I may have mentioned that my Mom knows her way around the kitchen. This is her rendition of a
sauce she had on her honeymoon in Switzerland. It has two redeeming features: It is sublimely delicious, and very easy to make. Ingredients are important, so use a wine you would not be afraid to drink, and make sure you use real butter, Dijon mustard and fresh parsley. I usually serve it over rice with some kind of steak.
The chateaubriand is the butt end of a tenderloin, but this works well with with the gamut from filet to hamburger steaks.
Recipe:
Over low heat, melt 1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter in a sauce pan. This depends on how you feel about butter these days. The larger amount will make a richer sauce.
Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and stir until it begins to turn yellow. Do not brown or burn.
Add 1 tsp. of dijon mustard to the pan and stir to incorporate. You might have to take the pan off the heat so you don't overcook the garlic. That is okay. Add 2 beef bouillon cubes to the butter and stir until soft.
Add 1 cup of tomato juice and 1 cup of dry red wine to the pan. This leaves you with some good wine to drink with your meal. Don't you wish things always turned out that well? Simmer, stirring often until bouillon cubes are dissolved.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Now, you can let that sit while you pay attention to your meat, rice and salad.
When you are ready to serve, reheat the sauce, and add a handful of fresh chopped parsley.
While your meat is sitting on the board for a few minutes before slicing, you can pour the sauce into the meat pan and deglaze it, getting all the brown bits off the bottom. If you don't have any brownings don't worry about it, this is wonderful as it is.
And it microwaves will with rice, for leftovers.
Couldn't be easier.
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