A beef sauce you MUST try
Photo courtesy National Cattlemen’s Beef Associaton.
I stumbled across a great blog recently while searching for a new way to prepare venison tenderloin. It’s called Hunter-Angler-Gardener-Cook, and as you can guess based on the name, it’s written by a guy who loves to hunt, fish, garden and eat.
On that blog, I found a recipe for a sauce called Cumberland sauce. The writer, Hank Shaw, describes it as “the ultimate wild game sauce” because it includes notes of sweet, tart, savory and spicy. The beautiful thing about this sauce is that it would pair just as well with a nice beef steak or roast as it does with venison or duck.
When I made this sauce to go with a roasted venison tenderloin, my husband declared it one of the best sauces I’ve ever made. It’s going in my recipe box, and if you like a good pan sauce with dark meat, it should go in yours. My substitutions were: 1/4 sweet onion for the shallot, since I didn’t have a shallot; Srirachi for the cayenne; and I used the regular beef stock instead of the demi-glace, which might cause it to take a wee bit longer to reduce the sauce, but not much.
A note on the currant jelly: You should be able to find it at any decent grocery store. I found it at the Towne Square Kroger store near Sam’s Club in Roanoke. It was $3.50 per jar, which is a little bit on the high side but you only use 1/4 cup and you’ll be able to find lots of recipes that call for currant jelly should you want to cook with the rest instead of spreading it on bread (which is also yummy).
Cumberland Sauce
Serves 4
1 Tbsp. butter
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup Port wine
1/4 cup of the appropriate demi-glace (duck, beef, venison or vegetable) or you can use 1 cup of regular stock
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one orange
1/4 cup red currant jelly, highbush cranberry jelly or lingonberry jelly (not jam)
Freshly ground black pepper
1. If you are going to pan-sear steaks or a whole tenderloin, melt the butter and sear the meat. Remove meat to a plate and add shallot to the remaining drippings. If you are not cooking your meat in the same pan, simply start by melting the butter and sauteing the shallot over medium-high heat, just until softened.
2. Add Port wine and use a rubber-coated whisk or a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the pan. Let liquid boil furiously until it is reduced by half.
3. Add the demi-glace (or stock), salt, citrus zest, mustard and cayenne and boil for two minutes. Stir in jelly and black pepper. Allow to boil until thick but still pourable. If desired, you may strain the sauce before serving.
Adapted from Hunter-Angler-Gardener-Cook.
March 15, 2013 - 9:38 AM
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Okay, here are the changes I’ll make when I try it – sweet onion instead of shallot, Spanish red wine instead of Port, low sodium beef broth instead of demi-glace, & apricot preserves instead of currant jelly.
I’m going to use this on venison, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
You don’t have a shallot? I keep ‘em around like fresh garlic. Once you’ve got them onhand, you’ll find that you use them for a lot of things.
I’d go with the cayenne, since Sriracha has a sweet undertone I don’t care for. I might use a tawny port rather than what I’m sure was a ruby port in the recipe. The currant jelly is a little sweet for me, as well, so I might try it with a Damson plum jelly. And if I’m using it for game, I might add some cracked juniper berry.
I have a friend bringing me some elk, I’ll give it a go with that.
where oh where can you find demiglaze?????????????????
No, I didn’t have a shallot. I forgot to get some and didn’t feel like going back out. This was not an overly sweet sauce even with the currant jelly and Sriracha.
Most people make their own demi-glace, but ready-made versions are available in some stores. Fresh Market probably carries it. I haven’t tried a store bought version. Maybe others have a recommendation.
This recipe takes me back to my culinary school days and it is a true classic! I remember a question on a test, “What are the 2 defining ingredients of Cumberland Sauce?” Sauce matches with beautifully with old school pâté and terrine plus is brilliant with anything stated above. You might be able to find demi-glaze at a specialty food store like Provisions or order from amazon. A simple brown gravy (mix or pan made) will sub just fine.
I wasn’t scolding you for lacking shallots, Lindsey. Some of my best friends don’t have shallots.
As for demi-glace, Fresh Market does sell it, and I have yet to try it. You can make a decent approximation by cooking down beef stock (not broth) until it’s almost jelly.
Haha, I didn’t think you were, Jeff. I get so annoyed when I forget to buy something at the store. The shallot was actually listed as optional in the original recipe but I didn’t want to make it without something from that flavor family.
Kroger has jars of beef and chicken bad which you can thin out with warm water to make broth…if you keep it fairly dense, it might serve as a demiglace.
This sauce looks as though it could have lots of uses….it would surely dress up my Salisbury steaks. Can’t wait to try it.
Fresh Market has it on the top of the meat counter.
Base, not “bad”.
Off topic, but the NY Times had a dozen recipes for the humble cabbage, besides slaw, today, and they look pretty good to me.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/17/magazine/cabbage-recipes.html
Any local resturants offer Cumberland sauce?
thank you, Debbie. I love cabbage but have so few ways to fix it! Many thanks.
Thanks for reporting back about the demi-glace, Kristen and Debbie. And thanks for the link, Debbie. Some of those recipes definitely look worth a try. I made a basic sauteed cabbage for dinner with country-style pork ribs last night. We love cabbage.
I’ve never seen Cumberland sauce on any local restaurant menus but I don’t know every local menu and it could also be something that would make a good nightly special.
You’re welcome, Carol and Lindsey.
Speaking of sauce, you should try this one. It’s wonderful! I use it on burgers, sandwiches, salads. You have to make it the day before use to let everything “marry” or at least get acquainted!
http://syrupandbiscuits.com/comeback-sauce/
I’ve heard of Comeback sauce, Kathy, but I’ve never had it.
Lindsey, I read yesterday that the Hunter-Angler-Gardener-Cook blog has been nominated for a James Beard award this year.