Brown Sauce
Deer stands, early morning camouflage, the peal of a distant rifle crack splitting the morning air. Well, maybe it’s a bit early, but I wanted to get out a brown sauce just designed for venison or for that matter any beef, lamb or goose dish.
Basically brown sauce is beef bullion (brown stock) into which a thickening agent is cooked (flour). The trick in making a great brown sauce is to start from scratch. However since most of us don’t have days to make a sauce lets start with a standard bullion base and layer it with flavor so it is much more than just off the shelf.
Start with 2 cups of canned beef bullion, add in 3 Tb each of finely minced onions and carrots, 1 Tb of finely minced celery, 1/2 cup of red wine or dry vermouth, 2 sprigs of parsley, 1 small bay leaf, a pinch of thyme or if you have it fresh 1 nice sprig. Simmer for 20 minutes and then strain into a container to save or use immediately.
Sauce Ragout (Flour-based Brown Sauce with Giblets)
2 cups of giblets, bones and meat trimmings 1/2 cup of chopped carrots 1/2 cup of chopped onions 6 Tb of clarified butter or bacon fat or olive oil (or combination) 4 Tb flour 5 cups of boiling stock (above) Optional 1 cup of red wine, 3Tb tomato paste, herb bouquet parsley, bay leaf and thyme
In a heavy saucepan (4qt) brown the first three ingredients in the butter/fat/oil. After browing remove ingredients set aside. Slowly brown the flour in the fat remaining in the saucepan. Once browned remove from heat and add the boiling liquid beating till smooth. Add back in browned giblets/bones/trimmings and optional ingredients. Simmer this sauce for two hours skimming as necessary. Strain, degrease as necessary correct seasoning, serve.
To make this sauce specifically for venison add 1 tsp of pepper prior to simmering, after straining beat in 1/2 cup of red currant jelly and 1/2 cup of whipping cream just prior to serving. Correct seasoning with salt and white pepper to increase spice to taste.
Ciao, Glenn and Glenn
