Compound Butter
Compound butters mix herbs, seasonings, butter and perhaps olive oil to create a flavor-packed finishing butter. We use compound butter as a way to use up extra herbs from cooking.
Most compound butters appear to call for ratios of 2 to 3 tablespoons of herbs to 8 ounces of butter. In some cooking, the higher fat content works. But as a finishing butter, the extra fat can feel heavy.
We use a much smaller ratio of herbs to butter to get stronger flavors–in the recipe below, a ratio of nearly 1-to-1. We use this compound butter to finish many dishes such as pan roasted prawns. The only watchout with the recipe below is to not leave the butter in too long or the herbs will burn.
Ingredients
2-3 T marjoram leaves
2 1/2 T butter
Directions
Remove leaves from stems and rough chop. Cube butter into 1/4 inch squares. This pre-work yields better distribution of hearbs across the compound butter after mixing.
Place leaves in food processor and pulse 3 to 4 times. The leaves should be finely chopped.
Add butter and blend for about 30 seconds. Using spatula, scrape butter herb mixture from sides of food proessor bowl and mix for another 20-30 seconds.
Remove compound butter from bowl and place onto plastic sheet. Role butter into a log. Use or refrigerate for further use. The pictures below display the final mixing and forming of compound butter into a log. The picuter is shiny due to the plastic and not strangly colored butter.
