Accidental Monté au beurre
combine with softened butter and swirl the mixture into the stock based sauces (Monte’ Au Beurre)
Monté au beurre
“To lift with butter.” A technique used to enrich sauces, thicken them slightly, and give them a glossy appearance by whisking in whole butter.
Monté au beurre
Sweet Butter Braised Maine Lobster with Baby Arrowleaf Spinach and a Saffion-Vanilla Sauce
By Chef Thomas Keller, The French Laundry, Yountville, CA
Wine Pairing:
Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Chardonnay Reserve 1994
Beurre Monté:
The Workhorse Sauce Ingredients:
1 tbls. Water
4 tbls. to 1 lb. Butter (cut into chunks)
Method:
Beurre Monté can be made in any amount using the same cooking method. Bring the water to a boil in an appropriate size saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and begin whisking the butter into the water, bit by bit, to emulsify. Once you have established the emulsion, you can continue to add pieces of butter until you have the quantity of beurre monté that you need (the Frendh Laundry makes 20 pounds at a time). lt b important to keep the level of heat gende and consistent in order to maintain the emulsification. Make the beurre monté close to the time it win be used and maintain it in a warm place. If you have extra lieurre monte, it can be refrigerated and reheated to use as melted butter or it can be darified.
Use:
1. At the Frendh Laundry we use an awFul lot of butter without serving a lot of butter because of a method and substance called beurre monté a way of infusing meats and fish with the flavor of butter. We cook in it, rest meats in it, make sauces with it. It’s an extraordinary vehicle for both heat and flavor. Here what beurre monté is: a few drops of water and chunks of butter whisked over a moderate heat to melt the butter and keep it emulsified. In one piece. Creamy. Solid butter is an emulsification of butter fat, water, and milk solids; beurre monte is a way to manipulate the emulsification into liquid form.
2. Lobster poached in beurre monté is like no other lobster. It’s so reminiscent to me of American cuisine. When it’s done right, this butter poached lobster reminds me of Maine lobster that you eat with drawn butter, and for me that’s what lobster is all about. Poaching lobster in beurre monté is the perfect way to cook lobster and it’s also an easy way to cook lobster. First, it impregnates the meat with that buttery flavor, which connects you back to that I experience of dipping lobster in clear butter.
3. Second, because beurre monté stays between 180 and 190 degrees in our kitchen, it’s always at a perfect poaching temperature. When you cook lobster violently, it seizes up, it’s impossible to get any flavor into it; poaching it in butter, mellows it out. Butter poached lobster is meltingly tender, moist and flavorful. And because of the gentle temperature, it’s harder to over cook it; the lobster hits the right point of doneness and stays there for a while. This is great to do at home. Make your bourre monté, bring it to 180, 190 degrees, pop your cleaned lobster tails and daws in beurre monté, and let them poach for
five or six minutes. I would eat them straight out of the butter myseif.
4. This technique works not just with lobster but with just about any firm meaty fish. Monk fish is great this way, for instance, and so is sea bass.
5. We use beurre monté to baste meats and this has several purposes. When we saute beef or venison or a saddle of lamb, we typically finish cooking it in the oven. But before we do, we drain the fat out of the pan and | ladle a little beurre monté over the meat. This helps to keep the meat moist, enhances the flavor and also improves the cooking, because the even layer of fat—the beurre monté—is a heat conductor. (We always let the pan cool down a little though; if the pan’s too hot, the beurre monté will separate and the solids will burn.)
6. When the meats are done, they come out of the oven and are submerged in beurre monté—it’s the perfect resting medium. It actually lowers the temperature of the meat, reducing the carryover cooking, then maintains it at a great serving temperature. But most important, the weight of the fat surrounding the meat keeps the meat juices from leaking out—they stay in the meat. So here, we use beurre monté as environmental control, and it enhances the flavor.
7. Almost all our canapé sauces are made á la minute with beurre monté. The sauce for the blinis, for oysters and pearls, for bacon and eggs—all are simply a spoonful of beurre monte with different fiavoring ingredients.
8. And finally, what we don’t use, we simply clarify the next day and use this clear butter for Hollandaise or for sautéing scallops, soft-shelled crabs, crepes. You can do that or simple refrigerate it and use it the same way you’d use whole butter for cooking.
9. For recipes in this book that require only a tablespoon or two of beurre monté, you can substitute whole butter by melting it in the pan you’re cooking in. For sauces, you can likewise swirl in whole butter—a procedure traditionally called monte au beurre.
10. This is one of my favorite dishes to serve to large groups of people - it’s fun to look at, it’s distinctive, delicious, and doesn’t require a plate or silvenware. You can eat it standing up, with a glass of Champagne orwine in one hand. At the French Laundry, I use a special Lucite holder to serve these cones, but you might fill a bowl with rock salt, say, or peppercorns, and stand the cones up in this to serve them.
