At first blush, this will sound like an earlier recipe, Pan Roasted Veal Chops with Shallots and Shiitake Mushroom Gravy. It isn't. This is a grilled chop and while both sauces are similar in that they contain Shiitake mushrooms, the Black Plum Relish is a complete departure in taste. So, don't get the two recipes confused.
Let me say for the record that I am not a fan of Food Network's Sandra Lee and her Semi-Homemade formula for cooking. But I was given a bottle of Williams-Sonoma Bordelaise French Finishing Sauce for my birthday and decided to use it with this recipe. Strangely, I cannot locate this product on the Williams-Sonoma website, so I am guessing it is only available through their retail Williams-Sonoma outlets, or it has been discontinued altogether. Last I read, Williams-Sonoma was experiencing declining revenues to the tune of 90% from the prior year, so they may be trying to reduce their number of SKUs.
I suppose that if I want to make this dish again after my present bottle of Williams-Sonoma Bordelaise runs out, I may well have to follow my own recipe.
The classic Bordelaise sauce was invented by the culinary giant, Auguste Escoffier, born in 1846 and lived to the ripe old age of 89. He is considered the father of classical French cuisine in its present form, and was perhaps the first celebrity chef, gaining world recognition in his lifetime for outstanding creativity and delicious recipes, of which he created over 10,000. As complicated as I find some of Escoffier's recipes, he actually was responsible for simplifying the classical art of cooking, doing away with excessive garnishes, heavy sauces, and elaborate presentations.
Escoffier was also a champion of the profession, credited with helping to raise the status of cooking from a laborer's task to an artist's endeavor. The present day configuration of a commercial restaurant kitchen, with an assembly-line approach to food preparation, was Escoffier's creation. He also made many innovations in the kitchen to improve the sometimes unendurable working conditions. Renowned as "the king of chefs and the chef of kings," Escoffier left a legacy of culinary writings and recipes that are indispensable to modern cooks, and remains perhaps the foremost name in French cuisine to this day.
The only problem with trying to recreate an Escoffier recipe is that he built each recipe upon the foundation of one or more earlier recipes. In the case of a Bordelaise sauce, for example, you have to first make a Basic Brown Sauce by roasting 14 pounds of veal and beef bones, then simmering them with a mirepoix (onion, celery and carrots) for four hours. Then you combine that with an Espagnole Sauce (more mirepoix with a roux and bacon fat) to make a Demi-Glace. Then you can make a Bordelaise sauce by combining the Demi-Glace with shallots, red wine, bone marrow and thyme. All of that takes a lot of time.
Therefore, I'm not going to give the classic Escoffier recipe for Bordelaise. Culinary snobs may argue that anything other than the Escoffier recipe is not a true Bordelaise sauce, but I believe there are many acceptable variations on this theme and to argue the name is a matter of pointless semantics. There is a New Orleans version of Bordelaise sauce, for example, that consists of butter, olive oil, chopped shallots, parsley, and garlic; there is no wine or beef flavor at all.
Or, of course, you can always buy a bottle of Bordelaise from Williams-Sonoma, and just have a glass of wine.
Ingredients
For the chops
6 8-oz veal rib chops
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
2 tsp dried finely ground thyme
black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Ingredients
For the black plum relish
6 medium fresh black plums, pits removed and sliced into quarters or sixths
1 medium sweet onion (like, Vidalia, Walla-Walla or Texas-1015), chopped roughly into 1x1 pieces.
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped roughly into 1x1 pieces
8-10 slices of pickled jalapeno peppers (like, Old El Paso)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 packet of Splenda
salt & pepper to taste
Ingredients
For the mushroom sauce
1 lb fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
1 cup Bordelaise Sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 stick of butter
3 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
You will want to accompany this dish with mashed potatoes.
The Recipes
First, grill the vegetables for the black plum relish:
Toss the onions and red bell peppers in olive oil, and place in a grilling basket over a medium hot gas grill, or about 4-6 inches from the coals if you're using a charcoal grill. Grill the onions and peppers fifteen minutes until they become limp and slightly charred, tossing or stirring frequently. After fifteen minutes, toss the plums and jalapeno peppers in olive oil, and add these to the grilling basket, and grill for another ten minutes.
Meanwhile, grill the chops & saute the mushrooms:
Blend 3 tbsp of olive oil with the black pepper, minced garlic and ground thyme. Mix well, and coat both sides of each chop. Grill the chops on a medium hot gas grill. If you use a charcoal grill, place chops 4-6 inches from the hot coals. After four or five minutes, give the chop a half turn clockwise and grill for four or five minutes more. This will give you that nice, crisscross diamond shape grill marks that give the chop a professional finish. Turn the chops over and repeat the drill. In total, you will have cooked the chops a total of 16-20 minutes.
Now, for the mushrooms, it will be ideal if your gas grill has a separate burner for cooking. If not, you can saute the mushrooms directly over the grate of a gas grill, or directly over the coals on a charcoal grill. But you need a higher heat for the mushrooms, so place it on one side of the grill where you can turn up the flame on a gas grill, or concentrate the coals on one side of your charcoal grill. Or, just saute them indoors. Use a cast iron skillet, a half-stick of butter and three tablespoons of olive oil. When the butter is melted and the oil is hot, saute the mushrooms over high heat with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook until wilted and browned, and until just barely turning crisp. This will take 15-20 minutes.
Now, make the relish, prepare the sauce & finish the dish:
Bring everything indoors, and lay out the grilled plums, bell pepper and onions on a cutting board and finely chop everything. Put into a mixing bowl and add the lime and lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, the packet of Splenda and a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together well.
Heat up the Bordelaise sauce over the stove or in the microwave, add the mushrooms and lemon juice. mix all together well.
To plate up, put a hearty serving of mashed potatoes slightly off-center on a serving plate. Rest the chop at an angle in the center of the plate against the mashed potatoes. Spoon the sauce over the chop and the mashed potatoes. Top the chop with the black plum relish.
And if you want to make a Bordelaise sauce:
Saute a finely diced shallot in two tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan over medium heat until slightly caramelized. Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground thyme, salt and pepper. Pour in one cup of beef stock (like Kitchen Basics or Swanson's) and one cup of dry red wine, raise the heat to medium high, and reduce in half until you have one cup. Stir in two tablespoons of Veal Demi-Glace (available at Williams-Sonoma). Strain out the shallots and whisk in 4 tablespoons of butter. The sauce is now ready to use.
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