Asparagus With Caper Beurre Blanc Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Place wine, lemon juice, cream, shallots, and cream in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and let simmer until liquid is reduced by about 75%, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and whisk in about 2 cubes of butter. Keep butter moving until it melts. When melted, add a few more cubes, whisking continuously so butter emulsifies into the wine/lemon juice mixture.
• Continue to add butter, a few cubes at a time until all of it has been incorporated and the sauce has a thick, luxurious texture, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste for seasonings and add a pinch of salt and cayenne, if desired. Serve immediately.

BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• In small saucepan, combine shallots, wine, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 10 minutes.
• Turn down heat to lowest possible flame. Whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, adding a piece as previous one melts. Don't allow sauce to become too hot. For a more smooth sauce, strain through a fine sieve, if desired.
• Season with salt and pepper and keep over a bain-marie. Just before serving, stir in herbs.

PAN-SEARED ROCKFISH WITH LEMON BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Prepare the lemon beurre blanc sauce by combining the lemon juice, wine and cream in a 1-quart saucepan and simmering on medium heat until reduced by half the volume. Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge fish fillets in flour and saute in the hot skillet until golden brown. Remove fish from heat and let rest. When the sauce has thickened, slowly whisk in the butter. Place fish on platter, and drizzle sauce around and over the fish to serve.

ASPARAGUS WITH MUSSEL BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Bring onion, carrot, and wine to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add mussels and return to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook asparagus in a large pot of boiling salted water until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer to a bowl of ice water. Let cool, then drain and set aside. Reserve pot with water.
• Strain mussel mixture through a sieve into another medium saucepan (you should have about 1/2 cup). Discard (or eat!) mussels and vegetables. Bring cooking liquid to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup.
• Whisking constantly, add butter, a piece at a time, incorporating before adding the next piece. Whisk until sauce is emulsified. Whisk in vinegar; season with salt.
• Just before serving, warm asparagus in reserved pot of hot water. Drain, pat dry, and transfer to a platter. Gently mix locust flowers, if using, into sauce and spoon over asparagus.

ASPARAGUS WRAPPED IN PROSCIUTTO WITH BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Remove the woody ends of the asparagus spears trimming the spears to the same length.
• Bundle 3 asparagus stalks together and wrap each grouping with one slice of prosciutto, leaving the tips exposed. Drizzle the bundles with olive oil.
• Roast the bundles for 10 minutes, or until the asparagus ends and the prosciutto slices are crisp.
• Drizzle each prosciutto-wrapped asparagus bundle with the prepared beurre blanc and serve.
• Bring the shallots, vinegar, and wine to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until the liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes.
• Add the cream, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in a few tablespoons butter. Continue to whisk and add a few pieces at a time of the remaining butter. Wait until each addition is incorporated before adding more butter. The sauce should remain warm, but never hot or the sauce will break.
• Remove the sauce from the heat and season with salt, and pepper, to taste. If desired, strain the sauce through a sieve to remove the shallot. Discard the shallot. Serve the sauce immediately.
• Beurre Rouge: Replace the white wine in the original recipe with red wine and the white wine vinegar with red wine vinegar.
• Beurre Citron: Replace the vinegar and wine in the original recipe with 1/4 cup citrus (lemon, lime, and/or orange) juice and add 1 teaspoon citrus zest.
• Lime-Ginger: Replace the vinegar in the original recipe with an equal amount of lime juice and add 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger.
• Saffron: Add a pinch saffron threads to the reduction.

SAUTEED RED SNAPPER FILLETS WITH LEMON ASPARAGUS PURéE

Steps:

• Cut tips off 12 asparagus spears and reserve. Cut all spears into 1/2-inch pieces and cook in a saucepan of salted boiling water until tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer cooked asparagus with a slotted spoon to a blender and purée with 1 cup cooking liquid, reserving remaining cooking liquid in pan. Keep purée warm in a small saucepan.
• Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. Return reserved cooking liquid to a boil and blanch reserved asparagus tips until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain tips and immediately transfer to ice water to stop cooking. Drain tips and reserve for garnish.
• Scrub potato and cut lengthwise into four 1/2-inch-thick slices. In saucepan cook potato slices in salted boiling water to cover until tender, about 5 minutes, and transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Keep potatoes warm, covered.
• Pat snapper dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook fish, skin sides down, about 3 minutes, or until skin is golden brown. Turn fish over and cook 2 minutes more, or until just cooked through.
• Whisk lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste into asparagus purée. Spoon some sauce onto 4 plates and top each portion with a potato slice and a fish fillet. Garnish fish with asparagus tips and serve remaining sauce on side.