Bordelaise

A french red wine sauce, great with steak, try it as a substitute for your A1! And as always, this is just the way I make it, there is by no means a "correct" way...

• 2 T butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T minced shallots (if desperate, 1 small onion will do)
• 1 small carrot, sliced
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• dash salt and pepper
• 2 T flour
• 1 C beef or other dark stock
• 1/2 cup red wine

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds, add shallots, carrot, parsley, peppercorns, and bay leaf and cook for about 5 minutes or until onions become translucent. Add stock and red wine, and simmer until it has reduced by about 75% (probably 10-15 minutes) stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine strainer to remove vegetables. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Mix flour in a cup with a small amount of the sauce to remove and lumps, and add to the sauce pan. Stir and cook about 5 or until desired thickness. Enjoy!

The traditional french sauce typically doesn't use stock and instead uses beef marrow, however I'm not a big fan of marrow and it's somewhat hard to come by, so I use stock instead. Also you may want to experiment with the ratio of stock and wine to come up with a flavor you like.