What's For Dinner?

After teaching holiday dinner classes for the past 2 months, you would think I wouldn't be in the mood to cook the same thing, but that's what we do here at Chez Phillips.  This is my plate, from the top clockwise:  beef tenderloin with red wine reduction sauce, green beans with olive oil and garlic, Gulliver's corn, and twice baked potatoes (it's a 1/2)  It was good, but when I was making the sauce, I was thinking that the sauce really does make this meal, it's rich, flavorful and really lights up the beef.  Tenderloin doesn't have a lot of flavor, so the sauce just sets this right up for a dynamite finish. So for all of you who couldn't take my classes this fall, this sauce is for you--Merry Christmas!

Red Wine Reduction Sauce 
Makes about 3 cups

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
6 sprigs thyme leaves
4 cups beef broth (your choice)
2 cups full bodied red wine (I used Zinfandel today, but Merlot and Cabernet and Burgundy are good choices---No Pinot Noir please)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Reducing the sauce

Butter and flour mixture

Finished sauce

Deglazing the roasting pan

1. In a 3 to 5 quart saucier, melt the butter, an saute the shallot and thyme for 3 to 5 minutes until the shallot is softened.  
2. Add the broth and wine, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the mixture has reduced by 1/3 (you can see the line on the side of the pan) 
3. Remove from the stove, and strain through a fine mesh strainer.  At this point, the sauce can be frozen for 3 months, or refrigerate for up to 4 days.  
4. When ready to serve, bring the sauce to a boil, stir together the butter and flour, an whisk into the sauce, bringing the sauce back to a boil.  
5. Serve the sauce immediately over beef, pork or salmon.  
6. If you find that the sauce has a pronounced wine flavor after reducing (it has to do with the type wine---not your cooking it) I recommend that you deglaze the roasting pan with the sauce, any browned bits on the bottom of the pan will round out the flavor of the sauce.