Butter has to be one of the hardest-working ingredients in the Western larder. It makes cakes tender and sauces silken. It’s a splendid spread all by itself. It’s a reliable fat for pan-frying foods that cook quickly. But heat it too long, and its milk proteins and salts will start to burn.
Some call that brown butter. I call it black magic.
Cooking with brown butter is like listening to Billie Holiday; it adds depth, flavour, mystery and just a shade of burn. Plain butter — well, that’s Doris Day on a warm sunny afternoon.
I have been using brown-butter variations to sauce fish and vegetables for years. A hazelnutty brown-butter sauce — beurre noisette in French — goes well with soft-shell crabs, skate wings, clams and all kinds of delicate white fish.
Ditto asparagus, green beans, cauliflower, squash and mushrooms. In just a few minutes, brown butter will turn a plain pasta or chicken dish into something elegant and luxurious.
Easy Linguine With Scallops and Brown Butter
Preparation time:10 minutes
Makes: 4 servings
Pasta stirred with brown butter and sprinkled with bread crumbs is a comforting dish that can be made in minutes. Add scallops and you have a dish fit for company. You can prepare this in the time it takes to boil pasta. Make it a vegetarian entrée by substituting blanched vegetables (such as asparagus or cauliflower) for the scallops.
16 ounces linguine (may use spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine or other pasta of choice)
6 Tbsp butter
12 large sea scallops (about 1 pound), chopped into quarters
1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup toasted breadcrumbs (preferably homemade), plus more for garnish
2/3 cup chopped parsley
- kosher or sea salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
Boil pasta in a large pot of salted water over medium-high heat until al dente, about eight minutes. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.
While pasta is boiling, melt butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the butter, stirring regularly, until the solids just begin to turn brown, about three minutes. Spoon about 1 teaspoon butter over the breadcrumbs and toss to coat. Add the scallops and cook until they are just cooked through, about one minute.
Remove from heat and stir in garlic and lemon juice. Dump scallops and brown-butter sauce over the pasta. Add breadcrumbs and parsley, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Divide into four large serving bowls and garnish with breadcrumbs.
Linton Hopkins’ Brown Butter Creamed Winter Greens
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Makes: 6-8 servings
This recipe is the handiwork of the James Beard, award-winning chef of Atlanta’s Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch.
For the Bechamel sauce
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp minced shallot
1 small bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
For the greens
6 ounces slab bacon, rind trimmed
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 1/2 pounds baby winter greens (such as collards, mustard greens or kale), stemmed and coarsely chopped
Bechamel sauce (see above)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried hot red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, or to taste
To make the bechamel sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for one minute. Slowly whisk in the milk. Add the shallot, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about five minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl. Press parchment paper or plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the sauce and set aside.
To make the greens: Cut the bacon into 1/2-inch slices. Cut the slices into 1/2-inch-wide sticks. (Note: If you can’t find slab bacon, use the thickest bacon you can find. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown but not crisp, about eight minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain; then pour off the fat from the pot and wipe it clean.
Heat the butter in the pot over medium-low heat until brown and fragrant, about two to three minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about five minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir in the greens one handful at a time, letting each handful wilt before adding the next. Stir in the bechamel sauce, cream, garlic, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the greens are tender and coated with sauce, about 10 minutes. Stir in the bacon and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.
Cynthia Wong’s Brown Butter Hiking Cake With Apples and Pecans
Preparation time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (includes 1 hour cooling time)
Makes: 10-12 servings
Wong, who recently left her position as executive pastry chef at Empire State South to move to London, says her husband named this cake “the hiking cake,” because “if you got lost in the woods, you could survive a week with just a few pieces of this cake.” The simple rustic cake is mixed by hand from basic staples. You could leave off the glaze and still have a very handsome and delicious sweet. Pears may be substituted for the apples.
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
12 ounces butter, cubed
1 vanilla bean
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples
1 cup chopped toasted pecans, divided
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously spray a tube or Bundt cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, kosher salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
Place the butter in a cast iron skillet or shallow, heavy-bottomed pot. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out. Place the seeds and bean in the skillet with the butter. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant, about 5-8 minutes. Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Pick the vanilla bean out of the butter. Whisk in the sugar, followed by the eggs. Using a stiff wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture. The batter will be thick and stiff. Fold in the apples and ? cup of the toasted pecans.
Scrape the batter into the tube pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted close to the tube opening of the pan comes out clean.
Let the cake rest in the pan for 30 minutes. Then turn it out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Whisk powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract together until smooth. When the cake is cool, drizzle the cake with the glaze and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup pecans.
