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Brown butter vinaigrette

42

  • Makes2 1/2 cups
Brown butter vinaigrette

Photo, Jodi Pudge

Chef Brad Long shares his brown butter vinaigrette recipe to make all your salads even better.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium shallot, finely diced

  • 2 cups salted butter

  • 1 tsp mustard, not ballpark

  • 1 tbsp honey

  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar, or more to taste

  • salt, to taste

Instructions

  • Place your diced shallots in a medium bowl and set it aside, at the ready.

  • Melt the butter in a tall, medium saucepot over high heat, full flame, until the butter foams, the milk solids fall, and the solids begin to brown.

  • Wait, did you see I said tall saucepot? Like bigger than you think you’d need. Go for height over width because when the butter foams, depending on how much butter we’re talking about, it’s going to expand rapidly and a long way up the side of the pot … and over and into the screaming flames below if you chose the wrong pot. Oh, the horror! So consider your pot carefully. And don’t walk away from this process (it may take a few minutes to happen).

  • As soon as the butter turns a nice nutty-brown colour, quickly take it off the fire and carefully strain the brown butter through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl of shallots. The hot butter will lightly cook the shallots, and the shallots will in turn infuse the brown butter with more flavour. Be careful: The brown butter is several hundred degrees hot, and once it hits the cold onions it will foam up. If you dump the butter in too quickly, it will foam up and over the top of the bowl.

  • Set the bowl aside to cool for a little while (5 minutes or so).

  • Once the brown butter has cooled slightly, whisk in the mustard, honey, and vinegar and season with salt to taste. Whisk briefly, just until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. It won’t be emulsified and it won’t be homogenous—it will just be all mixed together, and that’s all you need. It is certainly possible that you may need to adjust the acid (vinegar) and the salt to find the best balance for you, so give it a taste, judge for yourself, and do what you need to do. Just be sure to stir or shake it before you dress something with it.

  • Store this vinaigrette in the fridge, but take note that the butter will solidify when cold. Just warm it gently or bring it to room temperature before using. And stir or firmly shake it.

Recipes adapted from Brad Long on Butter by Brad Long. Published by The Harvest Commission, 2017. theharvestcommission.com. Photos by Jodi Pudge. Food styling by Noah Witenoff.

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