Lemon garlic butter sauce perfect for fish, shrimp, scallops.
Years ago, I spent a morning with Executive Chef David Lamonica of Scott’s Seafood in Folsom, California, learning all about preparing seafood and sauces that go well with seafood.
Of everything we made this morning, a simple pan seared haddock with this lemon garlic butter sauce was the most delicious.
In a separate pan, make a roux with 1 tablespoon each of butter and flour. Then add the reduced clam juice and sherry mixture to the saucepan.
It’s all about the butter
Then comes the butter. There’s a lot of butter in this sauce, that’s why it tastes so good! But to incorporate the butter without breaking the sauce, you have to do it slowly. Just stir in a few tablespoons at a time.
Then stir in some lemon juice, add some salt and white pepper, and you’re ready to serve!
The sauce goes perfectly with fish and seafood or simply with pasta.
Need to advance? Just refrigerate until you need it and reheat on the stovetop or heat in the microwave for a few seconds until it loosens and warms up.
Lemon Garlic Seafood Butter Sauce
Use whole milk or cream with water. Do not use skim milk, otherwise the sauce may curdle.
ingredients
-
1/2 Cup clam juice (can substitute chicken broth)
-
1/2 Cup Dry sherry
-
1/2 Cup whole milk (OR 3 tbsp cream with 5 tbsp water)
-
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
-
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
-
1 Bay leaf
-
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
-
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
-
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter
-
1/2 teaspoon Salt
-
1/2 teaspoon White pepper
-
1 tablespoon lemon juice
method
-
Season and reduce liquid:
Place the first six ingredients (clam juice, sherry, whole milk, garlic, shallots, bay leaf) in a small saucepan.
Heat over medium-high and simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half.
-
Make a Roux:
In a separate pot (at least 1 liter) prepare the roux. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until fluffy.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir with a whisk for a few minutes until well combined (brown but not browned).
-
Slowly pour the liquid mixture into the roux:
Slowly add the reduced mixture to the roux, stirring quickly to incorporate. Adding some of the mixture first will make the roux bubbly. Just add the mixture and keep beating to incorporate.
-
Incorporate butter:
Reduce the heat to low. Remove the bay leaf. Slowly stir in the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time. Let the butter tablespoons melt completely and incorporate into the sauce before adding more tablespoons.
-
End of sauce:
Stir in lemon juice, salt and white pepper. Add a little more clam stock or water if the sauce is too thick.
How to thicken sauceCONTINUE READING:
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 160 | calories |
| 17g | Fat |
| 2g | carbohydrates |
| 1g | protein |
