I LOVE browned butter. Browning butter is super easy, and using it (rather than regular butter) adds a rich, nutty flavor to any dish. The idea is to melt the butter and cook it until – you guessed it – it starts to brown. The trick is that while it will take a few minutes for the butter to go from gold to brown, it takes almost no time at all for it to go from browned to burned, so you do have to keep an eye.
For those of you who have never browned butter before, here’s a quick and easy how-to:
Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Once it’s melted, it will start to foam. Continue to cook, stirring frequently.
After a minute or so, the foam will decrease (but not disappear) and the butter will be a clear gold.
This is when you want to start paying close attention, because after another minute or so, you’ll start to notice golden-brown flecks in the bottom of the pan. Stir constantly at this point, and cook for another 15 seconds or so, until the butter is thoroughly browned, then shut off the heat.
Once I shut off the heat, I usually like to lift the pan off the burner as well, just to be sure it’s completely removed from the heat. Continue to stir until the butter stops bubbling. It should be a pretty brown color (not black – if it’s black it’s burned, so you’ll have to try again.) And voila! You’ve just made browned butter. Nicely done 🙂
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