Place wine, vinegar and shallots into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by half. Then, strain liquid through a fine sieve. Clean pan then return 3 tablespoons of liquid to the pan retuning iot to the stove on low heat.
Add the tablespoons of butter to the pan, one at a time, vigorously whisking into the liquid after each addition to emulsify. Repeat until all of the butter is incorporated and the sauce is light in colour.
Remove from heat. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Stir in chopped herbs. Serve immediately or cover surface with wrap to keep warm while meal cooks.
Tarragon Beurre Blanc
Ingredients
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 shallots, diced
8 tablespoons butter
sprinkle kosher salt
squeeze of lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
Directions
Place wine, vinegar and shallots into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by half. Then, strain liquid through a fine sieve. Clean pan then return 3 tablespoons of liquid to the pan retuning iot to the stove on low heat.
Add the tablespoons of butter to the pan, one at a time, vigorously whisking into the liquid after each addition to emulsify. Repeat until all of the butter is incorporated and the sauce is light in colour.
Remove from heat. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Stir in chopped herbs. Serve immediately or cover surface with wrap to keep warm while meal cooks.
Tarragon Beurre Blanc
5 / 5. 2
A shallot-infused white wine reduction whisked into a light sauce with butter and a pop of lemon…
This TARRAGON BEURRE BLANC is the sauce your favourite seafood, poultry and vegetarian dishes have been begging for!
This post is all about a classic butter sauce that delivers big, memorable flavours, yet is quite easy to make. Called a beurre blanc, or “white butter”, spooning even the smallest amount of this sauce over a favourite poultry, seafood, or vegetarian dish will elevate it from simple to amazing. We’re preparing a TARRAGON BEURRE BLANC here, but why stop there? One of the best attributes of this simple sauce recipe is that you can make it using virtually any herb. Possibilities are endless, as are the potential flavour pairings.
Before we get into the details, how about an invitation to check out some of our other sauce recipes? You have two options for trying your hand at EGGS BENEDICT: this classic HOLLANDAISE SAUCE or our ready-in-under-five-minutes HOLLANDAISE HACK. Lots of people love this MORNAY SAUCE, especially when CROQUE MONSIEUR is in the works. Finally, pasta lovers frequently tell us how this MARINARA SAUCE is the best they’ve ever had. Wanna get saucy? We’ve got lots of ways to help!
Here are some additional fun facts about this beurre blanc recipe:
INGREDIENTS
Everything needed to make this light, flavourful sauce should be readily available at your local grocery store. Look for the shallots in the onion and garlic section of the produce department. The fresh tarragon, if you’re not growing your own in the garden, can be found in the herb section close to the greens and lettuces. For the wine, we suggest making this sauce with a favourite dry variety like chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. Beyond that, all you’ll need is white wine vinegar, a squeeze of lemon and kosher salt.
FRESH TARRAGON
We truly think the fresh tarragon used to flavour this rich, creamy butter sauce is the star of the recipe. That said, we understand if tarragon isn’t to everyone’s taste. It’s a species of perennial herb that grows in the wild in Eurasia and North America. Also known as estragon, it tastes like a blend of licorice, anise and fennel, with subtle notes of vanilla and pepper. Tarragon also gets the A-OK from nutrition and health experts who praise its levels of vitamins and minerals, including iron, potassium and manganese. It’s also reputed to reduce inflammation, increase insulin sensitivity, and help regulate the immune system. If all this info and our VIDEO still haven’t made you a fan of tarragon, just keep reading. We offer a number of substitutes that will suit your tastes.
OTHER HERBS
A traditional BEURRE BLANC is the result of emulsifying butter in a reduction of white wine, white wine vinegar and shallots. The final step in preparing this homemade sauce recipe is to add a squeeze of lemon and some chopped fresh herbs. We previously posted this HERBED BEURRE BLANC, where we used a combination of fresh chives, parsley and dill. So, if tarragon isn’t to your liking, try the sauce using another variety of herb. This sauce will work with fresh dill, chives, parsley, tarragon, basil, mint, rosemary and even chervil.
FORTIFIED WINE
The mixture of dry white wine, white wine vinegar and shallots is a classic often used in French cuisine. If it sounds familiar, you may be remembering it from the very first step of making a SAUCE BÉARNAISE. For this recipe, the trio is first brought to a boil in a saucepan. Then, it’s a quick stir and some time to simmer so the liquid is reduced to a pinkish concentrate.
We then strain this robust liquid through a fine sieve, discard solids and proceed to create a memorable sauce with its tangy flavour.
WHISK TO EMULSIFY
The only step requiring special attention in this recipe is where we whisk the unsalted butter into the reduced, fortified liquid. Adding the butter tablespoon by tablespoon and whisking vigorously after each addition creates a voluminous, silky sauce. For best results, do this step on low heat using a wire whisk. As with all recipes, we maintain practice makes perfect. Make TARRAGON BEURRE BLANC often to keep your sauce-making skills en pointe.
HOW TO ENJOY
Once the sauce is emulsified, season it with a squeeze of lemon juice plus a pinch of salt, pepper and the fresh herb or herbs of your choice. Then all you need to do is add it to your favourite dishes. We’ve had great success serving it with our PAN-SEARED SCALLOPS, our GRILLED WHOLE RAINBOW TROUT, this POACHED SALMON and our EASY ROASTED CHICKEN. That said, it’ll also add a pleasing pop of delicious flavour to shrimp, lamb, beef, pork and a side dish of sautéed vegetables such as our BUTTERED SPRINGTIME VEGETABLES. We know you’ll find lots of ways to enjoy it.
PIN IT!
This sensational sauce recipe is so wonderful, we suggest you PIN the recipe to a favourite sauce or ingredient board on PINTEREST or BOOKMARK this tab for easy access. SHARE it with friends so they can make them too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of all the delicious dishes you’re making these days. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post those pics on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks!
TARRAGON BEURRE BLANC is all you need to add next-level flavours to your next meal.
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Ingredients
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 shallots, diced
8 tablespoons butter
sprinkle kosher salt
squeeze of lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
Directions
Place wine, vinegar and shallots into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by half. Then, strain liquid through a fine sieve. Clean pan then return 3 tablespoons of liquid to the pan retuning iot to the stove on low heat.
Add the tablespoons of butter to the pan, one at a time, vigorously whisking into the liquid after each addition to emulsify. Repeat until all of the butter is incorporated and the sauce is light in colour.
Remove from heat. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Stir in chopped herbs. Serve immediately or cover surface with wrap to keep warm while meal cooks.
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