Special thanks to Jason from Mountain View, CA. He recently received our perfectly lobster meat and shared this recipe from Epicurious and it was AWESOME with lobster. Once the sauce was complete, he simply thawed the lobster meat and then simmered in the Beurre Blanc sauce for 10 mins.
The Recipe:
This classic French sauce starts by simmering shallots in a mixture of white wine and vinegar until the pot is very nearly dry. Cream is then added to enrich the sauce. (It also aids in the emulsification, causing the wine mixture and butter to combine more easily, which means your sauce will come together quickly and stay rich and luxurious far longer that a sauce without it.) White pepper balances the sauce, giving it an aromatic oomph without the speckling that would come from using black pepper. Straining removes the pieces of shallot, as they’ve already lent all the savory notes they have to give. Feel free to leave them in if you’d like your sauce to have a little texture.
YIELD: Makes about 1 cup
ACTIVE TIME: 15 min
TOTAL TIME: 20 min
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, or to taste
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces and chilled
PREPARATION
Boil wine, vinegar, and shallot in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until liquid is syrupy and reduced to 2 to 3 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add cream, salt, and white pepper and boil 1 minute. Reduce heat to moderately low and add a few tablespoons butter, whisking constantly. Add remaining butter a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly and adding new pieces before previous ones have completely liquefied (the sauce should maintain consistency of hollandaise), lifting pan from heat occasionally to cool mixture.
Remove from heat, then season to taste with salt and pepper and pour sauce through a medium-mesh sieve into a sauceboat, pressing on and then discarding shallot. Serve immediately.
Cooks' Note: Wine mixture can be reduced, and cream and seasoning added, up to 1 hour ahead. Boil cream 1 minute before adding butter.