Asparagus With Mussel Beurre Blanc Recipes

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.

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.

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.

BRIOCHE FRENCH TOAST WITH ASPARAGUS AND ORANGE BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Make the orange beurre blanc: Bring wine, 1/2 cup orange juice, and the shallots to a boil in a large skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 3 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Whisk in cream, and cook until reduced by three-quarters, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking after each addition. Strain into a heatproof bowl, and add remaining 2 tablespoons orange juice and the zest. Season with salt and pepper. Thin with water if too thick. Cover to keep warm.
• Make the asparagus: Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Toss asparagus and oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until golden, about 8 minutes.
• Make the French toast: Whisk together eggs, cream, zest, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Pour mixture into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, add brioche, and soak, 2 minutes per side. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until sizzling. Add brioche, and cook on 1 side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Top each slice with asparagus, and drizzle with orange beurre blanc. Serve with remaining beurre blanc.

MORELS AND ASPARAGUS IN BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Put the morels in a dish, cover with boiling water and allow to soak for an hour. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid, then pat the morels dry and spread on paper towels.
• Boil the soaking liquid down in a small saucepan until it is reduced to two tablespoons. Set aside.
• Snap ends off asparagus and slant-cut in inch-and-a-half lengths.
• Heat two tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet. Add the asparagus, sprinkle with salt and stir-fry about four minutes. Add the drained morels and stir-fry another four minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender. Set aside.
• Add the vinegar and wine to the mushroom liquid and cook for one minute. Begin to whisk in the remaining butter, about a tablespoon at a time over low heat, until a thickened, creamy sauce results. Season with pepper.
• Divide the asparagus and morels among four plates, spoon some of the sauce over each, dust with chervil and serve.

SOLE-WRAPPED ASPARAGUS WITH TANGERINE BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• Prepare fish:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.
• Brush a 13- by 9-inch roasting pan with some of melted butter, then sprinkle shallot and zest in pan.
• Trim asparagus to about 7 inches long, then peel spears starting from 2 inches below tip of each.
• Arrange fish fillets, skinned sides up, on a work surface and season with salt and pepper. Lay 5 or 6 asparagus perpendicularly across 1 fillet and wrap fish around them to make a bundle. Repeat with remaining fillets and asparagus. Transfer bundles, seam sides down, to roasting pan and brush fish with remaining melted butter. Season with salt and pepper, then add water to pan. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake until fish is just cooked through and asparagus is crisp-tender, about 20 minutes.
• Make beurre blanc while fish bakes:
• Boil tangerine juice with shallot in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to moderately low, then whisk in 1 tablespoon butter, whisking constantly. Add remaining butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly, adding each piece before previous one has completely melted, and lifting pan from heat occasionally to cool mixture. Remove from heat and stir in salt, cayenne, and lemon juice.
• Transfer fish with a slotted spatula to a platter and reserve pan juices. Cover fish with foil. Discard zest, then pour pan juices into a 10-inch skillet and boil over moderately high heat until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk into beurre blanc.
• Blot any liquid accumulated on platter with paper towels, then spoon sauce over fish.

ASPARAGUS WITH MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Snap off and discard the tough bottoms of each asparagus spear. If using large thick asparagus, peel the lower ends with a vegetable peeler. Medium asparagus will not need peeling.
• Bring a medium saucepan half filled with water to a boil, carefully add the eggs and simmer briskly for 9 minutes (10 minutes for a slightly firmer yolk). Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to cool. Shell the eggs and set aside.
• Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, place the shallots, vinegar and a pinch of salt. Let shallots soften for 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard to dissolve, then whisk in the olive oil to make a thick dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• In a large stainless-steel soup pot bring 4 quarts of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the asparagus and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until just done. Remove asparagus with a large strainer and spread out on a baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel. Asparagus may be served warm or at room temperature.
• To serve, place asparagus on a platter or individual plates. Spoon the vinaigrette over the asparagus. Garnish with quartered eggs (or roughly chop the eggs if you prefer). Sprinkle with chives.