Tempura Batter Ingredients:
3 cups Cake Flour
3/4 cup Corn Starch
1 tbls. Baking Soda
1 tspn. Salt
2 cups Tonic Water
Method:
First, mix all dry ingredients together, then use a sifter to evenly disperse all together. In a large metal bowl, add tonic water to dry ingredients, stirring until it reaches the consistency of a thick milkshake.
Saffron-Vanilla Sauce Ingredients:
(Makes 1 cup)
1/2 Vanilla Bean (split)
1 cup Chicken Stock
1/4 tspn. Saffron Threads
1 1/2 tspns. Heavy Cream
10 tbls. (5 oz.) Butter (unsalted, cut into 8 pieces)
Method:
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into a small saucepan and add the vanilla pod, chicken stock, and saffron threads. Bring the stock to a simmer, then simmer until reduced to a glaze (1 to 1 1/2 tbls.). Add the cream and simmer for a few more seconds. Over medium heat, whisk in the butter bit by bit (as you would for Beurre monté). It is critical to maintain the sauce at the conect temperature, as it can break if it becomes too hot or cold. Strain the sauce in mix for several seconds with an immersion blender to emulsify (if you do not have an immersion blender, you can use a regular one, but rinse out the blender container with hot water before adding the sauce, so it stays warm). Keep the sauce in a warm place
Once upon a time, I made accidental Monté au beurre. The end result of mine was
Broiled chicken upon steamed green beans that were cooked upon a broth from the chicken baking dish, then enter the butter. Served on a bed of wilted baby spinach.
Mmmh.
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Pesto Recipe
I like to grow. I like to learn. I really like basil, I love garlic. This is so.
As often as possible I whip up a simple pesto sauce right from the basil growing ferociously on my backporch.
Three large handful basil leaves
3 tablespoons chopped garlic from the jar
1/8-1/4 cup olive oil
2oz brick of parmesan
salt to taste
Black pepper
Push as much basil as you can into the blender pitcher, add three scoops chopped garlic from the jar, pour in some olive oil, a chunk of cheese and let her rip! Depending on what you’re using it for, adjust consistancy.
For baked pesto chicken, use 1/8 cup oil and a whole brick of parmesan from the grocery. It is a basil crusted cheesy coating over the chicken when youre done baking it in the 375F oven.
Toss with hot salad, 1/4 cup oil.
Enjoy.
17 Outrageously Delicious Ways To Use
Garlic Valley Farms
Cold Pressed & Roasted Garlic Juice Sprays
* Appetizers - apply directly onto prepared appetizers, or add to the dipping sauce.
* Chicken - enhance the mild flavor of poultry items by spraying directly on the fully cooked bird.
* Garlic Bread - add 1/4 cup per 1 pound of butter, mix well, add fresh herbs, spread on bread and grill or toast.
* Dipping Oil - pour out approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil on bread plate; add garlic juice to taste. Use soft bread sticks or Sourdough bread for dipping.
* Garlic Infused Oils - use a 1:5 ratio with oil or vinegar, add extra cloves as a garnish.
* Grilling - add 1 teaspoon to 1 stick of softened butter, roll into a cylinder, chill until firm, slice 1/4″ pats and place on hot grilled fish, steak or poultry.
* Mashed Potatoes - add to broth or add 1 teaspoon per pound of potatoes.
* Pasta - add to boiling water or combine with cooked pasta just before serving according to taste.
* Pizza - add to the finished sauce or just after removing pizza from oven.
* Roasts - either inject and allow 1 hour for distribution, or baste immediately before removing from oven.
* Salads - either use on lettuce greens before or while tossing, or add to the salad dressing.
* Sauces - add during the final cooking stages, or combine with softened butter and swirl the mixture into the stock based sauces (Monte’ Au Beurre)
* Seafood - add to taste during last minute of cooking.
* Seasoning - use as a direct source of flavor. Farm fresh and roasted garlic are outstanding for cooking or condiment.
* Soups - add 1/4 to 1/2 cup per gallon of hot or cold soup just before serving… Mix well, and allow time for maximum flavor distribution.
* Steaks - use as a marinade (2 hours) or add to taste during last minute of barbecuing.
* Steamed Vegetables - use a 1:10 ratio in the cooking liquid, spray with garlic juice to taste before serving.
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review meli cafe chicago greektown
Very very satisfied after having breakfast with my bestest friend here this Monday morning.
We had the flamenco omelet - totally delish
and also split the chocolate cherry french toast.
They had soup ready - so we tried this rustic chicken based potato/kraut/sundried tomato soup that was kinda bitter but very flavorful(kraut and sundried tomato - what to expect lol)
Our server, Christina was awesome. The staff was so nice and pretty too.. good place for eats.
Thanks Teddy C for the suggestion, and maybe someone want to tell the owners at Meli that every decoration on their walls are crooked.
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