Basic Espagnole Sauce
- 2 cups mire poix
- 3 Tbsp oil
- 2 Tbsp flour (optional)
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 quart veal stock
- Thyme
- 1 Tbsp butter
- Salt and pepper
- Additional butter to finish if desired
- Lemon juice
Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. Brown the Mire Piox, roasting it well on all sides to develop flavor. Add the flour and cook it around in the pan to get the starchy flavor out. Add a splash of red wine & deglaze the sucs from the pan, scraping the bottom gently with a wooden spoon. Once the pan is deglazed, add the rest of the wine and reduce over high heat to sec. Add the veal stock & thyme, and cook down until nappé consistency. Skim any grease off the sauce with a saucing spoon. Pass the finished sauce through a fine mesh strainer and place it back into a new pan to reheat for serving. For a very rich sauce, mount an additional 1-2 Tbsp of butter into the sauce just before serving. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice if needed.