I'm still surprised by the number of smart, capable cooks--yes, even a couple staffers here at BA--who get skittish whenever they see two words in a recipe: brown butter. Browning butter is the complete opposite of a fussy extra step. It's fast, easy, and it transforms butter's flavor into something nutty, complex, and noticeable. When butter is browned it becomes more than a background ingredient. It earns a starring role.
That's true whether it's baked into Alice Medrich's knockout brownies from a recent issue, drizzled over a bowl of pasta with a handful of sage, or standing alone as a sauce for fresh, pan-fried fish. So, if you haven't yet, let your butter spend some quality time in a saucepan. Before you know it, you'll start sneaking it into anything and everything.
Here's how to make brown butter:
- Cut the butter into cubes and put it in a saucepan over high heat.
- The butter will foam and you'll see large bubbles form; this isthe water in the butter evaporating out, leaving butterfat and milksolids behind.
- Swirl the pan frequently throughout melting and browning, todistribute heat and prevent the butter from burning. The whole processonly takes a few minutes.
- When the foam subsides, you'll begin to smell the butter andnotice its milk solids - tiny flecks - turning brown. Turn off theheat. If you like a deeper, darker flavor you can keep going for a fewseconds longer, but the butter will continue to darken even once theburner's off.
Culinary school students often learn to make brown butter by practicing the classic dish Sole a la Meuniere. Meuniere is both a method of cooking fish by dredging it in flour and the name of the brown butter sauce traditionally served alongside. To make this sauce--and this approach is great with trout,sole, or any firm white fish---squeeze half a lemon directlyinto the hot butter to stop further browning. Add a few grinds of pepperand generous pinches of salt (because the liquid is all fat, it canabsorb aggressive seasoning), and you're done. You could easily do this while your just-cooked fish rests before serving. And ifthat's just TOO easy for you, add a handful of chopped parsley (this addition makes it a classic Meuniere sauce), orthrow in some capers and call it Grenobloise!
See, wasn't that simple? And now you've got a new BFF (butter friend forever).
