# Diane Sauce - Steak Diane



## storm-louise (Sep 6, 2007)

Hi all.  

For a few weeks I've been trying to track down a really GOD recipe for Diane Sauce.   Can any one please help me.

Storm


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 6, 2007)

I am unfamiliar with the sauce, though I have heard of it.  So I did a Google search and found a good number of recipes.Most call for butter, cream, shallots, and tomato sauce.  Several called for the addition of congac or brandy and for the sauce to be flambe'd at the tabel.  I don't recomend this for most home cooks as it can be dangerous.  Just enter "Diane Sauce, Recipes" in the search space and hit go.  You will get a host of recipes.  Compare them and find out what they have in common and you will usually be able to come up with a very good sauce.  Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## BreezyCooking (Sep 6, 2007)

Cognac is definitely traditional (& in my opinion essential) for Steak Diane. However, you do not have to flambe it. Just add the cognac & simmer it down. Same difference without the drama or risk. 

However, in all the times I've enjoyed this dish in restaurants or made it myself, I've never come across or seen a recipe that asked for tomato sauce. That simply isn't Steak Diane, nor is it traditional to the sauce. Traditional basic ingredients are butter, cream, shallots, sliced mushrooms, freshly ground black pepper, & cognac or brandy. 

Goodweed - exactly how many recipes did you come across that claim tomato sauce is an ingredient of a "Diane" sauce?  I've really never seen that before, in recipes or in restaurants.


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## jennyema (Sep 6, 2007)

I haven't made it for years, but "Steak Diane" -- by definition -- is a thin steak quickly sauteed in butter and flambeed with cognac, which is turned into a creamy pan sauce by the addition of W-sauce and cream. Usually mushrooms and shallots are sauteed along with the meat so that they fortify the sauce.

Flambeeing is actually much easier and safer than people may think. Make sure you take the pan off the heat. Make sure that nothing is above the pan and add the cognac and light it with a match. Keep the pan's lid nearby if things go awry.


Here's a Saveur recipe that uses Madeira and does not flame. Saveur - Steak Diane


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 6, 2007)

Here are some links:

Diane Sauce - Allrecipes

Simply Recipes: Heidi's Steak Diane Recipe

Diane Sauce recipe - Best Recipes

Yahoo! Answers - How do you make Dianne sauce for steak. The creamy way if poss.?

Diane Sauce Recipe | Recipezaar

After further research, I too found that the original Diane Sauce has no tomato sauce in it.  But evedently, there are recipes that do.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## BreezyCooking (Sep 6, 2007)

I stand corrected - there actually are recipes out there that call for tomato paste or sauce.  One of the above recipes even called for bacon!!  But I'd still be mighty disappointed if I ordered Steak Diane in a restaurant & it came out with any hint of tomatoes (or bacon) in it.  Just give me the cognac, peppercorns, & cream any time!! : )


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## Caine (Sep 6, 2007)

BreezyCooking said:


> But I'd still be mighty disappointed if I ordered Steak Diane in a restaurant & it came out with any hint of tomatoes (or bacon) in it.


 
I don't think anyone has EVER been disappointed by the inclusion of bacon in anything!


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## storm-louise (Sep 7, 2007)

Hey all.  Thanks so much for your input help and info.  Im not so sure on the flambe'd thingy but it sounds like it involves a blow torch.    Thanks again.  Storm


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## Andy M. (Sep 7, 2007)

If you add cognac, it is easy to ingnite with a match or the gas flame on your stove.  You have to be careful and add the cognac to the pan away from the burner to prevent premature ignition that could surprise you.


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## BreezyCooking (Sep 7, 2007)

Oh, & also - never EVER stand directly over a warm or hot pan as you add any sort of alcohol.  As Andy M. stated, you could be unpleasantly surprised (& end up looking like Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld" when he opened a letter bomb & blew his eyebrows off - LOL!!!).


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 7, 2007)

BreezyCooking said:


> Oh, & also - never EVER stand directly over a warm or hot pan as you add any sort of alcohol. As Andy M. stated, you could be unpleasantly surprised (& end up looking like Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld" when he opened a letter bomb & blew his eyebrows off - LOL!!!).


