Butter has been around for a very long time. It's used to add flavor and fat (texture and richness) to many foods and meals. The French have been using it for hundreds of years, and although I can't find when they created compound butters, I can confirm they are the people who started it, and for that I say "Vive la France!"
Compound butter, or beurre compose, is a fancy way of saying "butter with stuff stirred into it" and has as many uses as butter itself. It can be sweet, savory, spicy, mellow or pungent. It can be put atop breads, vegetables, pancakes, waffles, seafood, meats... the sky is the limit here.
The original compound butter, Beurre Maître d’Hôtel (or the Maitre d’s butter, commonly called Steakhouse Butter in the U.S. today) was traditionally made tableside. Fresh parsley and lemon juice were added to softened butter and formed into pats that were placed on a freshly seared tenderloin steak. As the steak rested, the butter melted into it. The herbs and citrus added a bright flavor to balance out the richness of the butter. You'll still see it on a lot of restaurant menus today and we use it here in the "Kitchen." It's a super easy way to impress your dinner guests.
But butter goes a lot further than steaks. I'll show you the four I made this past week and how we used them. If you give compound butter a try, just keep these tips in mind.
Make sure you are buying the freshest butter you can get your hands on. You need it fresh and light to take on the flavors you are stirring in.
Use unsalted butter, and if salt is needed in your compound butter, add it in yourself. This way you have total control of the outcome of the taste.
If you are stirring in "wet" ingredients, try to dry it out as much as possible before mixing it with the butter
If using herbs, fresh is best
All of the butters I made, I used one stick of unsalted butter and mixed in the flavorings. Sometimes, it is good to let the mixture sit for an hour to let the flavors blend before refrigerating or freezing. I used a butter mold and planned to use some fresh and then cut the leftovers into pats and freeze.
You can also just roll the butter into a log on wax paper, use individual silicone candy molds, shape individual servings with a melon baller - really, your options are endless. Compound butter will keep for about a week in the refrigerator or two to three months in the freezer.
My four recipes are below with ideas for additional add ins below that. Feel free to mix and match to your liking and enjoy your new world of compound butter!
Roasted Garlic and Herb
1 roasted garlic bulb, mashed
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped chives
We used this on steak
Lemon Tarragon Shallot
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp chopped chives
1/2 small shallot, minced
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
I would have used a tablespoon of fresh tarragon, but I did not have any.
We used this on roasted asparagus.
Vanilla Cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
We used this on bagels and toast. We'll also use it on pancakes.
Strawberry
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1 1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
I let the strawberries drain in a small strainer for an hour after chopping. In hindsight, I should have chopped even smaller or put through a food processor. The chunks were tasty but the butter did not want to stay in the mold.
We used it for English muffins, bagels and toast.
More ideas:
Smoked Paprika and Rosemary
Garlic and Parsley
Cinnamon Maple
Jalapeno Lime
Bacon and maple
Orange Honey
Mushroom and Sherry (Marsala)
Gorgonzola Sage
Lemon Blueberry
Cranberry Orange
Italian herb
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