Browned butter is the best butter

Earlier today I took two sticks of butter from the fridge, plopped them in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and walked away. No, I did not have what my husband refers to as a “space cadet” moment, I just wanted to make sure it cooked long enough to turn a deep brown, which was going to take long enough for me to complete other household tasks. I popped back into the kitchen every few minutes to check on the butter, although the toasty aroma alerted me when it was ready even before I saw the dark splotches at the bottom of the saucepan.

Because I knew I would easily find a use for the nutty, rich substance, often referred to by its French name beurre noisette, I did not have a plan for what to make with it. Having browned butter on hand ensures you will always have a secret ingredient to boost the flavor of everything from vinaigrette to cake. Good Food (Aus) agrees with me, providing a primer on how to make browned butter along with 26 recipes in which to use it.

After bookmarking a few of those recipes, I turned to the EYB Library to see what was available in my cookbooks and quickly spotted several that sounded good. From there it was just a matter of deciding whether I wanted to something sweet or savory, as beurre noisette is equally at home in both sides of the kitchen. As I often do, I opted for the sweet side and threw together a half batch of White chocolate butterscotch blondies, pictured above. They were amazing. Tomorrow I will turn to the savory side by making Fish meunière with browned butter and lemon. That will use up the rest of that batch, and then it will again be time to toss a few sticks of butter into a saucepan and get ready for another round. What is your favorite use for browned butter?