Roast Shallot Sauce

Sometimes I get bored with cooking. I don't know what to make, I don't have any new ideas. Everything just reminds me of everything else I've ever made. It all seems to taste the same.

There's only one thing to do in that case.

Make a new sauce.

Face it there are only so many proteins and only so many ways to prep them. Beef, poultry, pork, fish, lamb, wild game, (yeah, OK, tofu too). Roast, saute, deep fry, braise, throw away (that last one works especially well with the tofu). But at the end of the day you've got 6 options and 4 ways to cook them.

Real cooking is about what goes on top, inside or around the final product.

So today let's concentrate on a sauce. This one works especially well with beef, though I suspect it would work with roast pork or duck breasts. Roast shallots are the key ingredient, just watch out for the outer layer toughening during the roasting process. Please enjoy...


Roast Shallot Sauce
from recipezaar.com with some Crabby adjustments

1 TBSP Olive Oil
3 large shallots
2 TBSP unsalted butter
1/4 cup onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup chicken or beef stock
Peppercorns, about 10
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel the shallots and place in a baking dish. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat.

Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While the shallots are cooling, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onions and saute until they soften but not brown, approximately 10 minutes.

Add the red wine and cook on a low boil, allowing the liquid to reduce for 8 minutes.

While the wine is reducing chop the roast shallots, discarding the outer layer if it has become tough during roasting. Set aside.

When the wine has boiled for 8 minutes, add the chicken/beef stock and continue to cook on a low boil until the liquid has reduced by half.

Add the chopped shallots, peppercorns and balsamic vinegar and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the mustard.

Serve over roast meat.


Pretty easy crablings. Not only that, it's something you can be doing in the background while you're working on the roast beast. As for options, you could leave out the Dijon and add some fresh rosemary during the stock reduction step, just remember to remove it prior to serving. Sauce makes everything better, so it's important to remember that, you can do it, you can cook.