Compound Butter
- Total Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 8tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1tablespoon herb leaves, minced
- 1small shallot, peeled and minced
- 2teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
- Splash Champagne or white-wine vinegar
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
214 calories; 23 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 1 gram protein; 5 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put the butter on a cutting board and, using a fork, cut the other ingredients into it until the butter is creamy and smooth. Scrape the butter together with a chef’s knife, and form it into a rough log. If making ahead of time, roll it tightly in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
Private Notes
Comments
James Peterson in his Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making book is very explicit in his instructions to carefully blanch your fresh green herbs in boiling water for 30 sec, shock in ice-water and then carefully dry them BEFORE mincing and grinding them with butter. This step will help preserve the fresh vibrant green color and also set the flavors so your butter or sauces don't become a dull green grey or worse black from the action of enzymes due to browning from air.
I make compound butter all the time. My recipe is similar to Sam's basic one. Here's what I do: unsalted butter (room temp), garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest and fresh thyme. I make a paste of the garlic and salt and then add the pepper, lemon zest and thyme to the paste. Then I mix the paste into the butter, put in a ramekin, or wax paper and stick it in the fridge. Delicious on most any beef or lamb - especially grilled NY strip steaks! Yum. A little bit goes a long way!
Want to know more about compound butters and their role in classical French cuisine? Check out these sauce making texts. Compound butter recipes are a very important part of French culinary cannon and many well regarded and important recipes appear in Michael Roux's Sauces The Sauce Bible: Guide to the Saucier's Craft by David Larousse and James Peterson's Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making
This recipe (which could hardly be called a recipe) has the ingredient “herb leaves” listed. If you are so new to being an at-home chef that you need to look up a recipe for compound butter, you’re not going to know what herbs to use. For those looking for suggestions: If you’re making steak “herb leaves” would be: Parsley, fresh basil, and thyme. Chicken: Browned sage. Fish: Cilantro, parsley, chives. Hopefully this helps more than the recipe.
I minced just-picked rosemary, oregano and thyme from my garden and mixed them into a stick and half of room temperature butter, with a bit of black pepper added. I spooned the mixture into a silicone ice cube tray and froze, then popped out the blocks of the butter and stored them in a zip top freezer bag. Now I can take out as many of the frozen blocks as I need without thawing the whole batch.
Made with Trader Joe’s Vegan buttery spread for thanksgiving. Delicious. Used citrus champagne vinegar and lime. My herbs did not turn grey or black. Making second batch today. Elevates whatever you serve with it.
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