How to Make a Butter Based Sauce

Butter helps make a creamy fish sauce.

Any dish can be transformed into a French delicacy with the addition of a fragile butter sauce. Cooking butter over low heat keeps the fat from separating, creating a salty cream that can be used for a base. The butter is added last to keep it from separating, while other ingredients are reduced to allow room for the butter's flavor. These sauces can be used on any meat dish, though typically they top the light tastes of white fish.

Things You'll Need

• 2 Medium sized saucepans
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 oz white wine vinegar
• 2 Shallots
• 2 sticks butter
• Whisk
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 beet
• Rosemary
• 1 cup red wine
• Strainer

Instructions

Beurre Blanc

1. Simmer white wine, white wine vinegar, and shallots in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the mixture until it is equal to two tablespoons.

2. Cut the sticks of butter into tablespoon sized slices. Reduce the heat of the saucepan to the lowest setting.

3. Add the first slice of butter to the pan and whisk continuously. When the first slice of butter is fully melted, add the next slice. Repeat until all the butter is melted into the sauce. Remove from heat immediately and serve.

Beurre Monte

1. Boil three tablespoons water and spices of your choice over high heat.

2. Slice the butter into tablespoon sized slices.

3. Reduce the heat of the water to low. Add each slice of butter and whisk until it has melted into the sauce. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the sauce directly on the fish before it has cooked.

Beurre Rouge

1. Cook sliced beets and a touch of rosemary in a pan with a tablespoon of butter for six minutes.

2. Add red wine. Cook the sauce until it is reduced to 1/4 cup. Strain the sauce into the second saucepan. Discard the beets and rosemary.

3. Whisk the butter into the second saucepan one tablespoon at a time, cooking over low heat. Remove it from the heat and serve immediately.

Tips & Warnings

• Add orange peel to any of these recipes for a citrus taste. Use the beurre monte for poaching fish, since it does not carry the same body as the other two.

References

• Simply Recipes: Orange Beurre Blanc Sauce
• Butter Through the Ages: Butter Sauces