Brown Butter-esque Sauce

Rhymes with arabesque!

Yeah, you could make a brown butter sauce. Sure. Easy. Melt some butter. Let it get kind of browned. Maybe even throw in some sage. Whoopee. Been there, done that.

OR you could make some brown butter-esque sauce. First thing that grabs you is the sexy name (also rhymes with picturesque!). Then you taste it, and find yourself hooting "Yum!" like Rachael Ray, even if you think you're a cynical New Yorker. Then you serve it to your loved ones. "What is this yummy sauce?"they ask; it tastes like a brown butter sauce, but there's something *more,* something...mysterious. Something that will deep 'em on their toes. Something that will keep 'em coming back for more. And more. And more. Until you all enroll in Jenny Craig.

But relax! 2010 and its resolutions doesn't start until tomorrow. Today you can indulge. So make like Julia Child, get out the butter, and get saucy.

Apologies again for lack of photos. I could say I didn't have a camera but honestly, I think we just ate the sauce too quickly to be bothered...

Ingredients
12 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine (I prefer something buttery, like an oaky Chardonnay, or slightly sweet, like a Riesling)
1/4 cup half and half
Salt
Pepper
Fresh sage leaves
Toasted pecans, crumbled

Instructions
Melt butter in saucepan over medium-heat; use light-bottomed pan if you have one to make it easier to see when butter is browned. Stir leisurely, tilting the pan back and forth as butter melts, foams, and gradually turns brownish and takes on a nutty aroma. Don't let it get dark brown!

When it gets brown, briefly remove from heat and toss in crumbled sage leaves. Stir in honey til it dissolves, then return to low heat and begin whisking in chicken broth, then wine. Salt and pepper sauce to taste, then finish by whisking in half and half to thicken slightly.

Serve over butternut squash or pumpkin ravioli; top with pecans.