Stock-Based Rioja Jus
Rioja reduced hard onto a beef stock the kitchen already holds.
The service kitchen's route to the same sauce. Where the long jus builds its own stock from bones and trimmings over an afternoon, this one starts from a strong beef stock that is already made, and gets there in an hour and a half.
Approximately 600 ml
This is where the dish gains its depth. Take the shallots to deep golden, not pale: ten minutes of real colour is what separates this from a wine reduction.
Ingredients
- Quality beef stock750 ml
- Rioja red wine500 ml
- Shallots, large, finely sliced2 each
- Garlic, cloves2 each
- Tomato paste1 tbsp
- Thyme, sprigs2 each
- Bay leaf1 each
- Sherry vinegar15 ml
- Cold butter30 g
Method
Finely slice the shallots and cook them in a saucepan with a small amount of olive oil until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and cook it for about 2 minutes, allowing it to caramelise slightly.
Deglaze with the Rioja and add the garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Reduce by approximately 70 percent, until you are left with about 150 ml.
Add the beef stock, bring to a simmer and reduce slowly to a target volume of approximately 500 ml.
Pass through a fine chinois and return it to a clean saucepan.
Add the sherry vinegar, and whisk in the cold butter immediately before service. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon beautifully.
Chef’s notes
- It is not the same recipe as the Rioja Jus in this Book, and neither replaces the other. That one roasts bones and trimmings and builds its stock as part of the preparation. This one assumes the stock is already made, which is the situation most service kitchens are actually in.
Keeping
DUKAI storage guidance
Cool it quickly rather than leaving it on the pass: to below 21°C within about two hours, and to 5°C or below within a further four. At 5°C or below, use within 3 to 4 days, or freeze it. Reduce and store it unmounted: the butter goes in immediately before service, as the recipe says, and a mounted sauce splits when it is reheated.
Allergens and diet
Milk, from the butter. Sulphites, from the wine.
Also in the Recipe Book
Last refined · September 2026