Today, and for the following two days, we are going to talk about compound butters. Compound butters are mixtures of butter and other elements such as herbs, spices or aromatics which are combined to enhance flavor in various dishes. They can be melted on top of meats and vegetables or used as a spread. They are quite delicious. Real butter is brought to room temperature and then the herbs and flavorings and/or aromatics are added to the butter. It is then formed and placed back into the refrigerator. You may want to make one or more of these delicious butters to enjoy at home. Today I will start our three part lesson on how to make compound butter which I think you will really enjoy.
The first of these is Citrus Tarragon Butter. Here is the recipe:
Citrus Tarragon Butter
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
Zest from one large orange
Juice from 1/2 orange
2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
Pinch of salt
Directions:
We began our recipe with a bag of California navel oranges. They are seedless and they worked perfectly for this recipe. Who wants to deal with seeds in fruit when preparing dishes if it can be avoided.
Remember I told you I was going to give you three compound butter recipes. Each recipe calls for two sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature. So I started with six sticks of butter for the three separate recipes. If you want to make several compound butters, please do so. What is not eaten right away can be frozen.
Here we have two sticks of unsalted butter, sliced, at room temperature in a stainless steel bowl.
A beautiful California naval orange. These oranges are large. Much larger than the usual juicing or valencia orange. The skin on naval oranges is very well suited for this recipe. The naval orange has a fragrant skin and since they are large, you get more zest than you would with a regular juicing orange.
Check out this chart with the many different oranges and citrus fruits. On the bottom row you can see the difference in size between the Heirloom Naval and the Juice Orange. This is a handy chart to have in your kitchen binder. I keep a binder of useful information in the kitchen cabinet. It is just a three-ring binder of important information. Or at least, what I deem as important information.
Using a microplaner with a plastic cap, I removed just the outer part of the skin from the orange. You do not want to go too deep. You want just the outer part of the orange peel.
Here is that same orange after zesting. You do not want to zest the pith just under the skin, It is quite bitter and will not enhance the flavor of your butter. If you are juicing the orange and you juice the entire orange with the skin intact, then you would likely not notice the bitter taste of the pith. You may add spinach or other fruit to your juice or smoothie and that would mask the bitterness of the pith. For this recipe, we do not want to include the pith. With cooking, as with many things in life, things are not always black and white. What works in one recipe does not necessarily in another.
And here, the beautiful orange zest ready to be added to the butter.
Into the bowl with the orange zest.
We sliced the zested orange in half
Then juiced just one-half of it into this little plastic juicer. This is very handy to have in the kitchen for small jobs like this. When I make fresh-squeezed orange juice for a party, I use the electric juicer. But there was no need for that here.
Here, our freshly squeezed orange juice.
Into the bowl with the orange juice.
Fresh tarragon from the produce department.
Be certain to use fresh tarragon. Tarragon has a very distinct flavor with hints of anise. In my opinion, a little goes a long way. This recipe calls for two tablespoons and that is perfect for my palate. Even a smidge more would be too much.
Also, make sure the tarragon is chopped finely. Because the taste of this aromatic herb is so pungent, you do not want large pieces of the leaf in the butter.
This picture gives you a perfect example of how the tarragon should be chopped. Add the two tablespoons of tarragon to the bowl and use an electric hand mixer to incorporate all the ingredients together.
Here is the butter once everything has been incorporated. I didn't have so much luck forming it into a presentable shape with my hands, so I placed the room temperature butter into a small ramekin to form a pretty round.
Here, on one of our new small, white pedestals. That is just perfect for serving at the table or on a buffet.
And here, in the refrigerator to fully set. I later wrapped this in cling wrap. Always bring to room temperature before guests arrive. Use right away or freeze for use later.
This is perfect on a bagel or an English muffin. A light spread would also add some character to a veggie sandwich made with sour dough bread. You could add sliced tomato, bibb lettuce, sprouts, thinly sliced cucumber and super thin slices of a golden delicious apple. Incredible!!!
