Brown Butter

Brown butter (aka Beurre noisette) is one of those magical secret ingredients that just seems to enhance the flavour of just about anything - sweet or savoury. It has a rich nutty taste and the aroma is out of this world.

2 sticks (½ cup) butter

Toss one stick of butter into a small saucepot and heat it until it melts. Because butter contains as much as twenty percent water it will begin to steam and foam. Once the water has evaporated the foam will subside and the butter’s temperature will begin to rise past the boiling point of water. The milk fat solids that make up one or two percent of the butter will then begin to brown. Continue heating as the butter begins foaming a second time. Swirl it gently, watching the colour and until it releases the aroma of toasting nuts. 

Golden Brown Butter:
When you first start to see the milk solids appear, pull the pan off the stove now for something that would be great incorporated into a salad dressing or over a vegetable dish, like roasted carrots with hazelnuts and brown butter.

Brown-Brown Butter:
Even 15 seconds further, the milk solids get just a touch darker. This slightly darker means slightly richer in flavour, adding the perfect intricacies to finish pasta or fish dishes.

Blackened Brown Butter:
At this point, you may think, I've burned it, it's ruined! For some people, a very dark brown butter can read on the palate as “burnt” even though it technically isn’t. Brown butter taken this far is great chilled and then creamed into baked goods. 

Immediately pour the browned butter into a bowl to stop it from browning further.

Makes ½ cup.