<p>Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.</p>

Nicholas Gavin

<p>Brown butter, or beurre noisette, is widely used in restaurant kitchens to bring a rich, nutty note to dishes. It’s made by heating butter until the milk solids brown: as the butter cooks, little flecks of brown will appear in the melted yellow liquid. This happens because once butterfat climbs above [c 130], its natural lactose sugar and its casein and whey proteins undergo the flavor-creating Maillard reaction. Here, we whisk skim milk powder into the butter to add extra sugar and protein to the butterfat, improving the yield of nutty brown flecks.</p>

Brown Butter Solids