Without the red wine, this will no longer be a red wine sauce. Other acids can definitely be used (apple juice, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, etc), but obviously the flavor will change. Please check out the lesson on How to Make Pan Sauce. This will be very helpful as we go into great detail about how to vary and build pan sauces from ingredients that have been pan fried. Cheers!

Hi! I bought my first Stainless Steel pan at Sur La Table and I wanted to try it out for this recipe tonight. But I see in the video you used cast iron. Should I use my cast iron pan instead? I don't want to ruin/stain my new pan on the wrong recipe...I heard that stainless is difficult to work with and clean. Please advise the best pan for this recipe? Thank you!

You can use your stainless steel pan. You may also want to check out the lesson on Pan Frying before you use you new pan. Cheers!

I have read other comments about sauce splitting or breaking - In this recipe I think I also added the butter when the pan was still on the heat.

Also, if the butter has come to room temperature does that make a difference?

What about other roux based sauces, why do they break?

The sauce still tasted very good!

Cindy, you may want to watch the lesson on "How to Make a Pan Sauce" in the cooking school as we do go into quite a bit of detail regarding this in that lesson (particularly topic 6 and 7). Many of the same principles would also apply to other roux-based sauces as well. For more on roux-based sauces, you may want to watch the "How to Make a Veloute Sauce" and/or "How to Make a Bechamel Sauce" as well. Cheers!

This is basically a bordelaise sauce, right? Try it by adding mushrooms. the trick to a bordelaise is to reduce the wine to such a point that it is highly concentrated, then add demi-glace, or very strong broth, veal or beef. Yum!

The main difference is that Bordelaise sauce typically contains bone marrow and the wine used is classically from the region of Bordeaux. Cheers!

Just finished eating and had to be one the best steaks I have ever eaten , let alone made all by myself. Very important to reduce wine to surypy consistency before stock is added. I love Rouxbe cooking school , the confidence I have in the Kitchen now is just awesome!!

Thank-you
Ken

I wanted to know if I can make the the red wine sauce ahead of time (like day before and chilled) . If so should I hold off adding butter until that day? I think it may split or separate if cooled and reheated again. I have a big group coming over and cooking space is limited.

No, this cannot be made ahead of time. This is a pan sauce and the sauce relies on the sucs that were formed from pan-frying the steaks (and it is definitely not recommended to cook the steaks the day before). If you have everything prepped in advance, it does not take much time to put the sauce together as the steaks are resting. One thing you can do ahead of time, is to reduce the amount of stock by about half. That way, you won't have to wait for that to reduce much once you add it to the pan. Cheers!

My sauce turned out great even though I accidentally threw in too much red wine...it seemed not to matter too much! I also pre-heated the chicken stock to save time on the reducing.

The only issue was that the steak was sticking a bit, which I was expecting since I don' t think I had the pan temperature correct. I am going to review the pan-frying/testing heat with water method tomorrow and try again.

Now those are the kind of comments we love. You seem to know where you might have gone wrong, you are going to review the appropriate lesson and try again. Way to take the learning/practicing into your own hands. Keep up the great work Gail. Cheers!

I've made this recipe a few times now, and the family is convinced I've become some sort of master chef. I had never seemed to get the temperatures right when cooking these tenderloin steaks on the grill. Now I'd like to try a whole tenderloin for a party. Any suggestions? I've seen the slow roast method before and that seems like it might be "safer" if I'm cooking a whole tenderloin for the first time. Could I season and then sear the tenderloin in a large roasting pan, then transfer it to another pan with a rack and cook in a low oven? What oven temperature would be right? 250? I guess I'm probably aiming for an internal temperature of 125 or 130? Then tent and rest? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Jennifer - Yes, you can absolutely sear the whole roast and then finish in a low temperature oven - 250°F sounds good as well. Although some slow roasting devotees might even go down from there depending on the actual size/weight of the roast.

It's the internal temperature that counts and 125-130°F is a good target if you want medium rare to medium. The carry over cooking capacity (in this case, probably around 7-10 degrees F) is determined by the size of the roast --and tent loosely for 15 minutes or so before slicing. Enjoy!

