Reprise

[nonnihil]

Parents in town, so I revisited a success of the past. The flaming step definitely alters the consistency of the sauce -- it gets more viscous and I think less dense (perhaps combustion products act as emulsifiers?). I overcooked the steaks a bit (juggling food for five is much harder than for two, and alters all my timings) but not fatally

Comments

[ukelele]

Fun fact: The Ikea shelves we bought about two months ago, and then discovered were hard to build because they require two people and someone has to be watching the baby, are being busily put together with great aid from nonnihil's dad, so we are about to vastly increase the shelving capacity in our pantry, which should in turn vastly increase the prep space available on the counters. Go, Ikeaman, go!

[dolohov]

Interesting that it gets *less* dense: I would have expected the alcohol to make the sauce a little lighter. Although perhaps you and I use the term differently, as I consume the stuff regularly.

So was it actually this recipe that motivated the visit (as per your previous post)?

My usual technique for cooking for more people is to simply cook more dishes, rather than more of any one thing. That would not have worked in this case, but it might be helpful if your guests are staying much longer.

[nonnihil]

Interesting that it gets *less* dense: I would have expected the alcohol to make the sauce a little lighter. Although perhaps you and I use the term differently, as I consume the stuff regularly.

The volume of the sauce visibly increased, hence my conclusion of lower density. I suspect that the water from the cognac and the oil from the pan were emulsified in the process, and possibly some air or vapor was incorporated. Immediately after the flame was done, the resulting sauce had an almost gelatinous feel to it.

[dolohov]

Huh. Sort of a liquid leavener, then. Interesting! That might be a good question to ask McGee. His book doesn't have it, as far as I can tell, but he is quite polite in answering email.