Poivrade Sauce for Game

Ingredients

• 125 grams carrots
• 125 grams onions
• thyme fragments
• bay leaf fragments
• parsley stems
• 1 kilogram game trimmings (fur-bearing game)
• 3 deciliters vinegar
• 2 deciliters white wine
• 1 liter Espagnole sauce (mother sauce)
• 2 liters game stock (fond de gibier)
• 1 liter game marinade
• 12 grains black peppercorns, crushed
• 0.5 liter game stock
• 0.5 liter game marinade
• 15 grams butter

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a heavy pot and sauté the mirepoix (vegetable base of carrots, onions, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems) together with the game trimmings until they take on color.
2. Drain off the oil. Deglaze the pot with vinegar and white wine, then reduce completely until nearly dry.
3. Add the Espagnole sauce, game stock, and game marinade. Cook gently and covered in the oven if possible for 3.5 to 4 hours.
4. About 8 minutes before straining the sauce, add the crushed black peppercorns.
5. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve, pressing gently on the solids to extract all liquid.
6. Thin the sauce with a half-liter each of game stock and game marinade (mixed in equal proportion). Skim and degrease (dépouiller) the sauce for 40 minutes while reducing it to 1 liter.
7. Finally pass the sauce through cheesecloth (étamine). Finish by mounting with 15 grams of butter.