Master Recipe
White Butter Sauce
makes about 2/3 cup
NOTE: The trick
to preparing this rich, luscious sauce is to whisk vigorously as
soon as the butter is added. Fast, continuous whisking ensures that
the butter will soften and emulsify without breaking. This sauce is
served lukewarm. If it gets too hot it will break. We prefer the
texture of this sauce unstrained, with bits of shallot. For a more
refined (and thinner) sauce, you can strain the finished sauce.
Serve with fish, shellfish, chicken breasts, or steamed
vegetables.
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallots
Pinch salt
Dash finely ground black or white pepper
1 tablespoon heavy cream
8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 4 equal pieces
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Stir together wine, vinegar, shallots, salt, and pepper in small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by two-thirds, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk in cream. Raise heat to high and add butter. Whisk vigorously until butter is incorporated and forms a thick, pale yellow sauce, less than 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and use sauce immediately. (Sauce can be held for 15 minutes by covering saucepan and nesting it in a pot with a few inches of warm water.)
VARIATIONS:
Red Butter Sauce
Follow master recipe, replacing white wine with red wine and white wine vinegar with red wine vinegar.
Lemon Butter Sauce
Follow master recipe, replacing vinegar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Add grated zest from 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon) with cream.
Mustard Butter Sauce
Follow master recipe, adding 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard with cream.