Monday, May 21, 2012

Fresh herb butter

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Give toast, boiled potatoes, pasta or a weeknight steak a quick pick-me-up with this simple herb butter, made with any mixture of fresh herbs your palate prefers.

It's as simple as this: Let some good butter soften on the counter. Chop a heaping pile of mixed fresh herbs and add them to the butter with a little sea salt. Mix. Store the herb butter in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for the longer haul.

If you have an herb garden, tidy it up with your pruning shears, then use the clippings to make this herb butter. If not, grab bunches of basil, parsley, dill, cilantro, chives, mint, etc. at the market and go to work. If you like things garlicky, add a clove of fresh garlic to the mix. A food processor makes chopping the herbs painless, but if you prefer your knife and a board, that works too.

I used Kerrygold's Naturally Softer Irish Butter for this batch because I'm impatient and didn't want to wait for a stick of butter to soften. I don't know how they do it - the ingredients are just cream and salt, same as regular butter - but something in the churning process for this product keeps it soft and spreadable, even straight from the refrigerator.

I met the Kerrygold USA team at Camp Blogaway a few weeks ago, where they showed us a beautiful slideshow of the Irish cows, Irish grass, and Irish dairy farmers who turn out Kerrygold butter and cheese. They say you can taste the grass in the butter and cheese - I'm not sure I get grass exactly, but the butter is tasty indeed. It makes a terrific base for this elegant herb butter.

No, Kerrygold is not paying me to say any of this. I bought the Kerrygold butter for this recipe at Costco with my own hard-earned money.

print recipe
Herb butter
Mix chopped fresh herbs into softened butter and you end up with a compound butter that's way more than the sum of its parts. Use it on toast, boiled potatoes, pasta or steak.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup good butter
  • approximately 1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs, chopped finely (basil, parsley, mint, chives, cilantro, dill, etc.)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Let the butter sit at room temperature until softened. Using a large spoon, mix in the fresh herbs, garlic (if using), and salt. Mix until well combined. Store the herb butter in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to three months.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: approximately 1/2 cup

3 comments:

Valentina said...

delicious! i love it!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Lovely! Dill butter on grilled salmon...
oh my!

Liz the Chef said...

Herb butter, such a simple but perfect idea.

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