So I have discovered something totally yummy that may change your tastebuds. Compound butters. So if you’re like me, you wait to decide on what’s for dinner until around 4:30pm. Then by the time you get home with the groceries you’re too tired to make something extravagant so maybe it’s always an easy meal you make, but every night it seems to be kinda bland food. Which is great for picky kids, but I crave some flavor without the hassle.
Welcome to the world of compound butters. So what is a compound butter? Compound butters are just butter with other flavorful ingredients mixed into it. So there is a lot of flexibility here. You can go sweet or savory, and they can be made ahead of time (yippee!). The flavorful part is my favorite. Mostly because you can make a few of them at the beginning of the week and use them all week long. Think about it, when you need to add some flavor to steak or fish. Or if you are a toast fan you would LOVE strawberry-honey compound butter (psst.. recipe is below), or a maple butter. My favorite for the grilling season right now is Bobby Flay’s blue cheese butter, great for meats, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. A lot of these butters can be frozen, too. If you’re kids don’t like extra flavor then leave the butter off their plates. I haven’t had much time to photograph mine, the pic below is of Alton Brown’s avocado butter (click pic for recipe or scroll down). Here’s to amping up dinner with not a lot of work!
Here’s a quick selection of some of my favorite…
My favorite butter to use for the base so far is Kate’s Creamery unsalted from Healthy Living Market.
You can use salted or unsalted, it’s just a personal taste choice. If your recipe adds salt then stick with unsalted.
Have you made a compound butter before? What is your favorite?