I'm Just Here for the Food_ Version 2.0 - Alton Brown [96]
You can cook up a roux to suit your specific need. Varying in degrees of darkness—from white to blond to brick, depending on how long they’re cooked—roux can be quite different from one another. The darker a roux gets the more color and nutty flavor it’ll bring to a sauce. But the darker a roux is, the less thickening power it has. One ounce of white roux has the thickening power of 4 ounces of brick roux. Average roux cooking times are 5 to 10 minutes for white, 10 to 15 minutes for blond, and 20 minutes or more for brick.
Blue Butter
What all fashionable steaks are wearing this season—and for all the right reasons. It’s tangy, creamy, herby, and easy, all at the same time.
Application: Sautéing
Heat the sauté pan and add the oil. Sweat the shallot for 1 to 2 minutes then add the chile flakes to toast. (The chile is here to add a slight background heat. It shouldn’t be such a presence that the end result is spicy at all.) Add half of the parsley and toss to coat with oil then add the wine. Put the paddle attachment on an electric mixer and beat the butter for about 1 minute, then add the shallot mixture and the cheese and beat to combine. Add some black pepper and stop the mixer and taste to check the seasoning. If needed, add some more pepper and salt. (You may not need any salt, as blue cheese is pretty salty.) Fold in the remaining parsley, transfer the butter onto 4 pieces of waxed paper and roll into four logs. Put in the freezer to harden and then remove the waxed paper. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for use soon or store it the freezer for up to 4 months. Label the logs and production date using a permanent marker.
Yield: 1 pound blue cheese butter
Note: A word on parsley: it’s grown in sandy topsoil, so it needs to be thoroughly washed. Wash it once or twice before chopping it and then put it in a container half full of water and stir it once. Then let it settle. Lift the clean parsley out of the water and squeeze to dry. There’s nothing worse than herb and sand compound butter.
Software :
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 tablespoons minced shallot
Pinch of chile flakes
3 tablespoons minced parsley
(see Note)
2 tablespoons white wine
¾ pound unsalted butter, softened
¼ pound blue cheese at room
temperature (Saga, Maytag, or
Stilton are all good)
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt, if needed
Hardware :
Sauté pan
Electric mixer with paddle
attachment
Rubber spatula
Waxed paper
Plastic wrap
Permanent marker
Compound Butters
Either of these butters can be used as cooking fats, or sauces—or just melted on a steak. You can substitute any herbs to make the herbed butter work for just about any application.
HERBED COMPOUND BUTTER
Application: Sautéing
Heat a sauté pan and add the oil; add the shallots and sweat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook until almost dry. Toss in the parsley and remove from the heat. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer and attach the paddle. Beat the butter for 1 minute, then add the shallot mixture and season with salt and pepper. Mix to blend and taste; adjust seasoning. Fold in the basil. Transfer to 4 pieces of waxed paper and roll into 4 logs. Freeze to harden, then remove the waxed paper. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Label the logs and production date using a permanent marker.
POACHED GARLIC COMPOUND BUTTER
Application: Poaching
Place the garlic in a small saucepan and add just enough oil to cover the cloves. Heat over a low flame (do not allow the oil to “boil”), until the garlic is caramel brown and soft, about 20 minutes. Drain off the oil and reserve (see Note). Allow the garlic to cool to room temperature. Place the garlic and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and blend, using the paddle