Colbert Butter

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan, about 1 quart
• •Medium heatproof mixing bowl
• •Flexible silicone spatula
• •Parchment paper

Instructions

1. 1

   Dissolve the glaze

   Put the pale meat glaze in your smallest heavy saucepan and set it over the lowest heat. Stir just until it becomes smooth and fluid, about 30 to 60 seconds, then remove it immediately. It must not simmer or reduce further, because the book's proportion depends on the glaze arriving at the butter unchanged.

2. 2

   Cool it carefully

   Transfer the dissolved glaze to a small shallow bowl and let it cool until it feels barely warm against your fingertip, ideally 24 to 26°C. Fluid but cool is the principle that decides Beurre Colbert. If the glaze sets before you use it, set the bowl over warm water for five seconds and stir. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Cream the butter

   Place the softened Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel (No. 150) in a medium bowl. Work it firmly against the side with a flexible spatula until it is creamy and free of hard lumps, but stop if the surface begins to look melted or oily. The butter should yield easily while remaining cool and matte.

4. 4

   Work in glaze

   Add the cooled glaze to the butter one teaspoon at a time, beating each addition completely smooth before adding the next. If the mixture turns glossy, loose, or greasy, the glaze was too warm; stop and chill the bowl for five minutes, then work it together again. If the glaze forms firm little beads, warm only the outside of the bowl over barely warm water for three to five seconds and continue. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Fold in tarragon

   Fold in the chopped tarragon only after the glaze has been fully absorbed, preserving the sequence of the original formula. Work just until the herb is evenly scattered through the pale, creamy butter. The tarragon is an accent, not the body of the sauce, so the small quantity is exactly right.

6. 6

   Shape and chill

   Scrape the butter onto parchment and shape it into a log about 3 cm thick. Roll it snugly, twist the ends, and chill for one hour, until firm enough to cut cleanly. Shaping the butter is a home-service convenience rather than the defining technique; it changes no flavor and divides this quarter-scale batch neatly for four.

7. 7

   Finish the fish

   Cut the chilled log into four generous coins, about 34 g each. Set one immediately into the opened center of each hot fish prepared à la Colbert. The crisp fish melts the butter, the meat glaze gives the pooling sauce body, and the tarragon lifts the richness. Do not melt it separately in a pan; the plate completes the sauce. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use pale meat glaze, not a dark, heavily salted commercial concentrate. The glaze should deepen the butter without staining it brown or overwhelming the lemon and parsley already balanced in Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel (No. 150).
• •Fresh tarragon matters here. Dried tarragon has a dusty, concentrated edge and will not give the clean green fragrance the source formula intends.
• •Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel (No. 150) is a completed preparation. Make it separately, as the book directs, then soften only the amount needed here; rebuilding it inside this recipe would break the canon's useful family system.
• •Cut the coins with a knife dipped briefly in hot water and wiped dry. Set them on the fish at once, while its crust is hottest and the butter can pool into every opened edge.

Advance Preparation

• •Beurre Colbert can be shaped and chilled up to three days before serving. Wrap it closely so the butter does not borrow aromas from the refrigerator.
• •For longer keeping, freeze the wrapped log for up to one month and thaw it in the refrigerator. Gentle thawing preserves the emulsion; a microwave will melt its edges before its center softens.
• •Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel (No. 150) may be prepared earlier, chilled, and then softened until pliable before the cooled glaze is incorporated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 35g)