Beurre Manie…It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

Ever hear this? “Mom, where’s the gravy?” Especially around the holidays with servings of mashed potatoes, is there any excuse to NOT serve gravy? Well actually there is and it’s usually the fact that you were working against the clock and the gravy would have been to thin to serve anyway. Still, what’s the point of a mashed potato volcano without the gravy?


Here’s a little trick (I assume the French invented it but would probably not approve of it's use anymore); buerre manie (pronounced burr man yay…you can add a bit of snootiness if you want) which translates roughly as “hand butter”. Every one has thickened a sauce, soup or stew using flour or Wondra. But that method leaves the gravy tasting of raw flour. Maybe the volcano maker won’t notice but the other family and guests will. Beurre manie is a simple concoction of equal parts by weight of butter and flour. Notice I said by “weight”. I’m not an expert but why I believe this method works so well is that the flour has time to absorb the butter and the heat from your hands while making it helps. Just put the flour and butter into a bowl and get your hands in there and mix it. After a good mix, the buerre manie should be pliable enough to roll into small balls (about ½ the size of a ping pong ball). These beurre manie balls can be refrigerated or frozen in a sealed container and brought out in an emergency; like when your husband is carving the turkey and you have 5 minutes to make a gravy out of the drippings. Drop one or two into your drippings or stock and boil away quickly. The beurre manie dissolves and thickens the sauce like magic.


One more thing…kids love making it. They love to get their hands dirty and form the little balls. Just make sure their hands aren’t dirty before. LOL It’s a great family project for a rainy afternoon and if they mess it up, who cares? Start the fun over again. Isn't it worth a stick of butter to see them have so much fun?