Sauce Base for Steak Diane—Demi-glace

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon svegetable oil
• 4 teaspoon stomato paste
• 2 small onions , chopped medium (about 1 1/3 cup s)
• 1 medium carrot , chopped medium (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 medium clove sgarlic , peeled
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 teaspoon sunbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup sdry red wine
• 3 1/2 cup slow-sodium beef broth
• 1 3/4 cup slow-sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoon sblack peppercorns
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Heat oil and tomato paste in Dutch oven over medium high heat; cook, stirring constantly, until paste begins to brown, about 3 minutes.
2. Add onions, carrot, and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is reddish brown, about 2 minutes.
3. Add 2 tablespoons water and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is well browned, about 3 minutes, adding remaining water when needed to prevent scorching.
4. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
5. Add wine and, using a heatproof rubber spatula, scrape up browned bits on bottom and sides of pot; bring to boil, stirring occasionally (mixture will thicken slightly).
6. Add beef and chicken broths, peppercorns, thyme, and bay; bring to boil and cook, uncovered, occasionally scraping bottom and sides of pot with spatula, until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 35 to 40 minutes.
7. Strain mixture through fine mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; you should have about 1 1/4 cups.
8. {'@type': 'HowToSection', 'name': 'TO FREEZE FOR ANOTHER USE:', 'itemListElement': [{'@type': 'HowToStep', 'text': 'After straining the sauce base, portion the sauce into plastic ice cube trays and freeze. When the sauce has frozen, empty the trays into a zipper lock bag for easy storage. Use these cubes to create a quick sauce for grilled, broiled, or pan seared steaks or chops.'}]}
9. {'@type': 'HowToSection', 'name': 'VARIATIONS:', 'itemListElement': [{'@type': 'HowToStep', 'text': 'To make a very potent sauce for two people, melt two demi glace cubes in a small skillet and finish by whisking in 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter.
10. For a less rich sauce that can serve four, melt two demi glace cubes with 2 tablespoons water and then finish with 1/2 tablespoon butter.
11. Either way, the sauce base already has highly concentrated flavors, so you will probably not need to season this quick sauce with salt and pepper.'}]}