Beurre Blanc Sauce with VerJus

Beurre blanc, or white butter, is a classic and delicious French wine and butter sauce. Versatile and simple to make, beurre blanc has a light texture and rich flavor that goes great with different types of seafood. A fantastic sauce to really dress up shrimp, seared scallops, pork or roasted chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons shallots, finely minced  · 
• Pepper, to taste  ·   
• unsalted butter, cut into pieces (best use Williamson French Butter)  ·  4 ounces 
• Truffle salt or salt  ·  ¼  teaspoon 
• Sauvignon Blanc or similar white wine  ·  ¼  cup 
• sprig Thyme  ·  1 
• VerJus or freshly squeezed lemon juice or white wine vinegar  ·  ½  cup 

Instructions

Originating in Loire Valley cuisine, Beurre blanc [fr:/ white butter ] is a rich, hot butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar and white wine with grey shallots into which cold, whole butter is blended off the heat to prevent separation.

In a non-aluminum saucepan, combine thyme and shallots with the wine. Reduce a glace (until it turns thick and syrupy). Add the lemon juice or vinegar and again reduce a glace.

Remove from heat and add one chunk of butter, stirring with a whisk to blend. Slowly add all the pieces of butter until well combined. This technique is called monter au beurre, to finish, or "mount" a sauce with butter. If you need to return the sauce to the heat to incorporate all the butter then do it over very low heat, or the sauce will break.

Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer and serve immediately over seared scallops, shrimp, pork loin or roasted chicken.

This recipe will provide about ¾ cup of sauce but it's easy to double or triple up the quantities.

We recommend VerJus but you may substitute 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice or white wine or Champagne vinegar. Other recommendations are to use our Williamson Italian Truffle Salt and our Extra Fine French Butter with Fleur de Sel .