Burgers Class

<p>Grant Crilly is the Executive Director and cofounder of ChefSteps. Grant is a classically trained chef and, prior to ChefSteps, he worked on the award-winning cookbook series Modernist Cuisine and cooked at various restaurants, including L’Astrance in Paris, Busaba in Mumbai, and Mistral Kitchen in Seattle.</p>

Grant Crilly

<p>Though the French canon does not technically categorize a demi-glace as a “mother sauce”—those sauces from which numerous others are derived—this sauce is, in fact, the springboard for many recipes and is commonly considered fundamental. A demi-glace, or “half-glaze,” is made by cooking a rich veal or beef stock down until its volume has reduced by up to 90 percent, which results in a viscous, highly flavorful liquid perfect for drizzling over meat, vegetables, burgers, or <a href="new-school-poutine">poutine</a>. But cooking down the natural gelatin to create that characteristic sticky, viscous texture also zaps a lot of the flavor. We solve this problem by adding confectioners’ glucose syrup to a sauce we reduce by 85 percent. It adds hardly any sweetness; instead, it yields a sauce with just the right mouthfeel, without the stickiness.</p>

Beef Demi-Glace