GRAIN MUSTARD BEURRE BLANC

Beurre Blanc, the flagship sauce in any seafood restaurant. It goes with almost anything, but it’s exceptional with seafood. It is pictured here with our Pacific Diver Scallops (perfectly caramelized by drying on a towel before seasoning with sea salt and searing in a hot cast-iron pan).

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup white wine 

1/4 cup white wine vinegar 

1 bay leaf

5-10 whole peppercorns

1 small shallot, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon heavy cream

4 ounces (1 stick) of butter, sliced into 8 even pads, kept cold after slicing  

Juice of half a lemon

1/2 teaspoon whole grain dijon mustard*

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt  

DIRECTIONS 

1. Combine first 5 ingredients for the Beurre Blanc (wine, vinegar, bay, peppercorns, and shallot) in a heavy-bottom sauce pan and reduce until the liquid is almost entirely evaporated. Set aside and allow to cool for a few minutes.  
2. Add the heavy cream, bring to a light simmer and begin whisking in the cold butter one pad at a time. Whisk continuously, only adding another pad as the last one melts completely. When all of the butter is added, strain into a bowl and then whisk in the lemon juice, mustard and salt. 
3. Taste for balance adding more lemon juice or salt to your liking. Set this in a warm (not hot!) spot on your stove or in a larger bowl of warm water until ready to use.

*Whole grain mustard is optional. You can try adding other ingredients like a vegetable puree, different types of wine, stocks or demi-glace. Use this as a base recipe, just follow the basic technique to experiment with different flavors.