Compound Butters for Grills and for the Completion of Sauces

With the exception of those of the shell-fish order, the butters, whose formulæ I am about to give, are not greatly used in kitchens. Nevertheless, in some cases, as, for instance, in accentuating the savour of sauces, they answer a real and useful purpose, and I therefore recommend them, since they enable one to give a flavour to the derivatives of the Velouté and Béchamel sauces which these could not acquire by any other means.

With regard to shell-fish butters, and particularly those of the common and spiny lobster and the crayfish, experience has shown that when they are prepared with heat (that is to say, by melting in a _bain-marie_ a quantity of butter which has been previously pounded with shell-fish remains and afterwards strained through muslin into a basin of iced-water where it has solidified) they are of a finer colour than the other kind and quite free from shell particles. But the heat, besides dissipating a large proportion of their delicacy, involves considerable risk, for the slightest neglect gives the above preparation quite a disagreeable taste. To obviate these difficulties I have adopted a system of two distinct butters, one which is exclusively calorific and prepared with heat, and the other which is prepared with all the creamy parts, the trimmings and the remains of common and spiny lobsters, without the shells, pounded with the required quantity of fresh butter and passed through a sieve. The latter is used to complete sauces, particularly those with a Béchamel base to which it lends a perfect savour.

I follow the same procedure with shrimp and crayfish butters, sometimes substituting for the butter good cream, which, I find, absorbs the aromatic principles perhaps better than the former. With the above method it is advisable to pass the butter or the cream through a very fine sieve first and afterwards through tammy, so as to avoid small particles of the pounded shell being present in the sauce.

139—BERCY BUTTER

Put into a small stewpan one-quarter pint of white wine and one oz. of finely-chopped shallots, scalded a moment. Reduce the wine by one-half, and add one-half lb. of butter softened into a cream; one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, two oz. of beef marrow cut into cubes, poached in slightly salted water and well drained, the necessary table-salt, and, when dishing up, a little ground pepper and a few drops of lemon-juice.

This butter must not be completely melted, and it is principally served with grilled beef.

140—CHIVRY OR RAVIGOTE BUTTER

Put into a small saucepan of salted, boiling water six oz. of chervil, parsley, tarragon, fresh pimpernel, and chives, in equal quantities, and two oz. of chopped shallots. Boil quickly for two minutes, drain, cool in cold water, press in a towel to completely remove the water, and pound in a mortar. Now add one-half lb. of half-melted butter, mix well with the purée of herbs, and pass through tammy.

This butter is used to complete Chivry sauce and other sauces that contain herb juices, such as the Venetian, &c.

140a—CHÂTEAUBRIAND BUTTER

Reduce by two-thirds four-fifths pint of white wine containing four chopped shallots, fragments of thyme and bay, and four oz. of mushroom parings. Add four-fifths pint of veal gravy, reduce the whole to half, rub it through tammy, and finish it away from the fire with eight oz. of Maître d’Hôtel butter (No. 150) and half a tablespoonful of chopped tarragon.

141—COLBERT BUTTER

Take one lb. of Maître d’Hôtel butter (No. 150) and add six tablespoonfuls of dissolved, pale meat glaze and one teaspoonful of chopped tarragon.

Serve this sauce with fish prepared à la Colbert.

142—RED COLOURING BUTTER

Put on to a dish any available remains of shell-fish after having thoroughly emptied and well dried them in the oven. Pound them until they form a fine powder, and add their weight of butter.

Put the whole into a saucepan and melt in a _bain-marie_, stirring frequently the while. When the butter is quite clarified strain it through muslin, twisting the latter over a tureen of iced-water in which the strained butter solidifies. Put the congealed butter in a towel, press it heavily so as to expel the water, and keep cool in a small bowl.

_Remarks._—A very fine and decided red colour is obtained by using paprika as a condiment for sauces intended for poultry and certain butcher’s meats, in accordance with the procedure I recommend for the Hongroise. But only the very best quality should be used—that which is mild and at the same time produces a nice pink colour without entailing any excess of the condiment. Among the various kinds of paprika on the market I can highly recommend that of Messrs. Kotangi, which I have invariably found satisfactory.

143—GREEN COLOURING BUTTER

Peel, wash, and thoroughly shake (so as to get rid of every drop of water) two lbs. of spinach. Pound it raw and then press it in a strong towel, twisting the latter so as to extract all the vegetable juice. Pour this juice into a sautépan, let it coagulate in a _bain-marie_, and pour it on to a serviette stretched over a bowl in order to drain away the water. Collect the remains of the colouring substance on the serviette, making use of a palette-knife for the purpose, and put these into a mortar; mix with half their weight of butter, strain through a sieve or tammy, and put aside to cool. This green butter should in all cases take the place of the liquid green found on the market.

