Roasted Garlic and Herb Beurre Blanc - an Amazing Sauce

Julesong's Note:

We made this sauce recently during class at Culinary Communion - it was intended to go along with the Pork Loin with Spinach and Pernod recipe, but frankly, it went really well on just about everything served with the meal! Especially with the Green Glop (aka Puree Verte, Puree Verte - Potato, Fennel, and Fava Mash). Here's Chef Gabriel Claycamp's recipe for Roasted Garlic and Herb Beurre Blanc - I can assure you that it's a rich, creamy, flavorful, delicious sauce that's well-worth the relatively small effort of making it to accompany your meals! (It's not exactly fat-free, but remember: everything in moderation.) Posted with permission.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3.5 cups, a ...

• 2 cups white wine
• 2 large shallots , minced
• 4 tablespoons chopped roasted garlic
• ½ cup cream or ½ cup half-and-half
• 1 lb butter , cut into cubes and preferably at room temperature
• salt & freshly ground black pepper , to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium temperature, combine the wine, shallots, and garlic, and reduce until the wine just covers the shallots.
2. Add the cream or half and half and reduce again until the mixture is thick and syrupy, stirring occasionally.
3. Reduce the temperature to very low and gradually whisk the pieces of butter into the mixture, one cube at a time (alternately, you can remove it from the heat and - using an immersion blender - emulsify the butter into it one piece at a time; this is the method we used during class).
4. Do not allow the sauce to become either too hot or too cold or it will break.
5. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, stir in the remaining ingredients (the herbs), and serve immediately.
6. Note: we've served this over pork, chicken, rabbit, and vegetables - delicious!
7. Also, feel free to experiment with other herbs than listed above.

Reviews

[cookin' from scratch]

MMM GOOD!!! I only made about a half cup of sauce to test this out but I'll be making more soon! I didn't have any shallots, and for the fresh herbs, I used a mixture-but I'm not really sure what herbs were in there! I'm pretty sure there was no cilantro (I hate cilantro with a passion and I can taste it even in very small amounts). This sauce was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It took some time to reduce the wine, but after that it all came together pretty quickly. I transferred the reduce wine to my "double boiler" (glass bowl on top of saucepan) and the butter went in easily and quickly. I felt like a real gourmet chef, and the house smelled fabulous. Thanks for a great sauce!