Just a tablespoon or two of demi-glace will give a lot of flavor and depth to several different dishes, mixing it in soups, stews, or various sauces. Demi-glace is an ingredient that everyone should have at home. It lifts your dish to a whole different level!
Demi-glace is the base for a good sauce! My son Patrick wanted to learn how to make a good wine sauce – that was the beginning of making demi-glace for me. You can buy ready-made demi-glace – but then you have to be prepared to pay quite a lot. Sure, it takes time to do this, but it’s worth the effort, I promise.
It is excellent to freeze and stays in the freezer for an incredibly long time. This batch gave 1.7 liters of finished demi-glace – I poured it into silicone muffin tins and froze it to pack then individually, really practical!
I am making this for the second time in a month. Last time I combined veal bones with chicken wings. The result was above expectations. I used it for wine sauce which was something out of the ordinary, I must say.
Veal and bones that I use in demi-glace can sometimes be quite expensive or difficult to obtain. If it is difficult to get hold of veal meat and bones, it is possible to “cheat” a little. Then you can take meat and bones from beef and combine them with chicken wings. What you are looking for is collagen.
Ingredients
| Dem-glace with veal and bones | Cheat demi-glace with beef shank and chicken wings |
| It gives approx 3 – 4 liters | It gives approx 2 liters |
| 5-kilo veal meat and bone | 2,5 kilos chicken wings |
| 3 – 4 carrots | 1,5 – 2 beef shank |
| 3 yellow onion | 3 yellow onion |
| 5 – 6 celery stalks (or more) | 3 – 4 carrots |
| 150 – 170 g tomato paste | 5 – 6 celery stalks (or more) |
| 8 liters of water | 3 Tbsp tomato paste |
| Oil to fry vegetables | 5 liters of water |
| 1 big leek (optional) | 1 big leek (optional) |
| 2 – 3 bay leaf | 2 – 3 bay leaf |
| 10 whole pepper-corns | 6 whole pepper-corns |
| Oil to fry vegetables |
You can also add fresh herbs, for example, Rosemary, Thyme, etc.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 392° (F).
- Wash and peel the vegetables. Cut it into smaller pieces and set aside. For example, divide each onion into four parts – it does not have to be too small!
- Add meat with bones and possibly—chicken wings in a greased baking dish. Let everything fry in the oven for about 45 minutes or until everything caramelizes – turn the pieces after half the time. Turn them after half the time!
- Fry all vegetables in a large saucepan over high heat for about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the oven-roasted meat and bones and possibly—the chicken wings if you are making the “cheat” version.
- Pour a lot of water that covers everything.
- Bring to the boil, lower the heat and then simmer for 18 – 24 hours. I let it simmer overnight. Check it a little now and then – add more water if needed.
- Strain and pour the liquid back into the pot and let it simmer for 3 hours.
- Let it cool slightly before pouring it into a suitable container and storing it in the fridge.
- The next day, remove the fat that has formed on the surface. The liquid should have gelled – otherwise, you have to boil it again and reduce it further.
- Let everything cool and portion it out into a suitable container and freeze it. For example, I portioned it in 1.25 dl muffin tins, put them in the freezer – when they had frozen, I packed these individually and put them in a bag.
Ready to use!
Enjoy!
