Classic Sauce Espagnole Recipes

ESPAGNOLE: A BASIC BROWN SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Fold the bay leaf, thyme, parsley stems, and peppercorns in a square of cheesecloth and tie the corners with a piece of kitchen twine. Leave one string long enough so that you can tie it to the handle of your pot to make it easier to retrieve.
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat until it becomes frothy.
• Add the mirepoix-onions, carrots, and celery-and sauté for a few minutes until lightly browned. Don't let it burn.
• With a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the mirepoix a little bit at a time until it is fully incorporated and forms a thick paste (this is your roux ).
• Lower the heat and cook the roux for another 5 minutes or so, until it just starts to take on a very light brown color. Again, don't let it burn.
• Using a wire whisk, slowly add the stock and tomato purée to the roux, whisking vigorously to make sure it's free of lumps.
• Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and add the sachet. Simmer for about 50 minutes, or until the total volume has reduced by about 1/3, stirring frequently to make sure the sauce doesn't scorch at the bottom of the pan.
• Use a ladle to skim off any impurities that rise to the surface.
• Remove the sauce from the heat and retrieve the sachet.
• For an extra smooth consistency, carefully pour the sauce through a wire mesh strainer lined with a piece of cheesecloth.
• If you won't be serving the sauce right away, keep it covered and warm until you're ready to use it. Otherwise, serve hot and enjoy!

ESPAGNOLE SAUCE

Steps:

• Cook carrot and onion in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Add flour and cook roux over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until medium brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Add hot stock in a fast stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then add tomato purée, garlic, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaf and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 3 cups, about 45 minutes.
• Pour sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.
• *Available at some specialty foods shops and cooking.com (stock requires a dilution ratio of 1:16; 1/4 cup concentrate to 4 cups water).

CLASSIC SAUCE ESPAGNOLE

Steps:

• Put lard in a heavy saucepan over low heat, cook for 10 minutes. Add carrot, onion, bay leaf and thyme; stir while cooking over medium heat and until onions are well browned. Spoon off 2 or 3 tablespoons of the liquid fat. Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half.
• While this mixture is reducing, melt the butter in another heavy saucepan, add the flour and brown over low heat. Remove from heat, add 2 cups of stock or combined boullion and meat glaze stirring with a whisk. Return to heat, bring to boil, add vegetable mixture. Reduce heat to very low and let cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally and skimming from time to time.
• Strain the sauce through an extremely fine sieve, pressing down on vegetables with a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup stock and again simmer over lowest heat for 3 hours. Put in refrigerator overnight. In the morning skim off fat. Peel tomatoes after drenching with boiling water. Add tomatoes to sauce along with remaining stock. Cook over moderate heat. After tomatoes have liquified, continue cooking until you have about 1 1/4 cups sauce remaining. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste. Use 2 or 3 tablespoons of sauce per serving.

SAUCE ESPAGNOLE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a smooth paste. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon and lowering the heat as needed to prevent burning, until the roux is several shades darker than peanut butter, 18 to 20 minutes.
• Stir in the carrots, celery and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then whisk in the white wine and cook until the mixture thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Don't worry if the vegetables get stuck in the whisk; as you add more liquid, they will release and combine with the sauce. Whisk in the stock, 1 cup at a time, and lower the heat to a simmer.
• To make a bouquet garni, place the peppercorns, parsley, thyme and bay leaves and in a square of cheesecloth and tie it into a bundle with kitchen twine. Submerge the bouquet garni in the sauce.
• Simmer the sauce, using a spoon to skim off any fat or scum that rises to the surface, until it reduces by half and has the consistency of gravy, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Remove the bouquet garni, then strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Use as desired as a base for sauces.