Espagnole Sauce

Directions

1. 1
   Heat a medium saucepan under moderate heat and add your butter.
2. 2
   Let the butter warm up in the pan for just a minute, then add your flour.
3. 3
   Stir the flour until it's incorporated with the butter. You'll want to heat your roux until it's almost the color of peanut butter.
4. 4
   Then you'll want to add your onions, carrots, and celery.
5. 5
   Give it a good stir to incorporate the vegetables in with the roux.
6. 6
   Cook the mixture until your vegetables start to caramelize, about 3-5 minutes. Then add your tomato puree, aka ketchup.
7. 7
   Give it a good stir to incorporate the ketchup into the vegetable/roux mixture.
8. 8
   Then slowly add in your cold beef stock, while stirring. You want to do it slowly so that you don't get any lumps.
9. 9
   Once you have all your stock in the saucepan, bring mixture to a boil for about 3-5 minutes. This is to ensure that you cook out your starch in your flour.
10. 10
    Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until mixture is thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
11. 11
    Then you'll want to strain your mixture.
12. 12
    And season it to taste with salt and pepper.