Demi-Glace

Demi-Glace sauce recipe
#chickenbroth

📜 Ingredients for 64 cubes (stored in an ice tray)
3 chickens
150g (5 oz) carrot
200g (7 oz) parsley with stems
1 celery stick
400g (14 oz) celery
4 onions
4 cloves
5 juniper seeds
20 peppercorns
10 allspice berries
4 bay leaves
3 thyme branches

Optional:
2 tbsp (1 oz) tomato puree
500ml red wine

Don't use salt! We are gonna reduce the broth to just 1l (33 fl oz) in the end.

Break down the chickens. Make a few cuts over the skin to uncover the bones. Discard the breasts (you can use them for other recipes, but they will not add much to the broth).

Preheat the oven to 250°C/480F, put the meat onto a baking tray and cook for about 20 minutes until slightly brown.

When removed, pour out the juice from the tray - you can remove the fat once it sits at the top and add it back to the broth later on, but we usually discard it.

Chop all the vegetables, put it onto a baking tray and cook until slightly brown.

Put the meat, the vegetables, the parsley stems and the herbs into a large pot, at least 6l in volume (34 fl oz).

Pour in cold water to three quarters. Bring to boil (94°C/200°F) and cook for 48 hours. Yes, 48 hours, not less. It takes more than 36 hours for the gelatine to break down. You can wrap the pot with an aluminium foil to isolate the heat and save some energy.

Pour the liquid through a sieve and reduce to 1l (33 fl oz). Discard the meat and the vegetables (there is barely anything tasty left in them).

Then, pour it through a more dense sieve into a tall container.

When the liquid sits, remove fat and disintegrated proteins from the top, using a tablespoon.

Optional step: sear the tomato purée in a pot, and mix in the liquid. You can also add red wine and reduce it.

Finally, pour the liquid into ice cube trays and freeze completely. You can use 1 ice cube for a sauce for one serving or 4 cubes for 1l (33fl oz) of soup.

Keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.