Compound Butters

Keep these flavored butters in the fridge to brighten up most any dish.

A chef is a lot like a magician. They tend to always have something up their sleeve, ready to wow you. Compound butters fall into this realm of magical thinking. You might find yourself at a restaurant asking internally, "Why is this green bean dish so dang good?" Or at a high-end steak house wondering, "What type of flavor sorcery is oozing off of this steak?" The answer, more often than not, is compound butter. I have been using compound butters at home and in restaurants since I started cooking. It's the easiest way to take a dish over the edge and really make something pop. It's also an easy way to add flavor in one easy dollop. 

Compound butters are flavorful ingredients combined with butter. They can be sweet or salty. I use a food processor when making my butters. The blades chop up the ingredients finely, bringing out the flavors and color, adding more depth to the butter. Once mixed, plop the butter on a piece of parchment paper, roll into a log, store in the refrigerator, then slice and use. 

Any kind of butter will work. I prefer unsalted, as some of the ingredients contain salt. If you can get your hands on farm fresh grass-fed butter, all the better.