144—VARIOUS CULLISES

Finely pound shrimp and crayfish shells, and combine with these the available creamy parts and spawn of the common and spiny lobsters; add one-quarter pint of rich cream per lb. of the above remains, and strain, first through a fine sieve and then through tammy. This cullis is prepared just in time for dishing up, and serves as a refining principle in certain fish sauces.

145—SHRIMP BUTTER

Finely pound any available shrimp remains, add to these their weight of butter, and strain through tammy. Place in a bowl and put aside in the cool.

146—SHALLOT BUTTER

Put eight oz. of roughly minced shallots in the corner of a clean towel, and wash them quickly in boiling water. Cool, and press them heavily. Then pound them finely with their own weight of fresh butter and strain through tammy.

This butter accentuates the savour of certain sauces, such as Bercy, Ravigote, &c.

147—CRAYFISH BUTTER

Pound, very finely, the remains and shells of crayfish cooked in Mirepoix. Add their weight of butter, and strain through a fine sieve, and again through tammy, so as to avoid the presence of any shell particles. This latter precaution applies to all shell-fish butters.

148—TARRAGON BUTTER

Quickly scald and cool eight oz. of fresh tarragon, drain, press in a towel, pound in a mortar, and add to them one lb. of butter. Strain through tammy, and put aside in the cool if it is not to be used immediately.

149—LOBSTER BUTTER

Reduce to a paste in the mortar the spawn, shell, and creamy parts of lobster. Add their equal in weight of butter and strain through tammy.

150—BUTTER A LA MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL

First manie and then soften into a cream one-half lb. of butter. Add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a little salt and pepper, and a few drops of lemon-juice.

Serve this with grills in general.

151—MANIED BUTTER

Mix, until perfectly combined, four oz. of butter and three oz. of sifted flour. This butter is made immediately before the time of dishing up, and is used for quick leasons like the Matelotes, &c.

The sauce to which manied butter has been added should not boil if this can possibly be avoided, as it would thereby acquire a very disagreeable taste of raw flour.

151a—MELTED BUTTER

This preparation, which is used principally as a fish sauce, should consist of butter, only just melted, and combined with a little table-salt and a few drops of lemon-juice. It should therefore be prepared only at the last minute; for, should it wait and be allowed to clarify, besides losing its flavour it will be found to disagree with certain people.

152—BUTTER A LA MEUNIÈRE

Put into a frying-pan the necessary quantity of butter, and cook it gently until it has acquired a golden tint and exudes a slight smell of nut. Add a few drops of lemon-juice, and pour on the fish under treatment, which should have been previously sprinkled with _concassed_ parsley.

This butter is proper to fish “à la Meunière” and is always served on the fish.

153—MONTPELLIER BUTTER

Put into a saucepan containing boiling water equal quantities of watercress leaves, parsley, chervil, chives, and tarragon (six oz. in all), one and one-half oz. of chopped shallots, and one-half oz. of spinach leaves. Boil for two minutes, then drain, cool, press in a towel to expel water, and pound in a mortar with one tablespoonful of pressed capers, four oz. of gherkins, a garlic clove, and the fillets of four anchovies well washed.

Mix this paste with one and one-half lbs. of butter; then add the yolks of three boiled eggs and two raw eggs, and finally pour in, by degrees, two-fifths pint of oil. Strain through a fine sieve or through tammy, put the butter into a basin, and stir it well with a wooden spoon so as to make it smooth. Season with table-salt and a little cayenne.

Use this butter to deck large fish, such as salmon and trout; but it is also used for smaller pieces and slices of fish.

_Remarks._—When this butter is specially prepared to form a coat on fish, the oil and the egg yolks are omitted and only butter is used.

154—BLACK BUTTER

Put into a frying-pan the necessary amount of butter, and cook it until it has assumed a brown colour and begins to smoke. At this moment add a large pinch of _concassed_ parsley leaves and spread it immediately over the object to be treated.

155—HAZEL-NUT BUTTER

Put eight oz. of shelled hazel-nuts, for a moment, in the front of the oven, in order to slightly grill their skins and make them easily removable. Now crush the nuts in a mortar until they form a paste, and add a few drops of cold water with a view to preventing their producing any oil. Add their equivalent in weight of butter and rub through tammy.

156—PISTACHIO BUTTER

Put into boiling water eight oz. of pistachios, and keep them on the side of the fire until the peel may be easily removed. Drain, cool in cold water, clean the pistachios, and finely pound while moistening them with a few drops of water.

Add two oz. of butter and pass through tammy.

157—PRINTANIER BUTTER

These butters are made from all early-season vegetables, such as carrots, French beans, peas, and asparagus heads.

When dealing with green vegetables cook quickly in boiling, salted water, drain, dry, pound with their weight of butter, and rub through tammy.

With carrots: Mince and cook with consommé, sugar, and butter until the diluent is quite reduced. After cooling they are pounded with their own weight of butter and rubbed through tammy.