Vegan Demi-Glace

An unctuous, flavor-packed demi-glace that’s wheat free, gluten free, and vegetarian. Did we say vegetarian? We should probably mention that it’s in fact vegan—with no dairy at all. And yet, you won’t believe its rich, satisfying taste and texture. Oh, and hey, you can make this stuff in less than two hours!

Click below for recipe and instructional video..

Umami-Bomb Vegetarian Demi-Glace | Recipe

Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Wild Porcini Demi-Glace

Gorgeous, pastured lamb from Menzie’s Farm in the Hill Country outside of Austin is misted with Texas olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and cracked black pepper, then flashed in a 500 degree oven for 10 minutes.

The lamb is then packed with a persillade-like mixture of fresh bread crumbs, melted butter and garlic with a bouquet garni of both fresh and dried herbs including rosemary, thyme, savory, marjoram, sage and tarragon.

Next, the lamb is roasted at 400 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees (approximately 15-20 minutes), then removed from the oven and allowed to stand 15 minutes before being carved into double chops.

While the lamb rests, dried wild porcini mushrooms are soaked in just-boiled water enhanced with porcini powder, then strained into a pot containing brown stock and toasted shallots. The sauce is furiously reduced by a third and the mushrooms added and simmered for a couple of minutes before being finished with a spoonful of demi-glace and a knob of cold butter.

Served a perfect medium rare, this is one of my all-time favorite things to eat..

American lamb, especially those that are pastured and grass-fed, are generally milder/less gamey in flavor than those from New Zealand and Australia, with young lamb (less than 1 year old) being preferred for its tenderness.

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Sautéed Veal Tips with Cremini, Cipolline and Port Wine Demi-Glace

Pastured veal sautéed with fresh crimini mushrooms and cipollini onions, simmered in a reduction of port wine, bone broth, shallots and demi-glace, flavored with fresh English thyme and cracked black pepper..

Sauté quartered brown mushrooms and small cipolline onions (about 1/4 pound of each) in a tablespoon of clarified butter in a heavy skillet until amazing-looking, about 5 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer vegetables to a side dish.

Return skillet to temp, add a little more butter and quickly sear a pound 1-1/4-inch cubes until well browned on the edges, but still rare on the inside. Transfer to the side to keep company with the vegetables, leaving the skillet on the burner.

De-glaze the skillet with about 1/3 cup of a good quality port wine, scraping up all the fond (the brown bits on the bottom of the pan, i.e. the best part!) with a wooden utensil.

Add a cup and a half of good roasted bone stock,  1/2 tablespoon of minced shallots and a loose tablespoon of fresh thyme. Bring to a boil then lower to a fast simmer and cook until reduced in volume by half (patience shall reward).

Return the veal, mushroom and onions to the pan and add a tablespoon and a half of demi-glace.  Simmer slowly, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and the veal is just heated through (still a little pink on the inside), maybe 5 minutes.

Off the heat, whisk a tablespoon of cold, cultured butter into the sauce, taste for salt and pepper and serve hot with a favorite side (French beans or asparagus, perhaps).

Peppercorn-Crusted Veal Rib-eye w/Brandied Chanterelle Demi-Glace

Pastured veal rib-eye steaks are dry-marinated with sea salt, garlic and herbs, then lightly coated with freshly-cracked black pepper and seared in a very hot, dry cast iron pan.  The streaks are finished in a 500 degree oven and served with fresh herbs and a rich, brandied demi-glace with chanterelle mushrooms..

French-Style Veal and Mushroom Stew

Quite similar to the French classic Blanquette de veau à l’ancienne popularized in America by Julia Child, this preparation features ethically-raised, pastured veal, brown mushrooms, garlic, onions, demi-glace, Madeira wine, heavy cream and fresh thyme.  Serve over smashed potatoes or egg noodles..

“Veal usually comes from the male dairy calf or Bob calves, mostly of the Holstein breed. The meat is delicate in flavor, firm, fine grained and of a light pink color. A good Ossobucco con Polenta, made of veal shank, and accompanied by a glass of robust Sangiovese wine, can be the perfect meal for a cold winter evening.

Organic and industrial farming methods of raising the calves differ:

In factory farms, calves are raised indoors in small individual pens and fed intensively and exclusively on milk substitutes with plenty of antibiotics added in for good measure. Herbaceous food is excluded from their diets, resulting in iron deficiency which produces the “desirable” almost white meat of most supermarket veal.

Organically raised calves are fed with their mothers’ milk; fresh, whole and still warm from the cow. After the calves are two weeks old they are kept outdoors (weather permitting), untethered and in small groups of 4-8 where they have adequate space for exercise and social contact with other calves.

Calves will want to pasture when outdoors, which is only natural as grass provides iron and vitamins which they need to grow healthy.

The meat of pastured veal will not be as white as ordinary veal, but that’s a small price to pay for supporting farms that raise healthy and happy calves. ”  –LocalHarvest

  • British veal is back on the menu (telegraph.co.uk)
  • Recipe: Veal Shank With Shallots and Chanterelles – Recipe (nytimes.com)