Red Wine Jus – John Costello

Here are the instructions: (and secret!)

Put a sprig of rosemary, and a teaspoon of crushed garlic in a saucepan with around half a bottle of any red,  a good splash of port, and a good pinch of black pepper (to taste)

Boil until reduced by half (it will become like thin honey, and sticky.

While still hot add one dessert spoon of honey.

Strain the liquid into a jug,and discard the garlic and rosemary.

In the same pan, (don’t wash it first) melt around a good tablespoon of butter, and when it’s melted add the same amount of flour.

Plain, Self-raising, Corn flour, it doesn’t matter.

Stir the flour into the butter until it becomes a thick paste, almost a dough. This is called a ROUX

The flour needs to be cooked but be careful not to burn it.

Add any stock (Chicken, beef or veg stock) stirring constantly with a whisk, until the required thickness is achieved.

While still hot, add the reduced wine, stir, and allow to cool.

Re-heat in the microwave (you may find it will need thinning out again, if so, just add more stock)

I like to add chili paste whilst reducing the wine, but this is optional.

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