Beurre Blanc
White wine and shallot reduction mounted with cold butter
From the Loire, and the great butter sauce for fish. No roux and no egg — the emulsion is held together by the butter itself, which is why it must go in cold, piece by piece, off a low heat.
Boil it and it breaks. That is the only rule.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (Muscadet if you have it)
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3 shallots, very finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional, for stability)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- Kosher salt and white pepper
- Lemon juice
Instructions
- Simmer the wine, vinegar and shallots in a heavy saucepan until reduced to about 2 tablespoons of syrupy liquid, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Add the cream if using and bring to a bare simmer. It makes the sauce far more forgiving.
- Reduce the heat to low. Whisk in the cold butter two or three cubes at a time, adding more only when the last has almost disappeared. The sauce should stay creamy and never bubble.
- Strain out the shallots if you want it smooth, or leave them in.
- Season with salt, white pepper and a few drops of lemon. Serve within the half hour, kept barely warm.
Notes
- A thermos is the practical way to hold it. Over direct heat it will split within minutes.
- With red wine in place of white it becomes beurre rouge, for beef.