Escoffier At Home

Tag: clarified butter

  • 0013. Roux Brun, Brown Roux

    0013. Roux Brun, Brown Roux

     

    Escoffier recipe for making roux brun, brown roux, at home (Escoffier, 13).

    What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux brun (“roo BROWN”), is made the same way as roux blanc and roux blond. The only difference is it’s cooked longer, until the flour turns a strong brown color. Its taste is described as very toasty or nutty.

     

    Mise en place for brown roux:
    Mise-en-place for making roux

     

    Roux Brun, Brown Roux

    Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

    Make clarified butter

    Clarified Butter

    Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 30-35 minutes — or until the flour turns a strong brown color.

    Brown Roux

    This dark roux may used to thicken up many types of gravies and heavy, darker sauces. When you cook the roux for this length of time, the clarified butter separates from the flour. Escoffier even suggests the butter may be saved for another use. I just stir it up to re-incorporate the oil a bit before using.

    When mixing a roux into sauce, be careful to either a: mix cold roux into a hot sauce, or b: mix hot roux into a cold sauce. This activates the starch so it will thicken your sauce.

    Clarified butter will separate from the brown roux

    White roux and blond roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for shorter lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

    White, Blond, and Brown Roux

    Ingredients
    225g clarified butter, unsalted
    275g sifted, all-purpose flour

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Plastic container

  • 0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

    0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

     

    Escoffier recipe for making roux blond, blond roux, at home (Escoffier, 14).

    What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blond (“roo BLON”), is made the same way as roux blanc. The only difference is it’s cooked few minutes more, until the flour starts turning a golden blonde color. Keep cooking it and you get roux brun.

    Mise en place for blond roux:
    Mise-en-place for making roux

     

    Blond Roux

    Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

    Make clarified butter

    Clarified Butter

    Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 15-20 minutes — or until the flour smells nutty and begins to turn a golden color. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

    blonde roux

    This roux is used to thicken up lighter-colored sauces, like fish velouté.

    White roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for different lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

    White, Blond, and Brown Roux

    Ingredients
    225g clarified unsalted butter
    275g sifted, all-purpose flour

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Plastic container

  • 0175. Beurre Clarifié, Clarified Butter [1907]

    0175. Beurre Clarifié, Clarified Butter [1907]

     

    Escoffier recipe for making beurre clarifié, clarified butter, at home (Escoffier, 175 [1907 ed]).

    What is clarified butter? It’s one of the easiest things to make in your kitchen, and so useful in a wide variety of recipes. You’ve no-doubt already had it in some American seafood restaurant as ‘drawn butter’ with trout, steamed lobster tail or crab claws.

    It’s easy as 1-2-3!

    1. Melt some butter.
    2. Skim the foam from the surface.
    3. Save the clear yellow liquid.

    This is called ‘clarifying’ the butter. What’s left is the actual butterfat, also known as ‘butter oil.’

    If you heat it until it’s a little nutty smelling, you have Indian ghee. If you heat it some more, you have brown butter, or French beurre noisette. And if you whisk butter into a little boiling water, you have beurre monté.

    Beurre Clarifié, Clarified Butter

    Cut some butter up in cubes. I like Challenge Dairy brand, but use your own favorite unsalted butter. Don’t use salted or sweet butter. And margarine is right out — that’s a no-no.

    Melt the butter over slow heat in a saucepan. Be careful not to heat it too quickly. You don’t want to burn the butter.

    Melt some unsalted butter

    Cooking until a salty foam separates to its surface. This is salt and casein, which has separated from the pure yellow butterfat.

    Salt and casein rise to the surface

    Remove from the heat and skim off the top layer.There will be a clearer liquid layer at the bottom – water and whey.

    Skim off the foam from the butter's surface

    You can strain the butter through a sieve or damp cheesecloth if you really feel like it, but it’s not necessary. When saving, leave the last watery layer in the pan.

    Clarified Butter

    Clarified butter may be saved just as regular butter in the fridge. If you’re planning on using it in a recipe, keep it warm while preparing your other components, as it will start to solidify at room temp. I keep mine on the stovetop, nearby a burner (not on direct heat).

    Ingredients
    16oz unsalted butter

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Strainer and/or cheesecloth
    Plastic container or pan

    Total time: Prep: 1 minute, Cook: 5 minutes

    Yields: 14 oz clarified butter.

    From the Book

    175—Clarified Butter

    A certain quantity of clarified butter should always be kept ready and handy.

    To prepare this butter, put one lb. to melt in a saucepan large enough to hold twice that amount. Place the saucepan on the side of the fire, over moderate heat; remove all the scum which rises to the surface, and, when the butter looks quite clear and all foreign substances have dropped to the bottom, put the liquid carefully away and strain it through muslin.

    — A. Escoffier, A guide to modern cookery, 1907.