Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Blue Cheese and Other Composed Butters



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I never doubted that the "something blue" of the old, new, borrowed, blue theme that I've been featuring this week would be a blue cheese butter. At the time I posted the recipe for my French dip sandwich, I had to send you off the reservation for the blue cheese butter I recommend you use to enhance its flavor. Pride demanded I remedy that situation as soon as I could. So, today I'm featuring a trio of compound butters that are wonderful additions to your kitchen quiver. A compound butter is nothing more than butter to which other ingredients have been added. They add great flavor to meals and the only requirement for making a successful spread is that all the ingredients be at room temperature. The butter should be beaten or stirred to perfect smoothness before other ingredients are added. The butter, which some cooks like to shape into a log, is then placed back into the refrigerator to chill until it is firm. The butters will keep for a week or two in the refrigerator and can be kept for several months in the freezer. They can be used as a spread for bread or tossed with vegetables or pasta to boost their flavor. Some cooks also serve them with meat or fish. They are really simple to make and they can be as simple or complex as your imagination allows. Here are three of my favorites.

Blue Cheese Butter

Ingredients:
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 pound crumbled blue cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons port wine

Directions:
Cream butter until perfectly smooth. Add wine and blue cheese and beat until smooth. Chill. Yield: 1 cup.


Maître d'Hôtel Butter


Courtesy of Photobucket: Creative Commons License


Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:
Cream butter until perfectly smooth. Add lemon juice and parsley and mix until ingredients are well blended. Place a piece of plastic wrap on counter. Spoon butter onto plastic wrap and roll into a tight cylinder. Tie off or twist ends. Chill until firm. Yield: 16 tablespoons.


Mixed Herb Butter


Courtesy of Photobucket: Creative Commons License

Ingredients:
1/4 pound room temperature butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh chives
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:
Cream butter until perfectly smooth. Add oil and herbs to bowl of a food processor and pulse until oil is colored by herbs. Add to butter and, using whisk attachment, beat until butter is light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Spoon onto plastic wrap and roll into a tight log. Chill for 2 hours before serving. Yield: 8 tablespoons.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Spicy Holiday Compound Butter - The Hungry Mouse
Horseradish and Parsley Compound Butter - Cooking with K
5 Star Makeover: Compound Butter - 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures
Drunken Cranberry Orange Compound Butter - The Hungry Mouse
Lemony Picatta Compound Butter - Kahakai Kitchen
Fresh Herb Compound Butter - Black Girl Chef's Whites

49 comments :

Katie@Cozydelicious said...

Oooh, I love fancy butters! Fantastic over steak, awesome for mashed potatoes, even great on popcorn. Yum!

Banana Wonder said...

I think I'd like to use the last butter for after the bath :) Mmmm mmmm

Alessandra said...

Ciao Mary, wow, look at those butters, they all sound wonderful, maybe my favourite is the herbs' one :-)

Have a great day

Alessandra

scrambledhenfruit said...

All of your versions sound wonderful! They'd be perfect for keeping in the freezer to dress up steamed veggies. :)

Monet said...

Can you believe I've never made a compound butter before? With all the bread I've been baking, I know one would be put to good use! Now I have three great recipes to try. Thank you so much for sharing, my friend!

Ginny Hartzler said...

I have never made a compound butter, but I just love them in the fancy restaraunts!

Pondside said...

What a lovely lot of recipes using one of my favorite ingredients.
Years ago we used to cross the border to a restaurant between Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene Idaho where the most delicious honey butter was served with the bread. I've tried to make something like it, but don't seem to get it right.

Katerina said...

I have in my family two fans of blue cheese. I am sure my husband and my son would love to try this spread over a warm slice of bread.

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

Mmmm, I love butter and blue cheese! Thank you for these recipes and the great ideas on using them! Happy New Year!

Chiara said...

I love blue cheese but all of your version sound good! have a wonderful day...

penny aka jeroxie said...

Blue cheese butter on a good chuck of steak = heavenly

fuat gencal said...

Çok leziz ve iştah açıcı görünüyor. Ellerinize, emeğinize sağlık.

Saygılar.

Diane said...

That blue cheese butter is definitely on my 'to do' list. Yum yum. Diane

Cool Chic Style Fashion said...

Un felice anno nuovo, ciao ♥

Priya Suresh said...