This is my second practice recipe after doing the sauce lesson. Because I have a family of six, i had to increase the amounts to get more sauce. I notice it makes a difference when trying to reduce because the surface area of my pan is smaller compared to the ratio of sauce I'm making. I also found it took longer to make the sauce then i was expecting, so my steaks rested more than usual and ended up cooler. I cooked it exactly as the recipe and video described; however, my sauce turned out lighter in color and thinner than the one in the video; my color was more purplish brown. Overall, it was still delicious despite needed some improvement.

I usually sear my steaks on cast iron and finish them in the oven. Next time, I will sear them and transfer them to an oven dish, freeing up my pan to start the sauce earlier. I think if I reduce the sauce more and use less butter, i can get a thicker darker sauce (it did taste a bit too buttery rich). I will also try this without increasing the amounts. I found the shallots a bit distracting too. I might try straining them out for a smoother sauce. Any suggestions are welcome. I'm hoping to add this sauce to my repertoire.

I've had this problem too...after many attempts, and reading all the comments I think that my stock is probably to blame for the thinness of the sauce. Try as I might, I haven't been able to develop a lot of collagen in my stock (have to wait to go to the big city to try and find some chicken feet, lol)
Hope this helps, Daniel...keep at it!

Hi Eric- You are correct, a good stock will form the basis for a good sauce-- as the gelatin (collagen+water+heat+time=gelatin) is what helps give body and silky "mouth feel" to the finished product. Chicken backs are helpful-they have lots of connective tissue. Just be sure to rinse them well as they can also have a good deal of blood and such which can cloud the solution. Enjoy!

Hi Daniel- Let's find a way to make that sauce really come out the way you want it--and it's great that you are so positive about the sauce in general and open to fine tuning your technique.

There are so many variables in cooking that happen quickly-- so following a recipe exactly gives a good foundation but "practice makes perfect". Cooks are constantly fine tuning, chasing perfection, and improving the dishes they prepare--so don't be discouraged.

Reducing the sauce more will certainly help. Consider using a larger pan as well, as the extra surface area encourages evaporation and reduction. The depth of color comes from the development of sucs and how much you reduce the wine. And by all means, strain the shallots if they are off-putting texturally. Enjoy!

Thanks for mentioning the stock. I forgot to mention that I was a little impatient about making this sauce, so I used a lighter store bought stock i had instead of waiting after I made the dark stock. This probably contributed a lot to the lighter color. I'm going to make some dark chicken stock this weekend and try this sauce again.

I have also had trouble developing collagen in my stocks. I think part of my problem too is that I try to make too much.

Ah, you got it Daniel. Indeed the type and quality of stock you use will greatly affect a pan sauce. Store-bought stocks typically lack that nice gelatinous quality—which means that they will generally not reduce and thicken. Instead they they will simply reduce and concentrate and in many cases become overly salty. So this is why your stock was had a thinner consistency. And if your stock was light in color rather than dark like the one in the recipe, then this is why your final sauce was lighter and more purplish than the one shown in the video. Hope that helps to solve the mystery. Cheers!

p.s. If you haven't already, be sure to watch the full lesson on "How to Make a Pan Sauce". In particular topic 5 "Adding & Reducing Stock".

Well, I did it. I made some dark stock and made sure I reduced the sauce properly. This fixed all my problems. The color was like a dark chocolate and the texture was smooth and thicker this time. It looked almost identical to the video. I did strain the shallots this time, and I do think the texture was more appealing. It seemed a bit sweeter than what I was expecting; perhaps the pinot noir?

I'm so impressed with the stock I made, I'm ready to throw out the store bought stuff I have in my pantry. The gelatin in the stock really does seem to make a huge difference with the texture and viscosity of the sauce. I didn't have much viscosity in my stock after making it, but when I reduced it in half, it thickened up real nice.

Now, I will continue to experiment and improve. thanks for the help!

Hi Daniel- What great news. The flavor and texture of quality stock will make all the difference when compared to mass-produced store bought products. You'll continue to improve your technique and create ways to adjust the sweetness (maybe a different wine or just less) and add other elements. Keep up the good work. Enjoy!