Have you ever just looked in your pantry and felt uninspired?
Happens to me all the time. Let’s face it, I don’t always rejoice when I have to cook. I am not
creative without a recipe. I can’t smell an ingredient and say “ooh wow this would pair
wonderfully with…”. Nope not me, my husband on the other hand, he is the one that can create
these dishes in his mind and execute them in a way that is just magnificent.
One of the things I enjoyed the most about culinary school was that cooking didn’t have to be
always so complicated. There are culinary hacks that are simple in nature that can truly take a
mediocre dish and elevate it to the next level. Home cooks and culinary professionals around
the country and the world do these things all the time, so why shouldn’t we know about it.
Compound Butters: What is it?…
To sum it up quickly. Compound Butter is delicious buttery goodness flavored to perfection. The
actual “ON COOKING” definition is a little boring but it is also more accurate so here goes.
Compound Butters: A compound butter is made by incorporating various seasonings into
softened whole butter.
These butters are also known as Beurres Composés, (just in case you
wanted to sound fancy saying it).
These butters are really nice because it gives color and flavor to small sauces or used by itself
to top any dish. For instance a slice of this seasoned herbed butter could be used on top of a
piece of steak. Yum, Right!
BUTTER
What do I need?
1 pound of butter unsalted at room temperature
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 head of garlic peeled and separated
1 cup of herbs (any herbs you want that you think might go well with the garlic)
*Parchment Paper
*Plastic Wrap
*One thing to remember is that this can be fun. Experiment with different herbs, and flavors. Go for
sweet, tangy, and savory flavors. Be creative. You can always freeze your different butters and
use them as needed.*
Equipment:
Food Processor
(if you don’t have one, you will need a knife to mince the herbs and bowl to mix everything
together)
How do I make it?
Mince your herbs or use a food processor. Add all the ingredients and mix with your soft butter.
You want every ingredient totally incorporated.
After mixing your butter scoop out onto your parchment/plastic wrap. I like to wrap it in a cylinder
shape and freeze them. But if you wanted to just chill the butter that is fine too. I like to slice
mine up and use a little bit at a time.
HONEY
Honeys can elevate your entree or your dessert. We personally love honey and prefer it over
table sugar. The more raw the honey, the more delightful I think it is. Call me weird but I like it
when it has pieces of honey comb still in it.
Anyway infusing honey is easy. The possibilities are endless. You can use it on a variety of
foods, drinks, desserts, salad dressings, and as a sauce.
What do I need?
Ratio: 1-2 tbsps of herb : 1 cup of Honey
Honey: I like to use a milder honey. The color isn’t really important but like I said earlier you
want to be able to taste your honey combinations.
Herbs: Single herbs or mixed really works well with honey. There are so many other ingredients
that work really well with honey. Be creative.
Equipment:
Mason Jars
ChopStick, Honey Spoon, or wooden spoon
Clean Cloth
Strainer
Herbs:
Dry herbs are the safest bet. Even if you want to use fresh herbs, Dry them out.
This is a critical control point: fresh un-dried herbs can cause water activity and bacteria growth.
Drying them out prevents that from happening. So DRY DRY DRY!
How do I make it?
Put your herbs at the bottom of the jar and fill halfway with delicious honey. Stir your honey and
make sure the herbs are coated and covered with the honey. Then finish filling your jar all the
way to the top.
Let the mixture sit for 5 days minimum. The longer it sits the stronger the taste.
If the herbs start to float to the top just flip it over and let them mix back in again.
When your herbs blend in really well, strain out your honey. After all the herbs have been taken
out retop your jar of delicious hone and store it in a dry and cool place. This lasts forever-ish.
Thank you for reading, and be sure to leave me a comment and let us know how things turned out for you! Also, if you have any specific requests for recipes or topics you think should be discussed in our blog updates please leave them in the comments section!
Eva
#Infusion #InfusedButter #InfusedHoney #Butter #Honey #CreativeRecipes
