Basic skill: Buerre manie

When I pan grill a couple fillets of nice fresh fish - in this case, some Pacific Cod that I brought home from Costco today - I want a lovely, velvety yet light sauce to showcase the texture and flavor. The boiled, buttered and herbed new potatoes also like bathing in it, too.

The key to a creamy, quick sauce like this is so simple. Buerre manie - “Burr Man-yea”. This is a classic French technique where you simply cream together plain, all-purpose flour with butter - or the butter/canola oil spread that I keep for everyday use. All you want is to do is soften stick butter. Don’t melt it.

I marinated the cod steaks in a pureed mixture of onion, parsley stems, a bit of grapeseed oil, thyme and a bit of salt and pepper. My petite food processor is simply brilliant for quick jobs like this, making a marinade in a couple of minutes. Just add about half an onion, a couple of shallots (if you had them, which I always do), a splash of grapeseed oil, the stems only from flat leaf parsley, salt and a bit of ground pepper.

Now I can hear you thinking “why in the world is she using the stems of parsley?” In French cuisine, nothing goes to waste - like the stems, and the color is important. Not green. It would be very green if you used the leaves, but using just the stems, you get the flavor without the color. Grapeseed oil is a must for the neutral flavor. Cod is delicate and you don’t want to overpower it, and anyway fancy olive oil is expensive and wasted in a preparation like this.

Marinate the fish in this onion mixture, covered in the refrigerator, for about an hour. Now make your Buerre Manie. Combine equal portions - about two to three tablespoons each - flour and butter. Cream them together with a fork. Set aside.

You might notice the grilled ‘Campari’ tomatoes from Costco. I just lightly coat them in oil, sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper on them, and grill them in my ‘speed oven’ ( under the broiler would work well, too) until they collapse and brown on the tops. This makes a really healthy, light accompaniment. See my post on how to grill tomatoes.

Meanwhile, I set the itty-bitty potatoes to boiling in salted water. When they got fork tender, I drained them, added some butter and chopped fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Cover until ready to serve.

In a heated, non-stick sauté pan, add about 4 tablespoons of neutral flavored oil, and when it’s hot, add the fish - having scraped off most of the onion marinade (reserve that! You’ll use it with the Buerre manie!).

Sauté the fish for about three to four minutes on the first side, and gently turn it. After it’s cooked a couple minutes more, add about 1/2 cup of white wine. As it’s happily bubbling, add the Buerre Manie to the reserved onion marinade, then add that around in the pan. Take a fork and gently stir it into the wine. Cover with a lid, with the heat on medium-low, for about five to eight minutes - or until the fish is done through and flakes easily, and the sauce is thickened.

Adjust salt and pepper. Plate. Garnish with chopped fresh flat leaf parsley. Serve.

The Buerre Manie can be made in larger quantities, and kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, tightly covered. Use it in any preparation where you want to quick sauce - such as with Dijon mustard with fish, or lemon and capers for fish or poultry. It can even be used in meat drippings for beef and pork. Experiment with combining it with different fresh herbs, too. It’s amazing with fresh lemon juice or wine and Tarragon over fish, or even eggs.

See what Buerre Manie can do for you. It can take a weeknight meal and make it into haute cuisine.

-maven