Here's recipe 1 (steps in making au jus):
1) Common to both recipes is to sautee (can I use that word here?) 1 chopped medium carrot, 1 chopped stalk of celery, and chopped 1/2 yellow onion in 2 tablespoons butter. The french have fancy word for this but I like to call it vegetables cooked in butter. I cook the vegetables until the onions become almost transparent and celery starts to lose its color. I cooked my vegetables in a non-stick skillet but a stainless steel one would be better IMHO so you get some good brown stuff sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Brown stuff =
2) Add 11 ounces of Kitchen Basics Beef Cooking Stock to the pan (you can get this or something similar at the store) and bring to a boil. Scrape the bottom of pan to loosen up all the brown stuff. Reduce heat and simmer until volume reduced by half.
3) Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and discard the vegetables.
4) Add the liquid back to the skillet and turn heat to low. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste and add about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspooon Worcestershire sauce. Enjoy!
The 2nd recipe is identical to the above recipe except I added 1 10-1/2 oz can of Campbells Beef Consomme to the pan instead of the beef stock. On step 4, I season the same but added another tablespoon butter to the sauce. I did this because the consomme has a deeper flavor than the beef stock and the butter helps to mellow it out a little without diluting it. I'd also add less Worcestershire sauce to this one.
In my house, we all liked the first recipe better (using the beef stock) because the flavor was very beefy yet it wasn't too overpowering. The consomme was a little overpowering and masked the flavor of the prime rib too much. Your taste buds might disagree. We all agreed, however, that the au jus made with the beef consomme would be excellent as a french dip for prime rib sandwiches or philly cheesesteak sandwiches.
The sauteed vegetables definitely added to the overall flavor of both.
So, give 'em a try and let me know what you think.
