au jus

[ncage1974]

First of all i hope i spelled it right. So here goes. I have been googling to find a good au jus recipe. I have not found much. I have found recipes where they take a prime cut of meat say like a prime rib and make au jus out of that. Thats not what im after. First its way to expensive to just create some au jus sauce. A lot of times when i come home from work and am tired. I will just take delly roast beef and heat up my au jus (or make it). I will dip the roast beef in the au jus just enough to warm it up. I think put it on a roll with a slice of provolone and stick it in the panini machine for 3 minutes. I want a quick au jus thats just descent here. I am not expecting the most decitant au jus there is. It also must be relatively quick and i don't want to use the package stuff. If you ever tasted quiznos beef dip sandwiches; there au jus is pretty good for not being homemade. I would like to come close to that. From what i found on au jus this is what i tried:

1) Reduce beef broth to like 1/4 its volume. I also added a splash of sherry, a little soy sauce & worchester. It never quite thickened up eough so i did have to use a little flour/water slurry.

--it was ok. a little salty. Nothing spectacular.

2) I sauted garlic/shalets in a little oil. Added beef broth & consume. I added a splash of sherry, merin, and worchester. I thickened it with both masa harina and flour. The taste was better than above but still not what im looking for.

Can anyone help out there?

Ncage

 

[Candocook]

Au jus is usually what I call the "drippings" from making roast beef. Deglaze the roasting pan with some water or broth--not too much--and that is my "au jus". For dipping, I might add some worcestershire sauce, but not much more.
If I am making French dip sandwiches, put the roast on the hoagie roll and dip in the broth. I would never thicken it with anything. That would be "gravy" in my house.
If you are trying to make it from scratch without roasting the meat, you might try some Maggi sauce. It is very salty so you can't concentrate it. Or use something like Better than Bouillion or other bouillion base. All have salt so you just have to use as diluted--not concentrated.
Au jus sauce, in my experience is a very "liquid" brothy sauce--not thick at all.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

After I roast a piece of meat, I will deglaze the pan with some wine and then add unsalted stock and some herbs. Then I reduce it by atleast 50%. Au Jus is all about the pan drippings & fond and a good hearty stock.

I'm not quite sure that you will find something as good. Quizno's sauce is probably designed in a lab. The body of good Au Jus comes from the gelatin in the stock and sometimes the sugars in the wine/aromatics. You can cheat by using a corn-starch slurry, but it won't have the same "Unxiousness" as Alton Brown says.

A cheat would be to simply roast some onions, deglaze with wine, and then add a bunch of stock along with some herbs (like thyme). Reduce this until it reaches a flavor and consistency you like. Commercial stocks use very little bones/joints because they cost lots of money relative to salt. This would get you 75% of the goodness, but you would still need an unsalted homemade stock on hand (perhaps the freezer?). You could also make a large batch of au jus ahead and freeze it in 1/2-C containers. Then simply pull them one out and nuke it for a minute or two.

 

[Andy M.]

You can approximate it with some canned beef broth, wine and worcestershire sauce reduced it is a pan. You can save it in small batches, frozen. You can dress it up with onion or garlic or both. (or anything else you like)

 

[Aria]

This is what I do when I make a Pot Roast. De glaze with red wine and scrap the pan with a wooden spatula. Removed the meat first. I usually add
one cup wine. Then place the beef back in the pot. DELICIOUS. Let cook for one hour or so (depending on the cut of the beef) and then add potatoes
and veggies. au jus....almost.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Campbells sells a beef consomme in the can that is a bit richer than the beef broth it should be pretty good without to much tinkering

 

[ncage1974]

thank you...

Again things for all the great replies. I guess i always considered au jus to be thicker than broth/stock but thinner than gravy. I when to a place near my home today which is similar to sams club but doesn't require a membership. It had a big can of au jus for $3. I hope its good but for $3 for a big can why not give it a try.

Ncage