Easy compound butters using fresh herbs from the garden to make dishes a little more special.
Compound butters are a great little condiment to keep in the freezer, all wrapped in wax paper and tucked into ziplock baggies. They'll keep that way for a long time. Just slice off what you need and re-wrap and seal it.
You can store them in the refrigerator too, but they won't have nearly as long a shelf life. But don't forget to label the type of butter and the date it was made.
Once I have them on hand, I can make my scrambled eggs or omelet just a little more special by melting some basil butter or chive butter in the pan before adding the eggs. Melted red pepper butter classes up simple savory pancakes or corn fritters, and mustard butter is a perfect accent for potatoes.
Or put a little scoop of spicy garlic butter on top of your Carnivorous Maximus' steak. He'll thank you.
Want some more ideas?
Use compound butters to finish a soup or a sauce. Toss with barely cooked corn until all melty and clinging to the kernels. Or just slather on top of a thick slice of bread.
Once you have some compound butters around, you'll find oodles of ways to use them to dress up dishes for yourself, your family, and friends with almost zero effort.
Compound Butters : For Your Pantry
Ingredients
Chive Butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened (4 ounces)
- 2 tablespoon minced chives
Mustard Butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened (4 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon white wine or lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
- Coarsely ground black pepper
Basil Butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened (4 ounces)
- ¼ cup chopped basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon white wine or lemon juice
Instructions
Chive Butter
- Using a fork, thoroughly mash the butter and chives together on a clean work space. Scrape into the shape of a log and place towards the end of a sheet of wax paper. Drape the wax paper over the log, but don't roll it up yet. Gently roll the log back and forth until it's the same diameter all along it's length.
- Roll up, fold the ends over, date it with a marker and identify what it is, and tuck into a zip-lock baggie. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Mustard Butter
- Using a fork, thoroughly mash all of the ingredients together, EXCEPT the pepper, on a clean work space. Scrape into the shape of a log and place towards the end of a sheet of wax paper. Drape the wax paper over the log, but don't roll it up yet. Gently roll the log back and forth until it's the same diameter all along it's length. Sprinkle some black pepper over the wax paper and roll the mustard butter log over it. Press the black pepper into the butter.
- Roll up, fold the ends over, date it with a marker and identify what it is, and tuck into a zip-lock baggie. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Basil Butter
- Either combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade and whirl like crazy, or finely mince the basil and thoroughly mash all of the ingredients together using a fork on a clean workspace.
- Scrape into the shape of a log and place towards the end of a sheet of wax paper. Drape the wax paper over the log, but don't roll it up yet. Gently roll the log back and forth until it's the same diameter all along it's length.
- Roll up, fold the ends over, date it with a marker and identify what it is, and tuck into a zip-lock baggie. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Rita
Love this Susan! So easy, so simple, so my style. I freeze minced garlic and ginger to use for stir-fry. Here's the "how-to" link
http://getcookingsimply.com/in-your-freezer-and-ready-to-go/
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Rita! I love the idea of freezing minced garlic and ginger - I'm off to check your link 🙂
apuginthekitchen
I love compound butter and your recipes are wonderful. I have never ventured past herbs garlic and lemon, this reminds me I need to. Great ideas
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's been such a treat to have these on hand!
cheri
How clever Susan, this is a great idea to help in the flavor department in the kitchen. Very nice!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Cheri! I find the flavor gets better and better too. After a few days even, the chive butter was so full of flavor!
lizthechef
Fabulous - I'm going to do basil compound butter with our fresh corn for the rest of the season!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Perfect!!!!! And I'm willing to bet you have a bunch of basil in the backyard!
Choc Chip Uru
I want to try this butter on some bread, nice and grilled - WOW 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Ohhhhh, grilled bread with this would be fabulous!
Oui, Chef
I'm a junkie for compound butters and love ALL of yours! So smart to have them on-hand for a multitude of purposes.
Terra
I have an addiction to butter. So of course I love this post. Love all the flavors combined, so delicious! Yum, Hugs, Terra