A Cheat's Bordelaise Sauce

By Sam Sifton

Updated May 23, 2024

Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(217)
Comments
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Classic bordelaise sauce, which can transform shoe leather into strip steak, is made with veal stock, demi-glace and time -- a lot of time. Here, though, you’ll use pan drippings from pork chops, simmering them with a red wine reduction until the two combine into an unctuous, rich sauce that flanks the old methods. Strain the whole thing, stir in a little butter and seasonings, and drizzle it over the pork chops. This takes most of a bottle of pinot noir, so choose the one you won’t mind finishing off in the kitchen yourself, alone with your heat and creativity.

Featured in: THE CHEAT; Do home cooks ever really need veal stock?

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Ingredients

  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1shallot, chopped
  • 1clove garlic, chopped
  • 2stems fresh thyme
  • 1bay leaf
  • 3cups pinot noir or other red wine
  • Pan drippings from pork chops or 2 tablespoons demi-glace, preferably homemade
  • 3tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to tast
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan, place over medium-high heat and add the shallot and garlic and then the thyme and bay leaf. Cook until the shallots are light brown, then add the wine, lower the heat and simmer until reduced to about ½ cup.

  2. Step 2

    Add the pan drippings from the chops or the demi-glace if you have it. Simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes and then strain into a clean saucepan. Return to medium heat until warm and whisk in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately drizzled over the pork chops.

Ratings

4 out of 5
217 user ratings
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Comments

S.

Simple reduction sauce turned absurdly complicated. Why waste that much wine? Unheard of and totally unnecessary. Just reduce one cup down to a half cup. Not rocket science! Any inexpensive Cab or Merlot will do just fine for this. Just DO NOT use any of those box wines. This is typically made in the same pan the chops or steaks were cooked in, using the self-same drippings. Add about 1/4 cup of chicken stock to Step 1, reduce, swirl in cold butter. Finished!

Msotake

Made this tonight with minute steaks and caramelized onions. It turned out a bit sour/bitter so I added a little agave at the end. I think I may need to use a little higher quality Pinot Noir? I used the Demi glacé. Overall, I was pleased with my first attempt and will continue to work on it.

For2

I take red wine I can't finish, I'm the only one who drinks it.. And freeze it in ice cube tray. (Yes, wine does freeze) When I need some for cooking, voilà!

Rachel

Slightly bitter, plan more time in order to reduce three cups of wine.

Kit A

Can this sauce be made ahead and either refrigerated or frozen?

Vivienne

I had a recipe from NYT from my book circa 1970, that recipe was fabulous. It is quite different from this recipe. This one is very good but not as good as my 1970 recipe. The book is long worn out and lost in moving around. I sure wish I could find that exact recipe as my memory leaves out ingredients/methods.

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