Hi folks,
I was 'volunteered' into making Beef Wellington for a post-Thanksgiving "friends" dinner this year, since those "friends" have little idea what goes into such a dish. I'd like to share the efforts with my S&W friends, and I hope you enjoy the pics.
Beef Wellington - Part 1: The Demi-Glace Saga
The real difficulty in making so many delicious Continental sauces is the Demi Glace. It is a chore often tasked to first-year culinary students, as it teaches patience. Being French, it's also needlessly complicated.
One first starts with about 15 pounds of thigh bones, preferably a mix of beef and veal. Have the butcher saw them into roughly 2-inch pieces:
These go into a 450-degree oven for about an hour. While they're doing their thing, chop a bunch of veggies. This is a mirepoix, and you will do this several times making this sauce.
After about an hour, your kitchen should be smelling nice and beefy from the roasting bones.
Pour the mirepoix over the bones, and add about 12oz of tomato paste. Return to 450-degree oven for about 45 min.
Pull out the pan, and add the bones to 16 quarts of water in a large (30-quart) stockpot. That's 4 gallons that will later become 4 quarts of velvety goodness.
Will you marrow me?
The grocery store had a clearance sale on wine, so picked up a nice bottle 2/3 off! Please don't cook with wine you wouldn't drink. This one will be used to deglaze the roasting pan.
Heat on stovetop, scraping all the crispy bits off bottom with wooden spoon. That's where the flavor hides. You can add some salt and pepper now, but not too much- this will be reduced several times before it's done.
While that's deglazing (drool), you can turn your attentions to making a bouquet garni. This is a bunch of herbs wrapped around a parsley root. Some add a bit of orange peel, but some are wrong. You will need three of these for the complete sauce.
Pour the whole shebang into the stock pot, add the bouquet garni, and simmer.
For hours.
Stirring every 10-15 minutes.........
You'll want to skim the fat. There will be quite a bit.
I filled at least three of these. Don't believe the labels !!!
After 5-7 hours, the liquid volume will be reduced by about half. remove the bouquet garni, strain liquid, throw away bones.
Congratulations ! You now have Brown Sauce, the FIRST STEP OF THREE in making Demi Glace.
Some of us are happy with the simple things:
I was 'volunteered' into making Beef Wellington for a post-Thanksgiving "friends" dinner this year, since those "friends" have little idea what goes into such a dish. I'd like to share the efforts with my S&W friends, and I hope you enjoy the pics.
Beef Wellington - Part 1: The Demi-Glace Saga
The real difficulty in making so many delicious Continental sauces is the Demi Glace. It is a chore often tasked to first-year culinary students, as it teaches patience. Being French, it's also needlessly complicated.
One first starts with about 15 pounds of thigh bones, preferably a mix of beef and veal. Have the butcher saw them into roughly 2-inch pieces:
These go into a 450-degree oven for about an hour. While they're doing their thing, chop a bunch of veggies. This is a mirepoix, and you will do this several times making this sauce.
After about an hour, your kitchen should be smelling nice and beefy from the roasting bones.
Pour the mirepoix over the bones, and add about 12oz of tomato paste. Return to 450-degree oven for about 45 min.
Pull out the pan, and add the bones to 16 quarts of water in a large (30-quart) stockpot. That's 4 gallons that will later become 4 quarts of velvety goodness.
Will you marrow me?
The grocery store had a clearance sale on wine, so picked up a nice bottle 2/3 off! Please don't cook with wine you wouldn't drink. This one will be used to deglaze the roasting pan.
Heat on stovetop, scraping all the crispy bits off bottom with wooden spoon. That's where the flavor hides. You can add some salt and pepper now, but not too much- this will be reduced several times before it's done.
While that's deglazing (drool), you can turn your attentions to making a bouquet garni. This is a bunch of herbs wrapped around a parsley root. Some add a bit of orange peel, but some are wrong. You will need three of these for the complete sauce.
Pour the whole shebang into the stock pot, add the bouquet garni, and simmer.
For hours.
Stirring every 10-15 minutes.........
You'll want to skim the fat. There will be quite a bit.
I filled at least three of these. Don't believe the labels !!!
After 5-7 hours, the liquid volume will be reduced by about half. remove the bouquet garni, strain liquid, throw away bones.
Congratulations ! You now have Brown Sauce, the FIRST STEP OF THREE in making Demi Glace.
Some of us are happy with the simple things:
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