A slight twist on my original red wine gravy recipe, this spiced red wine sauce is the perfect accompaniment for rich meats such as duck or venison or pork.
The flavour is rich and moreish and by adding some asian inspired spices, star anise, cloves and Szechuan pepper corns the sauce has a hint of a mulled wine taste about it.
Prep time 5mins
Cooking time 30mins
2tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and roughly diced
2 garlic cloves, squashed with the back of a spoon.
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, or 1.5tsp of dried
2 tbsp butter
1.5tbsp plain flour
300ml red wine
2 star anise
5 whole cloves
1/2 tsp whole szechaun peppercorns
1tbsp cranberry or redcurrant jelly (alternatively you could use 1tbsp brown sugar or honey for sweetness)
400ml chicken stock
In a deep frying pan, heat the olive oil on a medium heat.
Add the shallots, crushed garlic cloves and thyme and gently sauté for 8-10mins until nicely cooked, stirring every now and again.
Now add the salt, pepper and 1tbsp of butter, cook for 1 minute.
Once the butter has melted add the plain flour and cook for 3mins, stirring often until the flour is cooked out.
Now add the red wine, star anise, cloves and peppercorns and turn the heat up, this will allow the alcohol to cook out of the wine, about 4 mins.
Once the wine has reduced by half (this will happen quicker then normal because the flour will thicken it) add the chicken stock.
Lower the heat to medium and again allow the liquid to reduce by half.
After it has reduced strain the liquid through a sieve, and into a small saucepan.
Have a taste and tweak the seasoning, you may want to add a little more sweetness if it tastes a little sharp for your taste, but only add very little at a time, don't forget the golden rule, you can always add more but you can never take it back out.
You can leave your delicious homemade gravy to one side and heat gently when required or use it straight away, either way a few mins before you need it, pop it onto a low heat and add the second tbsp of butter and stir until it has melted in, this will enrich your gravy and give it a real silky finish.
if you make too much you can always freeze for later.
