Compound Butter

[JohnnyChance]

Ok, so it may not be the healthiest thing ever, but that just means it is one of the tastiest things ever. Loved by line cooks everywhere, you dont have to cook it, it doesnt break, just slice it and throw it on there. Great for fish and steak a like, if you have a favorite compound butter recipe, add it here!

This is my current favorite, a variation of one I had at Cafe Routier in Westbrook, CT. I don't have measurements, just wing it and adjust it to your taste.

Ingredients:

• Butter (naturally)
• Minced garlic
• Minced shallots
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Mustard
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley

I usually use roasted garlic, but I didn't have any ready so I just minced some fresh:

I like whole grain mustard, your favorite dijon or brown mustard is also good:

Let your butter get soft at room temp, throw everything in a bowl and mix it up:

Get a sheet of parchment paper, and form the butter into a log:

Twist it up like a tootsie roll:

Wrap it in plastic wrap and then pop it in the freezer or fridge until it is solid again. When you need some, unwrap and slice. If you take it out of the freezer and try to slice it when it is too solid, it will be too brittle and you won't get good slices out of it. My butter wasn't quite warm enough when I mixed everything, and you can see some small chunks of solid butter in the slices. It doesn't really matter, except for presentation. If I was doing this at work I would have mixed it in an electric mixer and it would have been more consistent:

What is it good on? Why steak of course!

Cast iron seared New York Strip with roasted asparagus, crispy shallots, and whole grain mustard compound butter:

 

[Pensacola Tiger]

What's not healthy about butter? Sure beats eating plastic masquerading as butter (oops, that's margarine).

That's an interesting recipe.

 

[spinblue]

It makes an excellent condiment gift along with a couple steaks to really close friends.

I've done a lemon zest with chives and a roasted garlic one.

 

[UnConundrum]

Funny, for all the cooking I've done over the years, I've never made a compound butter that I can think of... Made lobster butter once, but that was for lobster mashed potatoes....

 

[SpikeC]

Sometimes my crustacean allergy is truly a burden!

 

[steeley]

lobster butter now that is technique of the gourmet that is warren.

 

[UnConundrum]

lobster butter now that is technique of the gourmet that is warren.

It's not that hard... Recipe is HERE with a good picture of my Carter Damascus Deba in action

 

[steeley]

OR you could mound whole butter in to shells once flamed off with just tarragon ,cayenne and paprika ,white wine and coll add butter in processor and let sit over night then sieve .really nice if you have coral.

 

[ThEoRy]

For lobster butter I just slow roast 15 to 20 lbs of butter in a 6 inch deep hotel pan with a ton of roasted thorax and mir poix and a small can of tom paste. at least 4 hours at about 250 275. strain and cool. comes out nice and deep red, great for making hollandaise or beurre monte.

For steak butter i juice lemon and garlic and mince fresh thyme fold into softened butter with kosher salt and fresh white pepper. the reason i juice the garlic and lemon is so when the steak is under the broiler the garlic wont burn.

Maytag or gorgonzola butter. simply soften the cheese and butter fold together and season.

Spicy cilantro lime butter. Siracha, lime juice, finely minced cilantro and lime juice, salt and pepper.

Beet butter. Juice beets save the pulp and dehydrate the pulp. grind the dehydrated pulp in a coffee grinder. Fold the butter with the beet powder s and p.

Almond butter

Pistachio butter

etc etc

I got a million of em...

 

[dmccurtis]

I make a compound butter with Thai curry paste. Great for finishing off a bowl of root veg soup. Roasted squash or sweet potato, sweated with mirepoix, pureed with coconut cream, topped with the compound butter.

 

[apicius9]

I hadn't thought about these butters for a while, a good thing to have in the freezer, thanks.

Stefan

 

[ThEoRy]

What, nobody likes my beet butter? I bet you guys don't like my beet ice cream or beet sorbet either! It's nature's candy!!!! :mad3:

 

[JohnnyChance]

What, nobody likes my beet butter? I bet you guys don't like my beet ice cream or beet sorbet either! It's nature's candy!!!! :mad3:

when brainstorming other compounds the other day just before i started this thread I thought of beet butter. would be good for valentines day, shape them in hearts. i love beets.

I also make a bleu cheese one like you listed, sometimes I add caramelized onions to it as well.

 

[SpikeC]

I was traumatized by beets as a child so they are difficult for me to get my head around, however I tried some pickled beets recently that were a revelation- they had put star anise in the brine. Hoo-boy-howdy! Them were some tasty beets!!