Thanks for sharing these yummy butters..

2 Dogs said...

Oh wow! I could take a bath in these! LOL

Renata said...

I love these butters! My father always makes them and I always enjoy it so much! Thanks for sharing so many different ones!

We Are Not Martha said...

I absolutely love blue cheese (and butter), so this is heaven to me. It makes steak SO much better :)

Sues

Kim said...

I love those butters too! It is so true that they add lots of flavors... On fish, it is so good! Thanks for these. Have a good day Mary!

Unknown said...

I love love love compound butters!! I mean take something fantastic like butter....and make it better!! I'm all for that!

Flavia Galasso said...

Oh...I love, adore and like these butter recipes....thank you and Happy New Year....hugs, blessings and kisses, Flavia

Eliana said...

Love these kinds of butters and these are so full of flavor. Hope you're having a great start to the New Year Mary :)

whozyerdanny said...

I love a little compound butter on my grilled steak...nice variation!

Emily Z said...

YUM! I have never made my own butter. But I am a big fan of blue cheese, so that one in particular is definitely something that I would enjoy.

Karen said...

I bet the bleu cheese butter would be great on top of a grilled steak! I made some herb butter for Thanksgiving and it was a hit!

lena said...

i have not tasted blue cheese before but it's available here..would love to try this some day. thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Um...butter, blue cheese and port wine! I'm in HEAVEN!!! Thanks for posting compund butters! They're a great thing to have on hand and simple to make! Adds such flavor!

From the Kitchen said...

Mary, thanks for your kind words on my photography! And, I'm quite happy to be reminded of compound butters. They used to be in my freezer all the time in the past.

Now, let me thank you for the visit from you and Bob last night. Don't remember? I had the most vivid dream that the two of you came to my house. Later, I regretted not offering you something to eat!! Come back and I'll make dinner = )

Best,
Bonnie

Emily Malloy said...

This is FABULOUS.

mr. pineapple man said...

looks amazing!! I LOVE butter and dips :)

Karen said...

Delicious! Blue cheese and butter...it can't get better than that. ;-)

Rita said...

What great post. I used to make all kinds of beurre composé; it has been a long time. I love it with the blue cheese; must taste heavenly.

StephenC said...

Peter is the master of compound butters in our household. I hope your post inspires others to make them. They're great!

The Blonde Duck said...

The only thing better than butter is Blue Cheese butter!

Kelly said...

Mmmm. I love blue cheese so I have no doubt I would adore blue cheese butter as well. I always mean to make more compound butters. They are a very smart way to use up herbs that are lying around, but for some reason, they never come to mind.

teresa said...

oh this is divine. i'd just be looking for things to spread this butter on, delicious!

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

I do love butter!

Fondly,
Glenda

Faith said...

Blue cheese sounds really delicious made into compound butter! And I bet it was perfect in that French Dip sandwich you mentioned!

Joanne said...

Blue cheese is one of the most fabulous blue foods out there! And then you went and put it in a butter...lovely.

Claudia said...

I love compound butters and this will be perfect for the next time I serve steak. My husband always asks - where's the blue cheese sauce when there's beef. I will surprise him with the butter!

aipi said...

I know my hubby will love this one..thanks for sharing Mary :)

US Masala

Cynthia said...

Mary I love this post! I made some garlic butter the other day and I've been using it on everything :)

The Chef In My Head said...

Yum, blue cheese! Great ideas, love all three.
Happy New Year Mary ~Leslie

Katrina V. said...

Woah, that blue cheese butter looks amazing. I want to dump it all over a steak. Thanks for posting!

FOODalogue said...

I'm generally not much of a butter user but must admit every time I've been served a flavored butter, I found it mighty tasty. I'm afraid to start making them b/c I don't need the lbs that would result!

Jami said...

Ooh, these would be so perfect for a party! I'm throwing a shower soon... maybe we'll have to try one of these!

Thanks for checking out my blog, and I wish you good luck with the marshmallows. Let me know how they come out!

FoOd FaNaTiC said...

Great idea for a post!!! Love your blog!

L'Chicken said...

Yes, yes and yes! I am hankering for a steak with some of this melted all over it. Why oh why is my husband a vegetarian?

That Girl said...

This reminds me of the amazement my inlaws expressed when they had garlic butter.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Printfriendly