5 days, 5 sauces: Day 5, Espagnole

Espagnole ingredients

 After four days of creamy delicious mother sauces, we finally made it to Friday, Day 5. One thing that you should know about Espagnole is that it’s a French sauce not Spanish. It’s a classic brown sauce that is made from beef stock, mirepoix (carrot, onion, celery), tomatoes and thickened with roux.

Sautéing onions, carrots and garlic

I started by sautéing onions, carrots and garlic until translucent, then stirred in flour creating a roux (thickener). I cooked the roux until medium brown. To prevent lumps I whisked in hot beef stock until incorporated.

Whisking in the stock

Next I added tomato puree, a bay leaf, peppercorns, and chopped celery. I let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.

Everything's in, simmering sauce

When the sauce was done I strained it in a fine mesh sieve to get a nice smooth texture.

 Straining the sauce

The sauce tasted incredible and I decided store it in the fridge and save it for something good. You can serve Espagnole as is or use it to make other sauces such as bordelaise. I’m definitely going to try the sauce on top of an open faced Roast Beef sandwich with a little bit of melted gruyere!

 

Espagnole in all it's glory!!

Well, I hope I showed you that you could make these easy and delicious traditional sauces and use them in every day dishes. Just remember that even though the names might sound challenging it doesn’t mean that these sauces are. Try making one of the sauces (or all of them!) and tell me what dishes you used them in, be creative, and as always......
Keep on cooking!



Here's the Sauce recipe but you can also find it in the recipe section (Sauces) of JeremyCooks.


Espagnole Sauce
Yield: 2 2/3 cups

Espagnole is a classic brown sauce that is made from brown stock, mirepoix (carrot, onion, celery), tomatoes and thickened with roux. It is one of the five mother sauces and is traditionally a French sauce, not Spanish.

Ingredients:
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups hot beef stock
¼ cup canned tomato puree
2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Equipment:
3-quart heavy saucepan
Measuring cups
Wooden spoon

Process:
Cook the carrots and onions in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes stirring occasionally until golden. Add the flour and cook roux over medium low heat for 6 to 10 minutes stirring constantly, until medium brown. Add the hot stock in a fast stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Then add the tomato puree, garlic, celery, peppercorns and the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a bare simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 3 cups, about 45 minutes.

Strain the sauce in a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discard of the solids.