The first recipe of "The Nero Wolfe Cook Book" by Rex Stout is for Eggs au beurre noir. For the black butter sauce he gives the following instructions:
"In a skillet melt […] four
tablespoons of butter over a medium
heat. When white waxy particles have settled to the bottom, pour the clear liquid off into a bowl.
Return the clarified butter to the pan and continue to cook until it has turned a deep golden brown…"
Now I have tried this recipe with unsalted butter, with salted butter, using a low heat, a medium heat, enough heat to create a fire hazard. I also tried different methods of clarification, all to no avail. The "deep golden brown" is only achievable, as far as I can tell, with unclarified butter. Indeed it appears to be the toasted butter solids that produce the golden brown.
I would have given up on this recipe altogether if it wasn't corroborated by other sources. It makes me wonder if, for example, American butter differs substantially from European butter. Does anyone know if black butter sauce can be made with clarified butter?
Best Answer
@Chris: Does the recipe from the Nero Wolfe cookbook say anything about dumping the milky/watery portion out of the pan before returning the butter to it to brown?
Clarified butter WILL NOT brown, that is the purpose for clarifying it. The milk solids are what brown. The portion that usually goes to the bottom will be the whey and the milk solids initially tend to form the "scum" on the top. To me it sounds like he's trying to suggest that you should pour the butter & solids off, dump out any whey, and then return the butter to the pan so you can heat it to the point of a dark brown without it splattering (which is caused by the water in the whey). 4 tablespoons of butter isn't going to have much whey in the first place so just cook the whole butter to the beurre noir point.