Butter Sauce is basically like a white sauce, but water or consommé is used instead of milk as the liquid. The sauce is usually used for vegetables or fish, or as the foundation for other sauces such as Albert Sauce.
Classical French cooking recognizes three base versions of butter sauce.
Butter Sauce (aka “Bâtarde Sauce”)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cold water
25g (1 oz / 2 tablespoons) butter
25g (1 oz / 4 tablespoons) flour
250 ml (½ pint / 1 cup) boiling water
100 g (4 oz / ½ cup) butter (either soft, or hard cut into small pieces)
salt
pepper
lemon juice (optional)
Mix the egg yolk with the cold water, set aside.
Make a roux from the 25g butter and 25g flour with a dash of salt added. Stir in the boiling water, bring to a simmer whisking well. Whisk in the egg yolk and water mix that you set aside. Still on a simmer, whisk in the 100g of butter. Strain, and return the sauce to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon juice (optional.)
Butter Sauce (Sauce au beurre à l’anglaise)
In this version, the egg yolk is left out. The French consider this version more English. This is the version used in preparing Albert Sauce.
25g (1 oz / 2 tablespoons) butter
25g (1 oz / 4 tablespoons) flour
250 ml (½ pint / 1 cup) boiling water
100 g (4 oz / ½ cup) butter (either soft, or hard cut into small pieces)
salt
pepper
lemon juice (optional)
Make a roux from the 25g butter and 25g flour with a dash of salt added. Stir in the boiling water, bring to a simmer whisking well. Still on a simmer, whisk in the 100g of butter. Strain, and return the sauce to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon juice (optional.)
Butter Sauce (Carême’s version)
This is an older version, used by Carême. Carême used his version as the basis for many sauces. Its use was later replaced by others in those recipes by Allemande Sauce or Suprème Sauce.
Melt in a saucepan 1 tablespoon of butter, stir in 1 tablespoon of flour and cook a bit;
Mix in 4 oz (½ cup / 125ml) of water (or a light, clear consommé) and juice from ½ a lemon;
Season with salt and nutmeg;
Bring to a boil, remove from heat;
Strain if needed;
Add in a tablespoon of butter.