Kitchen Basics: Beurre Blanc Sauce

Here's my version of Buerre Blanc Sauce, which is just a fancy way to say tangy butter sauce. It literally means "white butter" in French.

This sauce especially delicious over vegetables, pan-roasted chicken, fish, and shellfish.

Buerre Blanc Sauce
makes 1/4 cup
cooking time: about 10 minutes
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Ingredients
1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 shallot, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper (white pepper is traditional)

Directions
Place the shallot in a medium saucepan with the white wine and vinegar. While gently stirring, cook over medium heat until reduced to about two tablespoons (about 6 minutes). Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to cool a little bit.

With the burner on low heat, add a few cubes of butter at a time and whisk them into the shallot/wine/vinegar reduction. Each batch of butter cubes should be pretty much emulsified before adding the next batch.

Once all of the butter has been added, add the parsley. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

A few notes on this sauce

Buerre Blanc Sauce should be used as close as possible to actual serving time. To keep it warm, the sauce pan may be placed into a shallow pan of simmering water.

Make sure not to overheat the sauce when adding the butter. It won't affect the taste, but it will change the texture by causing the butter to separate.

Source for Ingredients

organic unsalted butter and white wine vinegar from Whole Foods

shallots and Italians parsley from West Hollywood Farmers Market

white wine from Trader Joe's