I am sharing a chef’s secret this season: Les deux sauces. 2 sauces every French cook should know.

Every good brown sauce starts in the same place: a demi-glace. Once you have that in the refrigerator, a restaurant sauce is ten minutes of work in a sauté pan. Here are two of my favorites. One for steak, one for chicken, pork, or veal.

A quick note before you start: demi-glace is the base for both. You can make your own from veal bones or buy a good jarred one. But you must read the label and pick a real reduction, not a bouillon paste. It makes the difference between a sauce and a gravy.

SAUCE BERCY

Bercy was a wine and vinegar port on the Seine, and in the 1700s the barges unloaded there and sat waiting to clear customs. The little eateries along the quay served steak in a wine sauce made from barrels that hadn’t yet been taxed. The neighborhood is gone, but the sauce is still on bistro menus all over Paris.

Prep time: Approximately 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of butter, divided and kept cold
• 2 large shallots, finely minced (about 1/3 cup)
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup demi-glace
• 2 ounces poached bone marrow, diced (optional, but traditional)
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• A squeeze of lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Sweat the shallots gently until soft and translucent, for about 4 minutes. Do not let them color.

Add the white wine and reduce it by two-thirds.

Add the demi-glace and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Take the pan off the heat. Whisk in the remaining cold butter one piece at a time until the sauce is glossy. Stir in the marrow, parsley, and lemon. Season and serve immediately.

Serve it with: Grilled or pan-seared steak – entrecôte, bavette, filet. It is also very good over roasted bone marrow itself or spooned onto a burger if you want to be a little improper but oh so delicious about it.

SAUCE LYONNAISE

In France, when a dish is called ‘àla lyonnaise’, it means onions. Lyon has claimed them for centuries. This sauce takes soft golden onions, sharpens them with wine and vinegar, and rounds the whole thing out with demi-glace; sweet and tangy at the same time.

Prep time: Approximately 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of butter, divided and kept cold
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 cup demi-glace
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, stirring often, until soft and golden — 15 to 20 minutes. Take your time here. This is where the flavor comes from.

Add the wine and vinegar and reduce until the pan is nearly dry.

Add the demi-glace and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

For a smooth restaurant-style sauce, strain and press the onions through a fine sieve. For a rustic version, leave them in.

Off the heat, whisk in the last tablespoon of cold butter. Taste and season.

Serve it with: Roast chicken, pork chops, veal, or a simple steak. It is also excellent over sautéed potatoes or a plate of good sausages.

• Chef’s notes:

Both sauces are finished with cold butter off the heat. This is called ‘monter au beurre’, and it is the whole secret. It gives the sauce its shine and its body. If the pan is too hot, the butter breaks and you lose it. Pull the pan, then whisk.

Bon appétit,

Chef Frederic Pierrel

Freddie’s Kitchen at the Cole