The first of these is Citrus Tarragon Butter. Here is the recipe:
Citrus Tarragon Butter
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
Zest from one large orange
Juice from 1/2 orange
2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
Pinch of salt
Directions:
- Add all ingredients to a large glass or steel mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat all ingredients until well incorporated and fluffy.
- Place a medium-sized piece of plastic wrap onto a clean, flat surface. Gather the butter together in the bowl and then place onto the center of the plastic wrap.
- Grab the bottom of the plastic wrap and pull it up over the butter and begin rolling and forming into a log or a square or rectangular shape. Whatever suits you. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to set.
See below as we go through this step-by-step.
We began our recipe with a bag of California navel oranges. They are seedless and they worked perfectly for this recipe. Who wants to deal with seeds in fruit when preparing dishes if it can be avoided.
Remember I told you I was going to give you three compound butter recipes. Each recipe calls for two sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature. So I started with six sticks of butter for the three separate recipes. If you want to make several compound butters, please do so. What is not eaten right away can be frozen.
Here we have two sticks of unsalted butter, sliced, at room temperature in a stainless steel bowl.
A beautiful California naval orange. These oranges are large. Much larger than the usual juicing or valencia orange. The skin on naval oranges is very well suited for this recipe. The naval orange has a fragrant skin and since they are large, you get more zest than you would with a regular juicing orange.
Check out this chart with the many different oranges and citrus fruits. On the bottom row you can see the difference in size between the Heirloom Naval and the Juice Orange. This is a handy chart to have in your kitchen binder. I keep a binder of useful information in the kitchen cabinet. It is just a three-ring binder of important information. Or at least, what I deem as important information.
Using a microplaner with a plastic cap, I removed just the outer part of the skin from the orange. You do not want to go too deep. You want just the outer part of the orange peel.
Here is that same orange after zesting. You do not want to zest the pith just under the skin, It is quite bitter and will not enhance the flavor of your butter. If you are juicing the orange and you juice the entire orange with the skin intact, then you would likely not notice the bitter taste of the pith. You may add spinach or other fruit to your juice or smoothie and that would mask the bitterness of the pith. For this recipe, we do not want to include the pith. With cooking, as with many things in life, things are not always black and white. What works in one recipe does not necessarily in another.
And here, the beautiful orange zest ready to be added to the butter.
Into the bowl with the orange zest.
We sliced the zested orange in half
Then juiced just one-half of it into this little plastic juicer. This is very handy to have in the kitchen for small jobs like this. When I make fresh-squeezed orange juice for a party, I use the electric juicer. But there was no need for that here.
Here, our freshly squeezed orange juice.
Into the bowl with the orange juice.
Fresh tarragon from the produce department.
Be certain to use fresh tarragon. Tarragon has a very distinct flavor with hints of anise. In my opinion, a little goes a long way. This recipe calls for two tablespoons and that is perfect for my palate. Even a smidge more would be too much.
Also, make sure the tarragon is chopped finely. Because the taste of this aromatic herb is so pungent, you do not want large pieces of the leaf in the butter.
This picture gives you a perfect example of how the tarragon should be chopped. Add the two tablespoons of tarragon to the bowl and use an electric hand mixer to incorporate all the ingredients together.
Here is the butter once everything has been incorporated. I didn't have so much luck forming it into a presentable shape with my hands, so I placed the room temperature butter into a small ramekin to form a pretty round.
Here, on one of our new small, white pedestals. That is just perfect for serving at the table or on a buffet.
And here, in the refrigerator to fully set. I later wrapped this in cling wrap. Always bring to room temperature before guests arrive. Use right away or freeze for use later.
This is perfect on a bagel or an English muffin. A light spread would also add some character to a veggie sandwich made with sour dough bread. You could add sliced tomato, bibb lettuce, sprouts, thinly sliced cucumber and super thin slices of a golden delicious apple. Incredible!!!
