Traditional French Beurre Blanc sauce, with the zest of oranges. Great sauce for seafood dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 oranges
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 2 teaspoons minced shallots
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- Salt and white pepper
Method
1 Zest half of one orange (about 2 teaspoons) and juice the two oranges (about 3/4 cup). Put the juice, zest, wine and shallots in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Cook until it is syrupy and almost gone.
2 On low heat, whisk in the butter continuously and vigorously, 1 tablespoon at a time. Butter is the only emulsifier for this sauce, and if you slowly add it, continuously stirring, the sauce will achieve a silky smooth texture. Do not let the sauce boil.
3 Add salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: Makes about 1 cup.
This is now my family’s favorite way to eat white fish! I served the sauce over tilapia fillets and it turned out great. Experimented a little using less butter and scallions instead of shallots, since I didn’t have shallots at the time. I like the extra color the green onions provide.
I’ve made this a few times to put over baked fish, usually cod. It is so delicious and takes only a few minutes to make.
I made this sauce for the first time for a Valentine’s dinner. I followed the directions exactly serving it over pan-fried tilapia. It was excellent! The consistency, the taste..mmmm it was something you would eat at an upscale restaurant. I will definitely make it again for a classy occasion.