Beurre Blanc

By John W

Ingredients

• 1 cup of white wine
• 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp finely minced shallots
• 8 oz of cold unsalted butter, which is 1 cup or 2 sticks, cut in cubes

Preparation

Step 1

So, beurre blanc means "white butter." It's a white butter sauce that begins with white wine. So we need:
Heat the Beurre Blanc Ingredients
Into a saucepan we're going to add the wine, vinegar and shallots. Over medium heat we're going to bring that to a simmer and reduce it down by about 75-80%. Don't walk away from it because it will burn quickly, so watch it reduce, until it gets down to this. Now at that point we would turn the heat to low and whisk in our butter, if we were a very old school chef. But, what we're going to do is add 2 tbsp of heavy cream.

Now, there is no cream in real beurre blanc, I want that to be clear. But if you add the cream you have a much higher success rate as the cream will stabilize the emulsification and will help incorporate the butter. So, it's not a must, but it does make it easier for the home cook in my experience.
Whisk in the Butter
If you choose to add the cream let it reduce for 2 minutes, and then turn the heat down to low and begin whisking in the butter, 5 or 6 pieces at a time. I like to wait until about half the butter disappears before adding the next few chucks. Keep doing that until all the butter is gone. It will probably take 6 or 7 additions, and all that butter will be incorporated. Remember this was on the lowest heat setting you have.
Season the Beurre Blanc
Once it's all incorporated, season with salt to taste, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, and your beurre blanc is ready to serve.