cooking essentials: beurre manie (kneaded butter)
Ever wonder how the French manage to get their soups, stews, and sauces to a thick creamy state with that wonderful shiny texture? Well, one of the secrets is this simple recipe. It is simply butter and flour, but oh how it makes a difference in soups and stews. The main image shows a chicken stew with a few knobs of Beurre Manie… Does it not look yummy? So, you ready… Let’s get into the kitchen.
prep time
10 Min
cook time
method
No-Cook or Other
yield
Several
Ingredients
- PLAN/PURCHASE
- 8 tablespoons sweet butter, unsalted, at room temperature
- 8 tablespoons flour, all-purpose variety
How To Make cooking essentials: beurre manie (kneaded butter)
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Step 1PREP/PREPARE
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Step 2If you can use clarified butter for this recipe, then do so. If you want some help making your own clarified butter, here is my recipe; along with a video: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/sauce-spread-other-sauce-spread/double-boiler-clarified-butter-with-video.html?r=1
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Step 3Flour is often used as a thickening agent in cooking but just adding flour to a soup would cause large doughy lumps. The flour wouldn't spread easily and it would make the dish unappealing. Roux and beurree mains are both used to thicken soups without the flour clumping. With the butter coating the flour you can add it to your soup or sauce without the flour getting thick and clumpy. As the butter melts it distributes the flour evenly as you stir it into your mixture.
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Step 4I know that we use flour all the time in making soups, stews, and sauces. The big difference here is that a Beurre Manie is not cooked early in the recipe, but added at the end. That gives this dish thickening power with a yummy silky appearance.
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Step 5Gather your Ingredients (mise en place).
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Step 6Begin with equal amounts of butter and flour.
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Step 7Add the softened butter, and flour together in a bowl, and combine.
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Step 8Chef’s Tip: When we made this recipe at Cordon Bleu, we used our hands. Now, my method is to use a fork.
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Step 9Continue to whisk, and taste until you no longer taste flour.
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Step 10Chef’s Note: This means that all the particles of flour are coated in butter.
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Step 11I take 1 tablespoon knobs of the butter, stick in the freezer, and then place into a Ziploc bag until needed.
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Step 12PLATE/PRESENT
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Step 13At the end of the recipe, drop a knob or two into a soup or stew to thicken it, and to give it that yummy silky look. Enjoy.
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Step 14Keep the faith, and keep cooking.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!
Discover More
Culture:
French
Category:
Other Sauces
Tag:
#Quick & Easy
Diet:
Vegetarian
Diet:
Low Sodium
Diet:
Soy Free
Ingredient:
Dairy
Method:
No-Cook or Other
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