Clarified Butter

Ingredients:
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preparing the clarified butter:
Place the butter in a heavy saucepan and melt slowly over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Skim the foam from the top, and slowly pour into a container, discarding the milky solids in the bottom of pan.

What makes clarified butter so great is its higher smoke point. This means you can cook meats and fish at a higher temperature than you can with regular butter, making it ideal for pan-frying. By clarifying the butter during a slow cooking process, you're able to strain out the milk solids that burn quickly as well as the water and salt. You'll lose about 1/4 of your original butter amount during the process, and the clarified butter will keep, tightly covered in the refrigerator for about 1 month.