Jeff's Take on Bordelaise Sauce

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1 small onion, sliced
• ¼ cup sliced carrots
• ¼ cup sliced celery
• 25 peppercorns
• 16 whole cloves
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup beef broth
• ¼ cup water, as needed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, or to taste
• ¾ cup sliced mushrooms

Step 1

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns, and cloves. Cook everything together until the onions turn a nice golden brown, about 7 to 10 minutes. Next, sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir it in well, cooking for a minute or two until the flour is fully absorbed.

Step 2

Slowly pour in the beef broth while stirring constantly, allowing the mixture to thicken into a gravy over 5 to 10 minutes. If it gets too thick or pasty, add a bit of water to loosen it up. Toss in a tablespoon of parsley and keep the gravy simmering, stirring often, so the flavors meld nicely for another 5 to 10 minutes. When it’s ready, strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, discarding the cooked vegetables.

Step 3

Turn the heat to low and season the sauce with salt, pepper, and most of the remaining parsley. Pour in the red wine and give it a good stir. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the mushrooms until they’re tender, about 5 minutes. Stir those mushrooms into the sauce, then spoon it over your steaks and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley before serving.