Beef Au Jus Sauce

Bone Man's Note:

I can no longer abide the packet type au jus -- it's just too salty and the taste just seems to be off somehow. We used to spend hours baking trays of beef bones in the restaurant kitchen to make the best au jus, but who has the time (or the bones?) to do that at home? Anyway, I've been messing with alternative au jus recipes for years, to no avail until NOW. When I bake a beef roast, I elevate it above the bottom of my roasting pan/Dutch oven and then I pour in about 3/4 of a cup of water before I season the roast with salt and pepper. I rarely sear my roasts anymore because they are plenty juicy when I use this method, (e.g., 275 degrees F. for 4 1/2 hours for a 2# roast, covered). Anyway, this yields about 1 cup of drippings at the end, which I use to make my au jus. When I find a perfectly marbled roast, with not too much fat around the outside edges, I find that the drippings are excellent for this recipe because there is just enough fat in the drippings to add a good amount of flavor. In the end, you can use this au jus for anything up to, and including, prime rib -- it's just great. The key ingredients, I think, are the Mrs. Dash, garlic and herb blend, (something I just started using recently), in combination with the Kitchen Bouquet. A small amount of the latter goes a LONG way! I hope you enjoy the ease of preparation and the great flavor of this au jus as much as my own family does!

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 cup beef drippings , from a baked roast, do not drain fat
• 15 ounces beef broth , canned
• ¼ cup water , warm
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
• ½ teaspoon Mrs. Dash onion and herb seasoning
• ½ teaspoon seasoning salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the water and cornstarch and whisk with a fork until the blend is completely dissolved. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, over medium heat, pour in the drippings, broth, Kitchen Bouquet, Mrs. Dash, and seasoned salt and bring to a boil. When it boils, whisk in the cornstarch and water mix and continue whisking until it thickens slightly and then remove from heat.
3. Pour this sauce over any sort of cooked beef or use as a sauce over beef and noodles.
4. NOTE: Sometimes beef drippings can be really salty so add the seasoned salt ONLY after tasting the sauce.

Reviews

[Chef #734257]

I am a HUGE french dip fan and this au jus recipe is the bomb! I encourage you try it with a thin sliced prime rib, grilled sweet yellow onions and pepperjack cheese

[sheepdoc]

This was great! I used Better than Boullion and water for the stock. The beef drippings were mostly fat and didn't come up to 1 cup but I used what there was.

[Chef #712398]

This was great. Thanks a lot.