Bone Marrow Bordelaise Sauce for Steak

This bone marrow Bordelaise sauce is a classic red-wine steak sauce built with shallot, reduced wine, brown veal stock and small pieces of poached marrow added at the end. The sauce should be glossy and concentrated, with the marrow enriching the texture without turning the pan greasy.

The flavours already appear in my ribeye steak Bordelaise and côte de boeuf with bone marrow, but this version isolates the sauce so it can be used with tenderloin, ribeye, striploin or roast beef.

What makes Bordelaise different

Bordelaise is not simply red wine mixed with cream or butter. The structure comes from reducing wine and shallot, then adding a strong brown stock or demi-glace and reducing again. Bone marrow is a traditional finishing element that gives richness and a distinctive beefy character.

The wine has to reduce enough before the stock goes in. If you leave too much raw wine in the pan, the finished sauce can taste sour and alcoholic even after the stock has thickened.

For this home version, one cup of wine and one and a half cups of good brown veal stock give enough volume to reduce without starting from a restaurant quantity of demi-glace. My neutral brown veal stock is ideal here.

Ingredients You Need

Use a dry red wine with good acidity but not too much sweetness. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or a Bordeaux-style blend all work. Avoid heavily oaked sweet reds.

You also need one shallot, thyme, black peppercorns, brown veal stock, bone marrow and a small amount of butter. If your marrow bones are whole, push or scoop out the marrow and cut it into small pieces after chilling.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Prepare and poach the marrow

Soak the marrow pieces in cold salted water for about thirty minutes if they are very bloody, then drain.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a bare simmer. Add the marrow and poach only one to two minutes, until the outside firms but the pieces remain soft. Lift out carefully and keep warm.

Overpoaching melts the marrow into the water. You want pieces that still hold shape when they go into the sauce.

Reduce the wine and aromatics

Melt a small amount of butter in a saucepan. Add the minced shallot and cook gently until translucent without browning.

Add the wine, thyme and peppercorns. Simmer until the wine is reduced to about one-quarter cup. The sharp alcohol smell should be mostly gone.

Add the brown stock

Pour in the veal stock and simmer steadily until the sauce reduces to about three-quarters of a cup and lightly coats a spoon.

Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pressing gently on the shallot. Return the clear sauce to a clean pan.

For a deeper restaurant-style version, a concentrated brown stock can replace part of the veal stock.

Finish with marrow and butter

Taste before salting. Add the poached marrow pieces and warm them gently for about thirty seconds.

Remove from heat and swirl in one tablespoon of cold butter. Do not boil after the marrow goes in. The finished sauce should look glossy, not oily.

The signs of a good Bordelaise

The sauce should have a deep wine colour and enough body to coat a steak in a thin layer. It should not look like gravy thickened with flour. The texture comes from reduction and gelatin in the stock.

If the sauce is too thin, reduce it before adding marrow and butter. If it is too salty, the stock was probably too concentrated at the start. Dilute with a little unsalted stock or water, then rebalance.

The marrow should appear as small rich pieces in the sauce. If it completely melts into a layer of fat, it was overheated.

I like Bordelaise with beef tenderloin medallions, dry-aged steak or oven-roasted beef striploin.

Substitutions

If you cannot find marrow, make the sauce without it and finish with a little extra butter. It will still be a red-wine reduction, but it loses the traditional marrow element.

Beef stock can replace veal stock if it is rich and low in salt. Avoid thin broth unless you are prepared to reduce it much longer.

A small sprig of rosemary can replace thyme, but rosemary is stronger. Keep it restrained.

For a faster red-wine sauce without marrow, use my easy red wine reduction sauce instead of forcing this recipe into a shortcut.

FAQ

Can I make Bordelaise ahead?

Yes. Make the sauce through the strained stock-reduction stage. Refrigerate, then reheat gently and add marrow and cold butter just before serving.

Is bone marrow safe to eat pink?

The marrow is poached briefly and then warmed in the sauce. It should be heated through but not boiled to the point of melting away.

Can I use pan drippings?

Yes. After cooking steak, pour off excess fat, deglaze the pan with a little of the wine and add that liquid to the sauce. Keep the total wine amount close to the recipe.

Suggested Posts

For other French steak sauces, try sauce Diane, peppercorn steak, Béarnaise or Roquefort sauce. The French beef recipe collection has more dishes suited to reduced sauces.