Easy red wine sauce

Last weekend we decided to have a couple of roast duck breasts from our local butchers (Haywards in North Parade, Tonbridge - first class meat and the friendliest staff ever!) and wanted to use some of @TonbridgeDaily's blackberry and cassis jelly in the sauce.  It turned out so well I couldn't resist taking a picture and was from this meal that I became motivated to start this food type blog.


For the easiest red wine sauce ever...


Finely chop a shallot and sweat it down in a thoroughly sinful amount of butter.  I used about a third of a pack and even added a bit more right at the end.  When it's nice and soft add an organic beef stock cube mixed in about half a point of boiled water and about the same amount again of red wine.  Stir it in and then reduce down until it's lovely and silky and gloopy.  Put it though a sieve into a clean pan and don't forget to squeeze through all the soft bits of onion to get every last bit of yumminess out of it.  At this point I added about three teaspoons of the jelly and gave it a good stir.  I used unsalted butter and so seasoned it at this point but if you use salted butter have a taste first.  Warm through when you're ready and serve it up.


It went absolutely perfectly with the duck but I imagine would work just as well with any sort of game.  Without the jelly it would go equally as well with a nice bit of beef, too.

We had our usual roast potatoes and braised red cabbage to accompany the duck.