Beurre Blanc

There are many variations of beurre blanc recipes; all basically the same:Beurre blanc -- white butter. Yep, this sauce is mostly just butter...with a bit of white wine. Hard to get a good photo before it started to melt and thin. Serve it over fish, chicken, vegetables... This is a combination-compromise between a couple recipes from chefs I trust. I may tweak it a bit - especially depending on what I plan to serve it over. The lemon juice was a nice compliment with the fish, but not all recipes use lemon. Many do not use any white wine vinegar, but rather all white wine. I love the tanginess of the vinegar; but I should try it sometime made with all/only wine instead. Some recipes strain out the shallots; others made no mention of straining. They add extra zing (since they've been cooked in the wine/vinegar). But I like the smooth presentation without them.


Ingredients
¾ C butter; cut to small dice
¼ C dry white wine
¼ C white wine vinegar
1 small shallot, minced
pinch salt
pinch white pepper
1 t lemon juice

Directions
Combine wine, vinegar, shallot, salt and pepper in small saucepan. Simmer until reduced to 1-1½ tablespoons. Remove from heat. Whisk in about 2 tablespoons of butter - in small chunks. Return to very low heat (don't let it boil, the sauce will separate); continue adding butter chunks, whiskin continually. Remove from heat; whisk in lemon juice. Strain out solids. Serve immediately.