First thing I thought when I read that recipe. Either that, or they have a jet engine for a burner and a 20" wide pan.
I find even the good recipes will often underestimate the time to reduce. But you are also right in that reducing water will simply yield less water, not thickened water, and there is very little gelatin in commercial broths/stocks for it to thicken properly in a sauce. I find cornstarch simpler to use than gelatin, but gelatin leaves a better mouth feel. Flour is better used at the beginning, not to thicken at the end (IMNSHO).
I just looked up a gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill), and I would not use it to thicken sauces unless you’re willing to risk needing to throw your sauce out. Way too many different starches in there.
If you need to make a gluten-free sauce, any powdered starch will do, but each will add its own flavor and texture, and require its own technique. In addition to cornstarch, I’ve used ground dried chickpeas (I think that may be common in Indian food - my curries taste more authentic with it).
I’ve also used arrowroot, which in addition to being gluten-free is low-calorie, because it only takes a fraction of the amount of arrowroot vs. flour. That also makes it cheaper, so I associate the flavor with cheap gravy.
Onion cooking is actually a little bit of a joke in cooking communities. I’ve read many threads making fun of directions around caramelizing onions; I don’t know if recipe writers are afraid to scare folks or what, but there are so many recipes that say “cook onions for 10 to 15 minutes until they’re dark golden brown and caramelized.”
Anyone who’s caramelized onions knows that 10-15 minutes results in slightly brown not caramelized onions. A good dark caramelizing takes a looooong time. Like 40+ minutes, and lots of stirring.
I think you’re right that recipe writers do that so folks won’t take a gander at “40 plus minutes, stirring throughout”, and say, “Oh HELL no!” and go on to another recipe.
Lots of recipes also say, “Saute onions until translucent”. That doesn’t happen in ten minutes either.
I don’t saute onions that long, just until they’re a little soft and shiny. I don’t know if my cooking suffers for it, but nobody has died or anything.
So I went to the store yesterday and got the gelatin. They also had a broth that was “Bone broth” and the description on the box was something like “made from simmering meat and bones”
Would that be worthwhile getting, does anyone know?
I’d guess it has more gelatin than garden-variety grocery store stock, but it’s still not going to be all that much thicker. It might work though, although adding gelatin yourself is probably more controllable, I’d guess.
Probably not. “Bone broth” is an in-thing, so manufacturers are capitalizing on it. Doubtful you’ll get the same benefits from mass-produced bone broth as you would from home-made.
My guess is the same. One way to check is just put it in the fridge. Does it gel or at least somewhat thicken? When I make broth or stock, my liquid gels when I put it in the fridge, as I use plenty of bones and meat with connective tissue in its making. This is what you need when you want a broth/stock that will properly reduce to coat the back of a spoon or leave trails.
First, why does a 3lb pork loin end up being TWO separate 1 1/2 pound pork loins when you bring it home? I studied the package looking for any indication, but nothing was there. Damn that was annoying.
I used the gelatin, but I’m not sure if it helped. I had to boil the sauce for a good 15 minutes to reduce it enough (before the heavy cream).
Also, if for some reason a poster wants to use that recipe, go easy on the peppercorn coating. The loin turned out more peppery then we liked.
The sauce itself turned out saltier than it should have been, not sure why. But putting it on the meat and eating with mashed potatoes made it pretty good.
A positive note, my kids ate everything in about 3 minutes and said they liked it, so I consider that a success
Too late to edit the above, but note there is no such thing as a 3 lb pork tenderloin - 1.5 lbs is about as large as a tenderloin cut can get…a loin cut OTOH can be 5 lbs or more.
Ah, that could be my problem. They are all together at the commissary and last time I picked a 4 lb one which was a bit too big. So this time I was happy they had an almost 3 pound one. Of course, it ended up being 2 separate pieces of meat when I opened the package.
If you season sauces to your taste before you reduce them, they will be overpowering at the table because you’ll have concentrated them by boiling off some of the water. Undersalt at the start and re-assess at the end.
What was the sauce? Red wine, beef stock and cream? Try it with unsalted beef stock. I often find the regular storebought stocks and broths too salty as well.
Exactly, if you’re significantly reducing stock to make a sauce, use the low salt version of the stock. There are times I’ve even diluted that with water (plus gelatin so it will thicken) to reduce the salt level. It may not be as “beefy” but it is still good.
Ooooh yeah, forgot about the salt in store-bought broth. Always use low-salt.
Hell, by the time you dig around for low-salt broth and add gelatin and all that, why not just make your own broth? You can even pre-reduce it if you want (I do that sometimes) so you can skip that step when making sauces. If you have a freezer, you can make a batch on a rainy weekend and keep it around all the time. Or make small batches as needed using a pressure cooker or instant pot.
Really, if there’s one easy thing you can do to up your cooking game and make sauces easy to make, it’s making your own broth. Yes, it takes a while if you’re not doing the pressure cooker method, but assuming you have a freezer, you only do it every few months or less and it’s a game-changer.
They are all together at the commissary and last time I picked a 4 lb one which was a bit too big. So this time I was happy they had an almost 3 pound one. Of course, it ended up being 2 separate pieces of meat when I opened the package.