Grandpa's (Red Wine) Sauce

We were staying over at Nana and Grandpa's place for the holidays in their century old Southern Indiana log home equipped with a stupendous kitchen. For one of the main courses of scrumptious dinners Grandpa asked the TGLF test kitchen to provide a sauce for his roast beef.  He turned us in effect into his sauciers. After a bit of looking around, reading, and daydreaming we cobbled together this red wine sauce. (We were feeding quite a crowd; for a regular size family, half of each would suffice.)

The whole thing took about an hour and a half with plenty of time in-between for a few rounds of Rummy. For starters, we chopped up 2 shallots and 8 oz of mushrooms (the exact amount is unknown as nibbling around the edges could not be contained).

Next we melted 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pan.

We added the shrooms and onions as well as roughly half a tablespoon of sugar and a good pinch of salt.

We sauted the goodness for ten minutes or so and then added several sprigs of thyme, about 3 tablespoons of peppercorns, and one bottle of dry red wine.

All of that we brought to a simmer and let it boil actively for a good 15 minutes, letting the sauce cook down quite a bit and the aroma waft through the house, causing hungry heads sticking through the doorways.

Then we added one more bottle of red wine and let that cook down for another 15 to 20 minutes, starting to time it with the arrival of the meat.

After the sauce had again cooked down and all those tastes were emulsifying into a rich stew we added one quart of beef broth.

We let it cook down a third time for another 15 to 20 minutes and then ran it through a sieve, catching all the solids.

We wiped the pot clean and melted 2 more tablespoons of butter. Next Lily carefully whisked the butter while we slowly added 2 tablespoons of flour, creating a thick creamy brown base.

Then we added the wine sauce while we continued to whisk.

Before we served we let it cook in for another few minutes, making sure the rest of the dinner was served, and adjusting the seasoning with a little salt and pepper to taste.

There it was. Just delicious. A rich warm silky sauciness. Yum!