Use this sauce for nearly every variety of meat.
1/4 cup finely diced shallots
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1 cup beef stock
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon mixed pink, green and black peppercorns, coarsely ground
Melt butter over medium heat, add shallots and sauté until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the Marsala and the stock and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes – or until the mixture is reduced to about one cup. Add the heavy cream and pepper, and cook over medium heat until it is reduced to a thick sauce, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt.
Serves 4.
Use this sauce for nearly every variety of meat. For a wonderful Pork Tenderloin sauce, replace Marsala with Apple Jack Brandy. For a mushroom sauce, add 1 cup of sautéed shitake mushrooms to finished sauce and simmer for a few minutes. If you’d like a sauce for poultry, replace half the beef broth with chicken broth.
Don’t use anything but heavy cream – half and half won’t do. And don’t try to make it without the alcohol – it won’t taste anything like the real thing. You can substitute canned broth for the real thing – but don’t even think about bouillon cubes. This might all sound picky – but this sauce is expensive to make and there’s no point spending the money if it isn’t going to turn out.