Basic Demi Glace Recipes

DEMI-GLACE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place veal bones in a roasting pan.
• Roast bones in the preheated oven until well-browned, about 75 minutes.
• While bones are roasting, drizzle oil onto a baking sheet. Spread onion, carrots, and celery onto baking sheet; spread tomato paste over the vegetables and mix to coat.
• Roast vegetable mixture in the preheated oven until vegetables are well-browned, about 45 minutes.
• Transfer vegetable mixture and bones to a large stockpot. Pour 10 quarts water into stockpot.
• Pour 2 cups water into the bones roasting pan, set the pan over high heat, and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Pour liquid into the stockpot with the bones.
• Bring bones, vegetables, and water in the stockpot to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently, skimming foam as necessary, until meat and all connective tissue is completely off the bones, about 18 hours.
• Set a colander over a bowl and ladle vegetables, bones, and meat into colander. Discard vegetables, bones, and meat; return any broth to the stockpot.
• Bring broth to a boil; cook at a boil until liquid reduces to approximately 1 gallon in volume, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Strain broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a large container set in an ice bath; chill to room temperature. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until demi-glace is cold and set, 8 hours to overnight.
• Scrape and discard any fat from the surface of set demi-glace. Turn demi-glace out onto a work surface. Cut into 16 blocks, wrap each block in plastic wrap, and place wrapped blocks in a resealable plastic bag. Store in the freezer.

DEMI-GLACE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Pour the oil into a metal roasting pan and put it in the preheated oven for 3 to 5 minutes to heat up the pan and condition it with the oil. Spread the bones out on the roasting pan and cook until browned, 30 to 45 minutes, turning the bones occasionally so they brown evenly.
• Transfer the bones to a large-enough stockpot to accommodate the bones, 6 quarts ice water and more. Use tongs to transfer the bones so you do not pour any fat into the stockpot. Add the ice water to the stockpot and bring to a simmer. Allow the stock to cook for 4 hours at a slow simmer. Skim the surface of the stock occasionally to remove any fat or impurities.
• While the stock is simmering, discard all but about 1/4 cup of the fat from the roasting pan. Bring the pan back up to temperature over high heat on the stovetop. Add the onions and carrots and cook until golden brown and caramelized. Add the celery and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, thyme and bay leaf and cook, stirring regularly, until the tomato paste gets a brick red color, about 15 minutes. Add 1 cup of the red wine and stir it into the mirepoix (vegetable) mixture.
• Add the mirepoix mixture to the stock after the 4-hour simmering time. Bring the stock back up to a simmer and continue to cook it for another 2 hours.
• In a separate pot, bring the remaining 7 cups red wine to a boil and cook until reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes.
• When the stock has simmered for 6 hours, strain it through a chinois and combine the strained stock with the reduced red wine. Bring the stock to a boil, lower the heat to a hard simmer and reduce the stock until it has a consistency that coats the back of spoon and is about 2 quarts (8 cups) in volume, up to 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper and then strain the sauce though a chinois again.

CHEF JOHN'S CHEATER DEMI-GLACE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Oil a large roasting pan with vegetable oil. Place celery, onions, and carrots in the pan. Drizzle tomato paste over the vegetables; toss together. Arrange chicken wings and beef shanks on the vegetables.
• Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes. Turn chicken and beef pieces. Continue roasting until mixture is very well browned and even a bit charred here and there, another 30 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to a large stock pot along with pan juices. Add 6 quarts cold fresh water, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer over high heat; reduce heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer with small bubbles and very little movement. Simmer until meat is falling off the bone and flavor is extracted from the chicken and beef, 12 to 14 hours. Remove from heat.
• Strain out all solids. Return pot to heat and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce to about 2 quarts, or by 50 percent. Strain liquid though a strainer into a container; press down solids in strainer to extract all the liquid.
• Bring to room temperature before covering; refrigerate. When demi-glace has solidified, gently use a spatula to scrape off any fat that has collected at the top.

BASIC DEMI GLACE

Steps:

• Combine the stock with the sauce over medium heat.
• Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half.
• Strain and immediatly cool in a water bath.

DEMI-GLACE OR SEMI-DEMI-GLACE (SIMPLE REDUCTION AND 2 CHEATS)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring stock to a boil.
• Turn heat down to the lowest heat setting and allow to simmer for several hours until stock has reduced to 1-2 cups (remove any scum that rises to the surface as it simmers).
• It has reduced to demi-glace if it thoroughly coats the back of the spoon.
• *It's not as good as the homemade stock, but a good quality canned beef consommé can be used as a shortcut substitution. Reduce by half in the same way.
• **In a real pinch 2 teaspoons beef base can be dissolved in 2 tablespoons red wine as a substitute for demi-glace.