Clarified Butter

I have never made clarified butter before, but I have heard that it is often used in restaurant kitchens, but never really knew why or what is was. I need to make this recipe for use with the Caramelized Sea Scallops (p 88). The directions are really clear and easy to follow. When the butter is slowly heated and the milk solids come to the top, I did find it a little difficult to skim them off. I am sure this just takes practice. I was able to slowly pour out the clarified butter through a pastry brush so the milk solids stayed in the pan. Using the clarified butter to sear the scallops was an awesome technique because it allowed for the butter to get really hot without burning. This allowed for the scallops to be cooked correctly with a crisp, butter crust.

I also used what I had leftover in the Flatbread recipe (p 280).