What is chateaubriand butter?

It is a cold butter sauce (beurre chateaubriand) made from maître d'hôtel butter stirred together with a reduced mixture of white wine, veal stock, onion, mushroom and bay leaf, plus finely chopped tarragon. The recipe is from Henriette Schønberg Erken's «Stor kokebok» (1914), p. 349.

How do I reduce the mixture correctly?

Set 2 dl white wine over the heat with chopped onion, mushroom and a pinch of crushed bay leaf, and reduce by half. Add 1½ dl veal stock and reduce by half again. Press the mixture through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin.

Why must the reduction be cold before it is mixed with the butter?

Because otherwise the butter melts and separates. The recipe explicitly says the mixture should be cold when it is stirred together with the finished maître d'hôtel butter (125 g) and the chopped tarragon.

What is the butter served with?

As the name suggests, it goes with chateaubriand and other grilled/pan-fried beef – a knob of cold butter is placed on the hot meat at serving. The recipe is figured for 6 servings.

Chateaubriand Butter (beurre chateaubriand)

Name: Chateaubriand Butter (beurre chateaubriand)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Norwegian
Ingredients: 125 g maître d'hôtel butter (ready-made butter with parsley and lemon); 2 dl white wine; 1 pinch crushed bay leaf; 1.5 dl veal stock; 1 pinch finely chopped tarragon (large pinch); 2 pcs button mushrooms (chopped); 2 pcs onion (chopped)

Chateaubriand butter: white wine reduced with onion, bay leaf and mushroom, then with veal stock, strained and stirred cold together with maître d'hôtel butter and chopped tarragon. Served with grilled meat.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 349 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

A classic French compound butter sauce from Erken's chapter on sauces, made on the basis of maître d'hôtel butter (butter stirred with parsley and lemon). Traditionally served with grilled meat, especially chateaubriand.

How to make it

1
Reduce the wine
Put the white wine in a saucepan and set it over the heat. Add the chopped onion, crushed bay leaf and chopped mushrooms, and reduce by half.
2
Reduce with stock
Add the veal stock and again reduce by half.
3
Strain
Press the mixture through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin (cloth).
4
Stir together
Let the mixture get completely cold, then stir it well together with the finished maître d'hôtel butter and the finely chopped tarragon.

Changes from the original

Measures converted to modern units (del. = deciliter); the knife-point measure (knivsodd) is rendered as «pinch». The method has been split into numbered steps and the language modernized.

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Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From1914 1949 Modernised

To1914 1949 Modernised

Modernised → 1949 (proofread, p. 385)~77% of the text changedremovedadded

125 ~~g maître d'hôtel-smør (ferdig rørt smør med persille og sitron).~~ gram maitre d'hotel-smør 2 ~~dl hvitvin.~~ del. hvitvin 1 knivsodd knust ~~laurbærblad. 1,5 dl kalvebuljong.~~ laurbærblad 1 1/2 del. kalvebuljong 1 stor knivsodd finhakket estragon ~~(stor knivsodd).~~ 2 ~~stk sjampinjonger (hakket).~~ champignons 2 ~~stk løk (hakket). Ha hvitvinen i en kjele og sett den~~ løk. Vinen settes over ~~varmen. Tilsett hakket~~ varmen, tilsettes de hakkede løk, ~~knust~~ laurbærblad og ~~hakkede sjampinjonger, og kok inn~~ champignons, innkokes til ~~halv mengde.. Tilsett kalvebuljongen~~ det halve; buljongen tilsettes, og ~~kok~~ det koker igjen inn til ~~halvparten.. Press blandingen gjennom en~~ det halve, presses gjennem fin ~~sil~~ presse eller et stykke ~~musselin (klede).. La~~ musselin. Når massen ~~bli helt kald, og rør~~ er kold, røres den ~~deretter godt~~ sammen med det ferdige ~~maître d'hôtel-smøret~~ maitre d'hotel-smør og den ~~finhakkede estragonen.~~ hakkede estragon.

Note on Modernised

Mål er omregnet til moderne enheter (del. = desiliter), knivsodd beholdt som «knivsodd». Fremgangsmåten er delt i nummererte trinn og språket modernisert.

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Frequently asked questions

What is chateaubriand butter?: It is a cold butter sauce (beurre chateaubriand) made from maître d'hôtel butter stirred together with a reduced mixture of white wine, veal stock, onion, mushroom and bay leaf, plus finely chopped tarragon. The recipe is from Henriette Schønberg Erken's «Stor kokebok» (1914), p. 349.
How do I reduce the mixture correctly?: Set 2 dl white wine over the heat with chopped onion, mushroom and a pinch of crushed bay leaf, and reduce by half. Add 1½ dl veal stock and reduce by half again. Press the mixture through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin.
Why must the reduction be cold before it is mixed with the butter?: Because otherwise the butter melts and separates. The recipe explicitly says the mixture should be cold when it is stirred together with the finished maître d'hôtel butter (125 g) and the chopped tarragon.
What is the butter served with?: As the name suggests, it goes with chateaubriand and other grilled/pan-fried beef – a knob of cold butter is placed on the hot meat at serving. The recipe is figured for 6 servings.

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