Cooking Cheap

I’m not really stealing this from Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen. I’m ambivalent about them. Pretentious Pricks in Print. Not so bad on TV though. I’ve used enough of their hints in the last year to know they know more than me. They also have have a pay wall between them (CI) and their PBS series (ATK) site. Your cookie expires in days and it’s all over when the new season starts.

This isn’t their recipe because I’ve adapted it, didn’t measure, didn’t follow their exact steps and they can’t tell a court they didn’t rip off older recipes that they don’t credit.

This is a sauce for a steak. Just a few tablespoons will do you. Like A1 only way, way better. I think it’s called a reduction. Here’s what I did and don’t worry if your ingredients don’t match mine. To be true to the ATK spirit, I will expound the details like they might.

Sauce Base
1/4 big red onion, small dice.
1 whole small near it’s time carrot, peeled, small dice.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 bottle of used Australian red wine that’s left that’s been in the fridge for way too long. A Cabernet perhaps?
1 C homemade chicken stock. Might have been 1.5C. I did make it though.
1 14.5oz can Swansons Beef Broth.
1 Tbl more or less of Tomato Paste. Generic store brand (you can wrap and freeze the other 6 tablespoons in the can).
1 dried bay leaf from the huge container from the restaurant supply.
1/2 tsp dried thyme you bought on sale yesterday. No shortcuts, K?

Completely ignored until later.
Some flour for thickening and water for thinning.

Saute onion and carrot in some butter or olive oil for a half or full dozen minutes. Medium low on my burner .Add the tomato paste and cook mix it up with veggies and when it’s all kind of light brown, Add garlic for a few seconds while opening the can of broth. No more or less than that length of time. The can should “pop” as you open it. That’s a fresh can!. Dump in every else. Add some whole black peppercorns. Barely simmer on the lowest setting you can get. Reduce by one half or more as thr French say.

Strain the sauce. Yes, it’s a pain but you’re way into it now so why not?

It turns out that this is a fair amount of really good protein juice. You can probably save half of it in the freezer. I did. Sauce base for another day.

From base to Sauce:
Mince up 1/4 of that red onion (or a shallot).
In a medium to medium low skillet melt, 1 Tbl of butter and maybe some Olive oil if you think it’s needed. Add 1 Tbl of mega mart brand generic AP flour and make a light roux. Whisk in the sauce base, some water if needed and one or two slight shots of crap brand Worcestershire. Taste and bow to the lord for his bounty. Adjust seasoning.

In my case, I happened to have a Fillet Mignon (search for YummyMeats) which I seared off in another pan on both sides, stuck my thermo probe into and baked in a 375F oven until 135F while I fooled around with the sauce. Add some water if it seems to thick, eh? Both the steak and sauce were winners. Serious good. I’ve got a few tablespoons of sauce left in the fridge. I’m thinking meatloaf about a meatloaf. Yes, even better than that. I’ve got a cup or two of sauce base in the freezer, so I’m ready for more roux.

If you have web access to read the ATK recipe I started from, you’d know I took a few liberties and did things out of guru order. Let’s not kid anyone either. That steak has been in cryovac for almost two years. The dried herbs might be fresher than that. Might not. I’ve had a lot of expensive beef in my life and exotic sauces and presentations. None better though.

I’m not going to link to Cooks Illustrated or Americas Test Kitchen until they take down their pay wall.