Browned & Clarified Butter

Browned butter has a distinct flavor all its own. It is delectable and can cut the amount of butter used in half because the flavor soars. To brown butter, simply melt a stick in a pot or pan. When the foam subsides, lower the flame and watch the bottom carefully. That is where the milk solids fall.

At this point the clear melted butter can be poured off the top without disturbing the bottom solids. That clear liquid is called clarified butter, or ghee, often used in baking.

Back to browning the butter: when the milk solids are tan and toasted, quickly remove the pot or pan from the flame. They burn quickly. The browned butter can be re-solidified in the refrigerator for use in baked goods. It can be combined immediately with toasted bread crumbs to top cooked vegetables, fish or casseroles.

If clarified butter is called for, reserve the milk solids to enrich a gravy or casserole. Clarified butter keeps longer than butter with milk solids. Butter is actually only 80% fat, 18% water and the rest is milk solids.
c.Nancy Bookman Hoffman