Butter Sauce

It's the sort of thing chefs do at the last minute to add flavor and give a better presentation to their dishes. There are any number of variations, none of which are all that stable. Which means they need to be made at the last minute or they will either curdle or separate.

First I'll explain how I do it, and then I'll give you a more stable version that also requires a bit more care.

Let's suppose we want a lemon butter sauce for a pan-fried fillet of fish. In the same pan in which I cooked the fish, I would simply squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, stir into that about half a cup of cream and bubble it through while stirring.

As it thickens, I would drop in a walnut-sized knob of butter, whisk lightly and adjust the seasoning with a little salt and white pepper.

Very simple, as you can see, and it takes seconds to do. You can either sit the fish on this or spoon the sauce over the fillet, whichever you prefer.

If you prefer a more stable sauce that will hold together for a while, try the following:

Ingredients

3tbs sifted flour
15g [1/2oz] butter
1.25 cups lightly salted boiling water
1 egg yolk
2tbs cream
1tsp lemon juice*
30g [1oz] extra of butter

Method
Melt the butter in a pan and and stir in the flour. This makes a roux, to which you gradually add the boiling water while stirring. This needs to cook for about 2 minutes, but don't allow it to come back to the boil. If it tries to, take it off the heat and stir vigorously

Beat the egg yolk into the cream. Take your sauce off the heat completely and gradually beat the egg/cream mixture into it, followed by the lemon juice.

You should now have your sauce with some butter left over. Drop this on top of the sauce in four pieces and allow these to melt, covering the top of the sauce. This will prevent a skin forming. When you are ready to serve the sauce, and not before, whisk this butter layer into it.

If this sauce does separate for any reason, you can usually rescue it by adding a tablespoon of hot water and beating well.

*This is a basic recipe and as such you can use any fruit juice you like as a flavoring, including orange, grape or even tomato juice. You could also leave out the flavoring altogether for a pure butter sauce.

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First published on Qassia