Instructions: Place the lemon juice and shallots in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Boil down until the liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the pan. Whisk the butter, piece by piece, into the sauce over low heat. Taste for seasoning and add salt and white pepper if necessary. Strain or not and serve warm.

Makes 1-1/2 cups
Variations- Substitute a favorite wine or rice vinegar, white or red wine, lime or orange juice.

Substitute 2/3 cup beer for the lemon juice. Good with lobster or crab.

Substitute 1 tablespoon finely-chopped garlic for the shallots.

Use 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice plus 1/2 cup fresh or canned grapefruit juice. Good for fish.

Before whisking in butter, add 2 tablespoons heavy cream and 1 teaspoon curry powder. Good for scallops or shrimp.

BEURRE ROUGE - substitute 1/2 cup red wine plus 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar. Whisk in 2 teaspoons tomato paste with the butter. To finish, whisk in 2 tablespoons chopped chives and 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard.

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