I am like clockwork when it comes to wine: Every Saturday evening I pay a visit to our corner wine shop where I pick a nice bottle of red or white and take home to enjoy.

I don’t go out that much these days, instead I prefer having a couple of glass while I watch a movie or work on my latest jigsaw puzzle (I am a huge puzzle fan).

I associate a good glass of wine with relaxation and as a way to reward myself after a long week’s work.

ingredients

Since Ben’s drink of choice is whiskey, I am often left with a bottle that’s half full by the end of the evening. I don’t drink during the week so it’s either I throw good wine down the sink – which I hate doing – or cook with it.

If it’s white wine I have left, I’ll make a quick pasta dish or use it with mussels and herbs.

If it’s red wine, I use it in stews or make one of my favorite steak sauces of all time: a sauce de vin rouge (red wine sauce) taken from Joe Beef’s cookbook The Art of Living.

beets-in-pan

Joe Beef’s red wine sauce is simply divine! It tastes like a reduced beef bourguignon with a bitter undertone coming from the chunks of beets used in the cooking process.

The butter makes the sauce velvety and rich, and couldn’t compliment a juicy slab of steak any better than it already does. This red wine sauce is GOOD. VERY GOOD.

So good that I always finish my meal with a slice of bread that I use to soak all the leftover sauce with and wipe my plate clean.

red-wine-beets-1

You would think this sauce takes hours to make judging from how well the flavors are developed and how classically French it is.

But here’s the best part: this red wine sauce recipe is VERY easy to make and only takes 20 minutes (mostly unattended)! You can use it on mashed potatoes, as a dipping sauce for french fries, over pork chops, or even chicken -it pretty much goes with everything!

red-wine-sauce

This red wine sauce will keep in the fridge for about a week or you can freeze it and it will be good for a month. For a complete French dinner, serve steak with this sauce and a side of glazed carrots, Julia Child’s creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms or a frisee salad. Bon appetit!

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steak-and-wine

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Red Wine Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 20 reviews
  • Author: Caroline Phelps
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 2 cups 1x
  • Category: Sauces
  • Cuisine: French
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Description

The beef bourguignon of sauces! Rich and velvety red wine sauce (sauce vin rouge) from Joe Beef’s ‘The Art of Living’.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup shallots (finely sliced)
  • 1 small red beet (peeled and thickly sliced)
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  1. In a small sauce pan, mix together the shallots, beet, wine, vinegar, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce by half (about 10 minutes). Add beef stock and continue to boil until reduced by half.
  2. Whisk in the butter and season generously with salt. Add pepper, stir and turn the heat off. Serve immediately or let cool until you can transfer the sauce to a storage container.

Notes

The red wine sauce will keep in the fridge for up to a week or freeze up for up to a month.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/4 cup
  • Calories: 108
  • Sugar: 4.5 g
  • Sodium: 73.1 mg
  • Fat: 4.4 g
  • Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 6 g
  • Fiber: 0.6 g
  • Protein: 1.3 g
  • Cholesterol: 11.4 mg
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Caroline Caron Phelps

Meet The Author: Caroline Phelps

Caroline Caron-Phelps is a recipe creator, food blogger, and photographer. She showcases delicious, authentic Asian recipes, especially Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, with beautiful photography, easy-to-follow instructions, videos, and practical recipe variations. Caroline has been featured on Bon Appetit, Shape Magazine, Self, Today Show, and more.

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Questions and Reviews

    1. Hi Ralph! I didn’t strain it since the onion had so much flavor! But you can strain if you prefer something a smooth sauce 🙂

      Reply

  8. I do not have a fovorite, yet. My wife just started getting into wines and we try buy different selections each time. We are searching for a sweet red wine and steer clear of very dry wine.

    Reply

  26. My husband works for a wine distributer. So he knows a lot more than I do on what’s good. I’m not big on many reds but I have had some red blends that I have really enjoyed. I mainly just stick to moscato and pinot grigio.



    Reply

  33. Because I am trying to live a healthier life it try to stay with Red wine I like Madiran Wine it has some good health benefits. I followed on Google and YouTube under the username angierandomstuff and on intagram my user name is Prosperityqueen_. Thanks for the opportunity 😉



    Reply

  44. I love red wine and 9 out of 10 times I’ll prefer a Greek one. My favourite one is Ktima Gerovassiliou and I also happen to know the owners of the winery so I’ve also learnt to trust their wines 🙂

    Reply

  50. I don’t know enough about wine to have a favorite. I like white wine most of the time, I find most reds to be too bitter for my taste.

    Reply

  51. Well my favorite wine is Stella Rosa it is a sweet red wine, I like all sweet red’s, I also love Moscotos that is also my favorite yum yum… my husband likes a good merlot I do not like that. He likes all wines. Thank you so much

    Reply

  53. For me it is a tie between Moscato and White Zinfandel. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway and Happy Holidays 🙂

    Renee
    fattybumpkins at yahoo dot com

    Reply

  72. My favorite wine is sparkling white wine from Spain, which resembles champagne. It’s great straight up or made as a mimosa!

    Reply

  104. I don’t know enough about wines to say I have a favorite–studying wines is on my to-do list! I do like red wines that are a tiny bit sweet…not too sweet.



    Reply