Secret Steak Sauce

I got an email yesterday from my mom including a recipe with the below message attached:

"My siblings have been sending emails back and forth about steak sauce they and Gramps especially loved in a restaurant we used to frequent while living in Geneva. It seems the chef took the recipe with him to the grave. They have been searching for similar ones that are served in other French restaurants in Europe and the USA and have come up with a recipe close to the original" 

Immediately after I received the recipe I knew I just had to make it for dinner.  My mom has a special place in her heart for Swiss/French cuisine after living throughout Europe growing up.  She is always the first to school me on whether a fondue at a restaurant is made the Swiss way or the American way.  She's particular about the gooey chocolate sauce that they serve over waffles for desserts at Swiss restaurants, it has to be just as she remembers it from when she was a girl or she writes the place off as not authentically Swiss.  My mom remembers the flavors of her childhood much more vividly than I can recall mine.  So I knew I had to make this secret french sauce that was a favorite of my Grandpa's and the rest of my mom's siblings years ago in Geneva!

Secret French Steak Sauce

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 large shallots

3 cloves garlic

2 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon white pepper

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 bunch tarragon

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Peel and slice the shallots.  Peel and roughly chop the garlic.  Add the olive oil to a small pan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook until slightly colored.  Add the chicken stock and simmer for three minutes.

Pull the tarragon leaves off the stem and put them in the blender or food processor.  Add the remaining ingredients to the blender.  Carefully pour the chicken stock mixture into the blender.  Puree until completely smooth.  Pour back into the pan and bring to a boil.  Cook for one minute.  If the sauced is too thin, simmer for a few more minutes.  Pour over slices of medium rare (or as you like it) strip steak or your choice of steak.  

Serves 8.

 It turned out delicious.  I actually think this sauce would work just as nicely over flaky white fish.  The only mistake I made was using honey mustard instead of dijon (it's all I had in the kitchen, and after searching THREE grocery stores for tarragon I wasn't about to go out again just for mustard.  Why was all of Portland buying out the tarragon reserves yesterday?)  I think dijon would have added that horseradish taste this sauce needed.  But otherwise it was very tasty!  
This sauce has a nice green herbal taste from the tarragon, a little bit of a bite from the vinegar, and rounds out nice and salty from the anchovy paste.  I served it with a zucchini casserole and crusty bread to sop up any extra sauce!  I'm told it's authentically served with pommes frites, but until the day I install a deep fryer in my kitchen (read: never) I'll settle with crusty bread. Bon appetit!