Cheap Home Living Tip for those Who Don’t Need It

This week’s top cheap home living tip for consumer that don’t cheap living tips, involves conserving left over champagne.  There are certainly those times in our lives or in some of the lives of the hoittie toittie, when the Friday night get together comes to an end and you realize that you have an open bottle of Dom Perignon or Cristal sitting around.  Now, nobody wants to waste some Dom or Cristal. 

Instead of wasting the remainder of the bottle, which generally cost in excess of $100.00, the leftover champagne can be used to make a nice beurre blanc for an elegant dinner the day after the bubbly was busted open.  There is no need to let the unfinished bottle go to waste, live it up – you can afford the Champagne so you should live a little.

A beurre blanc is a classic French white wine and butter sauce that is used as frequently with seafood dishes.  A beurre blanc can be used for fish, chicken or even vegetables.  To make a basic beurre blanc sauce, the main ingredients are wine, shallots and butter or similar ingredients close to these.

Here is a simple beurre blanc recipe that can utilize the excess the Champagne, courtesy of Marthastewart.com.

Step 1.  Heat 1/3 cup of minced shallot and 1/4 cup Champagne over medium heat until reduced to about 2 tablespoons.

Step 2.  Whisk in 2 sticks of chilled butter by slicing into small cubes first.   Whisk in several pieces at a time until all the butter is completely incorporated before moving to the next step, but do not let the sauce simmer.

Step 3.  Pour sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl: discard the remaining solids in the sieve.  Stir in 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and finally add some salt to suit your taste.

Viola!  Incredible beurre blanc using left over $100.00 bottles of Champagne.  A lifestyle of cheap home living can save money and save resources for everyone even those in higher income brackets.