So what is a compound butter? It’s simply a flavoured butter composed with butter and a variety of different flavours. The possibilities are endless when it comes to flavours so here I’ve made lime & chili butter, basil and orange butter, Earl Grey & honey butter, mint & cumin butter (try with lamb), thai butter and green butter (using chlorophyll extracted from greens).
All of these butters are made the same way:
Method:
- Soften butter
- Mix all the ingredients together.
Lime & Chili Butter
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tsp lime juice + zest of 1 lime
- 1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder (you can always substitute for fresh chilis, but remember to remove the seeds)
- Salt to taste
Basil & Orange Butter
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tbsp. basil chiffonnade
- 1 tsp. orange juice
- 2 tsp. orange zest
- Salt to taste
Earl Grey & Honey Butter
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tsp. ground early grey (grind the tea leaves in a spice grinder)
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. honey, or to taste (for a lower glycemic index sugar, try coconut sugar or any sugar substitute)
- Salt to taste
Mint & Cumin Butter
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp. mint, chiffonnade
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. cumin powder
- Salt to taste
Thai butter
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tsp. thai powder from here.
- Salt to taste
Green butter
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp. chlorophyll
- Salt to taste
The colour is deceiving because the pigment itself has no flavour. You can always save some herbs from the chlorophyll making process and reintegrate them into the butter to add flavour.
How to make chlorophyll:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups greens or herbs (I used kale that had wilted but remained green)
- 3 cups water
Method:
- Place ingredients in blender and blend.
- Strain with cheesecloth or fine mesh and keep the liquid.
- Place liquid in pot and heat until approximately 80 degrees celcius.
- At this point, the chlorophyll will coagulate and separate from the aqueous phase. Use a fine mesh strainer to remove the chlorophyll.
The chlorophyll is simply the pigment from the greens/herbs. You can use it to colour all foods. Try it in pasta or use for presentation (add vegetable oil and salt).
I hope you enjoy and feel free to share creations!
