SAVEUR EDITORS

Deglazing Tea Sauce

Frédéric Morin and David McMillan, of Montreal restaurants Joe Beef and Liverpool House, are classicists at heart. But sometimes even classicists take shortcuts. It's an old Quebecois kitchen habit to use strong black tea, which has tannins similar to red wine, to deglaze a pan.

MAKES ⅓ CUP

½ cup strong black tea
1-2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

After meat is browned, transfer it to a plate. Add strong black tea and an acid (for poultry, 1–2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, and for red meat, 1–2 tbsp. red wine vinegar); cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet, until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 2 tbsp. cold butter, salt, and pepper.