Compound Butter: A Simple How-To

I've said before that Jaisa and I don't agree on a lot of things, from politics to high heeled shoes.  Don't get us started on bacon or baby names, either.  But here's something simple we do agree on:  butter.  I know.  Way to come together on the really important issues.  But hey, Jaisa has a serious gym regimen and I have maternity jeans on so forgive me as I share how I dressed up some simple butter for a fancy touch at a holiday meal.

Compound butter is a really easy way to seem like a fancy chef when you're really just mixing softened butter with some tasty ingredients.  I have seen recipes for sweet, savory, and salty compound butters and they all look like a delicious way to dress up breads, pasta, veggies, or meat at the dinner table (or, in my case, spread on toast while standing around your kitchen at 3 am when "the baby" needs a snack).

I went with a savory butter, using the hardy herbs that are surviving the New England winter out in my little herb garden - rosemary, sage, oregano, and thyme.  This is a great "recipe" because you can choose the flavors you like and add as much (or as little) as you'd like.  Here's what I used:

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup fresh herbs 

dash of sea salt

Chop up the herbs.  Again, this is a matter of personal preference - if you are fine with big pieces, only chop them loosely.  I cut them up into fairly small pieces since I wanted to be able to use this butter as a coating for roasted veggies AND as a spread for fresh bread and I thought a finer chop would be better for both.  Mix your herbs into the softened butter until they are evenly distributed.  Spread into a bowl for serving (or roll into a log and slice off "coins").  Return to the fridge until it has hardened and serve!

Enjoy and stay hungry!

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