There is a french bistro (Aixois, for locals) we frequent that serves Steak Frites with an amazing red wine sauce. The sauce spills over the steak and soaks into the fries. Pure delight. I make the same simple red sauce at home and Mike ohs and ahs, but it really couldn’t be easier to make. I think most are daunted by making sauces, but they are so simple. For this sauce, I seared the steaks in this saute pan, then transferred them to a baking sheet to finish in the oven. I added red wine to the hot pan after the steaks were removed (called deglazing) and scraped the bits from the bottom. Then, I added a bit of cream and butter to give it body. It reduced for about 5 minutes. So simple, but impressive. We served it with steaks and baked potatoes on Sunday, but will definitely do Truffle Fries (this easy recipe is from frozen fries!) next time… just dreaming of those fries sopping up the wine sauce.
The Best (and Easiest) Red Wine Sauce for Steak, makes 2/3 cup ~4 small servings
Steaks
Sea Salt
Olive Oil
1 cup of red wine
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat steaks in sea salt and olive oil. Heat saute pan until warm, then add a drizzle of olive oil (1 tablespoon). Sear steaks in oil over high heat, 3 minutes on each side. Remove the steaks. Place in a warm oven until steak temp reads 125 on a meat thermometer. This will very greatly on how thick the steaks are. I usually go for 3-5 minutes, then take a temp. Very large steaks can take up to 15 minutes. To make the sauce, pour 1 cup (or more!) of red wine in the hot skillet. Set heat to medium and deglaze the pan with a wooden spoon, scraping all of the bits into the wine. Add cream and butter. Let the sauce bubble and reduce for 5 minutes or more until desired consistency is reached. Feel free to add more cream for a creamier sauce.
*You can also add thyme, rosemary, cracked pepper or dijon mustard for great variations.
See more details on how we like to do Sunday Family Dinners, here >
For more details on Searing Steaks, visit this post I wrote years ago – one of my most popular posts of all time... boy that saute pan looks a lot cleaner 5 years ago : )