Beurre blanc meaning white butter in French is an unstable hot emulsion. Meaning that it will curdle, separate or go limp if not done properly. This sauce is part of the nouvelle cuisine repertoire. This sauce is excellent for meat and great for poached or steamed fish fillets. There is 2 types of beurre blanc, one made as shown and the other one has cream added.
I provide a recipe for 2 portions. Multiply the ingredients in the recipe to fit your need.
Needed
- 2 chicken breasts. Notice the size of the chicken breast. For me it is a normal size since the chicken in Kenya is fairly organic or if not you can easily get what I call the road runner or the one freely roaming in fields.
- Flour for dredging
- Oil
- 2 shallots or a small onions finely chopped
- 50 ml of dry white wine
- 15 ml of white wine vinegar
- 100 gr of butter, cubed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chives ( optional)
Method
- Dry the chicken breast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
- Dredge the chicken breast in flour. Shake off the excess and cook under medium heat in a little oil until cooked and nicely colored. Keep aside
- In a small pot put the wine, vinegar, onions or shallot with ½ tsp. of water. Bring to a boil, under medium heat, and reduce to less than half but do not let the mixture dry
- Under low heat now. Add a little butter and whisk until creamy. Bit by bit add the rest of the butter until melted
- Remove the sauce from the heat and pass it through a strainer (optional). Add some chopped chives, return to a very low heat and mix for 30 seconds
- Spoon over the chicken breast