Make Red Wine Sauce

Main courses and side dishes can be enhanced greatly when paired with a sauce to complement natural flavors and maintain moisture. Busy cooks may not have time to fuss with complicated, time consuming recipes, so a simple yet tasty easy-to-make sauce is essential. Learning how to make red wine sauce can benefit any cook because it is easy to make and has a rich, zesty flavor that enhances many dishes. Often thought of as a sauce for red meat, red wine sauce also goes well with fish, poultry, pork and even vegetables. Once you know how to make red wine sauce with easy steps and a basic recipe, you can use it for countless dishes and vary the ingredients to make your very own variation of this versatile sauce.

Ingredients

  • Red wine
  • 1 can of stock, beef, chicken or vegetable
  • Butter
  • Flour
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Herbs and spices

Steps

  1. Melt 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) of butter in a saucepan on medium heat.
  2. Add 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) of flour after the butter melts.
    • Cook on a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the mixture while cooking it to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan and to completely blend it together.
  3. Remove the butter and flour mixture from the heat and add 1 cup (240 milliliters)of red wine.
    • Stir the ingredients of the red wine sauce thoroughly before returning the mixture to the heat.
  4. Return the red wine sauce mixture to the heat and continue cooking, stirring continually to thicken it and remove lumps.
  5. Taste the mixture as it continues to cook at a medium high temperature until the flavor indicates that the alcohol has been cooked off, or reduced.
  6. Cook the red wine sauce mixture while you add the can of stock.
  7. Pour the contents of the can slowly into the mixture, until the red wine sauce ingredients reach a creamy consistency.
  8. Remove the red wine sauce from the heat.
    • Stir in salt and pepper to taste, then let your red wine sauce cool and thicken for 5 to 10 minutes before serving on meat or vegetables.

Tips

  • Add white or brown sugar to taste to bring out a sweet flavor to your red wine sauce recipe. If you like a bit of a tangy taste, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to the mixture.
  • Experiment with adding various herbs and spices to your red wine sauce mixture. Garlic, paprika and rosemary go well in red wine sauce.
  • Try using olive oil instead of butter in your red wine recipe for a more healthful dish.
  • Red wine sauce with a bit of sugar for a sweet taste goes well with salmon or tilapia.
  • Once you learn the basic red wine sauce recipe, try varying it to perfect it to your desired taste.
  • Artichokes are a vegetable that go very well with the flavor of red wine sauce.

Warnings

  • Never use margarine when making red wine sauce. It doesn't cook as well as butter or olive oil, and does not provide rich flavor.
  • Never cook the red wine sauce recipe at high temperatures, as this will cause the mixture to cook too quickly. The result will be a runny consistency with less flavor.
  • During the beginning steps of cooking a red wine sauce, be careful not to burn the butter and flour to be sure the end result has a smooth texture and rich flavor.

Things You'll Need

  • saucepan
  • Stirring spoon

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Sources and Citations

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