The sauce is boss. I totally stole that from Sweet Baby Rays, but for real, Beurre Blanc is some serious business. And by serious, I mean it contains two of my favorite things – booze and butter. You can’t really go wrong. Except if you’re concerned about your arteries and long term health. But hey, we’re dealing with technique and hopefully eating in moderation, so a little won’t hurt you.

So the sauce is an emulsion of reduced wine and butter. Some folks also add additional ingredients, such as aromatics, vinegar, heavy cream, etc. You mix the wine and if you’d like, vinegar, bring to a boil and reduce to almost nothing – think for a bottle of wine and half a cup of white wine vinegar, you’re reducing the liquid to about half a cup. When the liquid is reduced, you whisk in about a stick of cold butter (I use frozen), a piece/chip at a time until the sauce becomes this luxuriously thick and velvety piece of heaven.

Tonight I started with a bottle of chardonnay, some vinegar, and dehydrated chopped onion. When the liquid reduced to about a cup, I strained out the onion and continued to reduce it to about half a cup. I added my butter, salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and a bit of sugar. I wanted more sauce, so I also whisked in a bit of heavy cream (make sure it’s room temperature to avoid breaking the emulsion). I’m not sure if the higher up food professionals of the world approve of this or not, but this sauce can be made ahead of time and reheated. Now I’m (even more) excited for tomorrow’s dinner party).

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