Champagne Vanilla Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1 cup Champagne
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Champagne vinegar

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the shallots and Champagne. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the split pod into the pan and add the vanilla pod halves. Bring to a boil and cook until almost all liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes.

Add the heavy cream, bring to a boil and simmer until cream thickens and coats the back of a spoon, and is reduced by nearly 50 percent in volume, about 3 minutes.

Whisk in the butter until smooth and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Season, to taste, with salt, pepper, and vinegar and serve immediately over fish or shellfish.

Note: If sauce is made in advance, keep warm in a bain marie over barely simmering water.