sauce over each steak, see Step 5.
Then garnish with cracked pepper.
*
I'd like to give you nutritional information, but I'm too embarrassed,
with all that butter. I want you to try this sauce though, because it's
truly a French classic. If you're concerned about the fat, one to two
tablespoons is all you use. And that little bit isn't gonna hurt a
thing.
| MAKING BEURRE ROUGE SAUCE
Saute in Same Pan:
2 medium shallots, minced
Deglaze with, and Reduce:
3/4 cup Madeira wine
2 T. Balsamic vinegar
Whisk in Slowly, one at a time:
10 T. unsalted butter
Season with:
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with:
Cracked black pepper | 
ONE
As soon as you remove the steak, lower the heat to medium and add the
shallots. Saute them for only 1 to 2 minutes -- just until they turn
light brown. |