 
I haven't done it from cooking, but have blown my eybrows off before.  Let's just say that I should have known better.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed if the North


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## Fisher's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Goodweed of the North said:


> I haven't done it from cooking, but have blown my eybrows off before.  Let's just say that I should have known better.
> 
> Seeeeeya; Goodweed if the North


I've done this before with my old boiler in the basement - it was NOT a good look for me.


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## Caine (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, at least if you're a woman, you can paint them back on without too many strange looks.


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## BreezyCooking (Sep 7, 2007)

Unlike Uncle Leo & his Magic Marker - lol!!!!!


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## Fisher's Mom (Sep 7, 2007)

Caine said:


> Well, at least if you're a woman, you can paint them back on without too many strange looks.


That's so true. A young friend of once showed up desperately seeking help. Seems he and a group of friends had spent the  night before "celebrating" way too much and he woke up with shaved eyebrows! Sadly, he was to stand in his brother's wedding that day. He begged my daughter and I to help him pencil in eyebrows so his mother wouldn't kill him when she got a look at him. We did the best we could but he looked very strange, to say the least!


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## ironchef (Sep 7, 2007)

If it has tomato sauce or tomatoes in it, it's not Steak Diane, it's an entirely different sauce. It would be like adding tomatoes to a demi with peppercorns and still calling it "sauce au poivre". The person who wrote the recipe might say, "oh well, that's my version of sauce Diane." Fine, but call it something else.


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## LEFSElover (Sep 7, 2007)

Paula Deen was on today while I was resting and she was making a chicken Divan. it looked like something I might make for a crowd like when all the kids and their family are over. Then I remembered seeing this and after looking it up, this may help you.

Steak Diane Recipe: Recipes: Food Network


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## ironchef (Sep 7, 2007)

LEFSElover said:


> Paula Deen was on today while I was resting and she was making a chicken Divan. it looked like something I might make for a crowd like when all the kids and their family are over. Then I remembered seeing this and after looking it up, this may help you.
> 
> Steak Diane Recipe: Recipes: Food Network


 
That recipe isn't Steak Diane either. It's just steak with a mushroom sauce. 

This is probably the closest recipe that I can find online for an authentic Steak Diane. The "sauce base" that they are referring to is veal or beef stock. If you don't want to make it from scratch, buy a good quality (low, or no-sodium if possible) boxed or instant veal/beef broth and reduce it.


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## Caine (Sep 7, 2007)

LEFSElover said:


> Paula Deen was on today while I was resting and she was making a chicken Divan.


 
Chicken Divan?  I've heard of a couch *POTATO*, but never a couch *CHICKEN*!


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## Jeekinz (Sep 7, 2007)

Emeril's version isn't to shabby.

Steak Diane Recipe: Recipes: Food Network


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 7, 2007)

IC;  You stated that there is nothing tomato in steak Diane.  and from further research, I believe that to be correct.  Here is another link to something that I would think matches the traditional Diane Sauce.

The Legacy of the Huntress - Steak Diane

Hope this helps.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## BreezyCooking (Sep 7, 2007)

Now THAT'S a recipe GoodWeed - lol!!!  And lots of great background info - THANKS!  

In fact, the recipe I've used is pretty identical to that one, &, since my husband doesn't eat red meat, I've even used it to sauce turkey cutlets.  Would that be a "Turkey Diane"?  Lol!!!!!!


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## ironchef (Sep 7, 2007)

Goodweed of the North said:


> IC; You stated that there is nothing tomato in steak Diane. and from further research, I believe that to be correct. Here is another link to something that I would think matches the traditional Diane Sauce.
> 
> The Legacy of the Huntress - Steak Diane
> 
> ...


 
That's pretty close to the recipe that I found as well. In both recipes, if in fact there is any tomato, it is only that which is used to make the stock.


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## storm-louise (Sep 7, 2007)

I really cant wait to try some of these recipes.  I definitely know where to come when I need advice again.  i know now that u DONT use tomato of any description, that brandy or cognac is a must and that there is a lot of recipes on the net.
Thanks guys
Storm


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