Basic Brown Sauce Options

Steak with brown sauce

Nothing could be simpler than basic brown sauce, made with stock and thickened at the last minute with arrowroot, potato starch or other thickener. However, for a successful sauce, the stock must be very concentrated and rich with gelatin from meat bones. A brown sauce that is too strong in flavor can easily be diluted with water.

Brown sauces can be made with the use of brown stock, demi- glace, glace de viande or Remouillage. The time needed to concentrate the flavors in the sauce will differ depending on the base used.

Alternatively, Espagnole or basic brown sauce may be used as a base to make all kinds of brown sauces. Their simmering time is reduced as the base is already thickened. Sauces can be made in a saucepan and simmered gently, with the meat cooked separately.

Or sauces can be made right after cooking the meat; for example, a chicken breast when the sauce is made right after the meat is cooked using the juices left in the pan. Sauces made that way are call pan-sauces and are the quickest way to make sauces as the sauce can be made within minutes.