Demi-glace is another French sauce that every self-respecting restaurant keeps on hand. As an apprentice, I prepared it thousands of times for use in a variety of other sauces and dishes.

Also called brown sauce, demi-glace is traditionally prepared with what the French refer to as espagnole sauce (a mixture of brown stock, vegetables, brown roux, and tomatoes), brown stock, and Madeira or sherry. It’s simplified here to create a flavorful sauce you can keep on hand to add intense flavor to a number of dishes.