Beurre Blanc

By lorik

This delicately flavored sauce is a good way to add richness to fish, shellfish, chicken, and vegetables. Like hollandaise, this butter-based sauce can easily get too hot and “break.” To prevent our sauce from breaking, we add cream to stabilize the emulsion and gradually introduce cold butter to the sauce to keep the temperature consistent.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 small shallot, minced
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled

Preparation

Step 1

Bring wine, vinegar, shallot, and salt to boil in small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by two-thirds, about 5 minutes. Whisk in cream. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition until butter is incorporated and forms thick, pale yellow sauce, 30 to 60 seconds. Remove pan from heat and serve.