Dish: Sirloin Steaks in Merlot Sauce, Baked potato, Garden Salad
Source: epicurious.com
Time to prepare: 3+ hours

Recipe:

Dish: Sirloin Steaks in Merlot Sauce
Ingredients:

1 750-ml bottle Merlot
2 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can beef broth

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 2+ lb. Sirloin Steak (filet mignon in original recipe)
Freshly cracked pepper
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme


Preparation:

Boil wine, chicken broth and beef broth in heavy large saucepan over high heat until mixture is reduced to 2 cups, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Mix butter and flour in small bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and cracked pepper. Sauté steaks until medium-rare, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Add shallots, garlic and thyme to skillet; stir 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups reduced wine mixture to skillet (reserve remainder for another use). Bring mixture to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add butter mixture and whisk until smooth. Boil sauce until thick enough to coat spoon, about 2 minutes. Serve steaks with sauce.

Serves 6 hungry people

 

Notes:

I used a 1 1/2 recipe for this. I cooked two 1 3/4 lb. steaks weighing in at a total of 3.80 lbs. There was plenty of sauce at the end, despite my paranoia. WARNING: The wine/broth mixture boils down faster than you would think. While boiling, the preponderance of bubbles is misleading; check often to make sure you didn't boil it too far. I boiled it down to 1/2 a cup the first time, and had to use more wine to make more sauce. One of the best meals i have ever made, though. Would definitely use for a dinner date!

 

Pictures (click to enlarge):

Boiling Wine and Broth. Steaks after grilling, in the sauce.
As served, paired with Little Penguin Cabernet Sauvignon. Close-up of the steak. Nicely Medium.
Watch a video of how much the sauce boils up. (30 sec, 8MB)  
   
   

 

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