Once you’ve mastered the basics of butter-making, you can try your hand at making flavored butters (including herb butters)—limited only by your imagination.
Lemon Butter
A favorite to use in sautéing or garnishing fish, this one is simple to make:
Cream the butter and beat in lemon juice, adding only drop by drop. Chill well.
Herb butters can be made with either fresh or dried herbs.
As a general rule, use 1 T. finely chopped fresh herbs for every ½ cup of butter; use 1 to 1 ½ tsp. dried, crumbled herbs. You may find that your own tastes call for more or less.
Parsley Butter
A wonderful topping for potatoes or steamed vegetables.
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 T. fresh parsley
- 3/4 T. lemon juice
Work butter with spatula until creamy. Add salt, pepper and parsley and blend well. Add lemon juice in very small amounts and blend well after each addition.
Chill for at least 3 hours before using.
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 tsp. fresh rosemary
- 2 tsp. fresh sage
- 2 tsp. fresh thyme
Work butter with spatula until creamy. Add herbs and mix well.
Chill for at least 3 hours before using.
Herb Blend Butter
This recipe is for a batch to store and use as needed. It makes just under ½ cup of mix.
- 1 T. dried parsley
- 1 T. dried chives
- 1 T. dried thyme
- 1 T. dried marjoram
- 1 T. dried basil
- 1 T. onion powder
Mix well and store in airtight jar.
To use:
Cream ¼ pound butter until it can be worked with a spatula. Add 2 teaspoons of herb blend and mix well.
Let stand at room temperature for 1 ½ to 2 hours to let flavors blend.
Refrigerate until firm before using.
