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Herb butters

16 years ago

I just got back from grocery shopping and found the store had unsalted butter on sale, and I just happened to have a coupon, also. Now I have four pounds of butter-two in the freezer, one in the fridge, and one coming to room temperature. I'll be making herb butters to freeze this afternoon. I plan on basil/oregano, marjoram/winter savory, rosemary, and tarragon. The herbs are from our herb garden, so I know they are good and fresh!

What herb combinations do you use in herb butters?

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Comments (7)

lindac
16 years ago
Those sound good to me....but I also like lemon butter, with grated lemon peel....and strawberry butter...just work as much frozen strawberries as you can into the butter. It doesn't freeze really hard but is wonderful on biscuits and popovers!
And chive butter is wonderful on potatoes....and there's always parsley butter!

Linda C
bcskye
16 years ago
One restaurant we go to serves a luscious butter with cinnamon in it. I found a honey cinnamon butter recipe I'm going to try to see if its the same. They say this recipe freezes well and makes a great gift.
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You don't mention what you wish to use them for. Bread, veggies, etc? That will affect the flavors you choose to put in the butter. Also, there's your personal flavor preferences--do what you like! There's savory butters and sweet butters (though I'm guessing you want savory since you're talking garlic or shallots). I'm a fan of garlic chives and onion chives when you're talking veggies (this time of year, it's corn and beans for us). Parsley will do a nice fresh green flavor that goes with pretty much anything. For my preference on butters, I go with the stronger flavored herbs (basil doesn't do much for me in a butter) such as the chives, or sage if I'm looking more for bread. I tend not to mix too many flavors--I can always use more than one kind if I want a really complex flavor.
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I would probably freeze the herbs separately, thaw, and mix with butter as needed. I suspect that would yield the best results and flavor. Use the search utility in GardenWeb for info on freezing herbs. It's been covered multiple times. FataMorgana
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Here is a recipe for "Basic Herb Butter" along with different variations by Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill & Gwen Barclay. Basic Herb Butter Â½ pound butter either salted or unsalted, softened 1 tablespoon fresh chives 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, preferably Italian a/k/a flat leaf 1 tablespoon other fresh herb or combination of 2 or 3 (some good ones are dill, tarragon, minced garlic, minced lemon grass, to name just a few) Chop herbs very fine and work into softened butter. Add more herbs if needed, but remember that the flavor will become stronger with a couple of hours of storing in the refrigerator. Be sure not to include stems. Variations: 1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1ld and/or pepper 1-2 cloves minced garlic 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon curry powder 1 teaspoon celery seed, ground coriander seed, caraway or fennel seed 1 large fresh by leaf, very, very finely chopped 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce or 1 teaspoon grated hot pepper Â½ teaspoon paprika All the measurements are approximate and can vary to individual taste. For the crab meat, the basic recipe with the garlic and dill and/or lemon or lemon grass added would be very good. Or you can do just the softened butter with only the garlic, dill and lemon grass. Your herb-combination list is endless. Just put in what you like.
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susytwo
16 years ago
I love mixing butter with chili pepper and a little lime zest for fish.
marlingardener
Original Author
16 years ago
How could I have been so dense as to miss chive butter? I'll make some tomorrow.
bcskye, my husband is a beekeeper, so we have honey. I'll do a search on honey cinnamon butter and try that, too.
susytwo, that sounds great--I'll probably make another trip to the grocery to get more butter so I can try all these great ideas!
Thanks, all!
pkramer60
16 years ago
And there is citrus butter, perfect for poultry. Just mix in some sage, thyme, rosemary, and the zest from an orange and lemon. Rub under the skin of a chicken or a turkey and on the outside. It makes for the best gravy drippings.

On your way to the grocery store, stop at a dollar store and see if they have tiny containers to freeze the butters in. They are no more than an 1/8 cup size and perfect for putting on the table.

Who has the tomato basil butter recipe? Yum!
katykelly_gw
16 years ago
I like to add my sundried tomatoes to herb butter to smear on grilled steak.
bcskye
16 years ago
I haven't tried this Honey Butter recipe from Alton Brown yet, but I am going to.

1 pound butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cut the butter into chunks (Alton uses a dough scraper). Place butter into a mixing bowl and beat at low speed, using the whisk attachment. Increase the speed to medium and add the honey, cinnamon and vanilla extract and beat until well combined, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove butter from bowl and spoon onto parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll into a log and refrigerate for 2 hours.

I don't see why this couldn't be done with regular mixer beaters if you don't have the whisk attachment. I also like pkramer's suggestion of going to a dollar store for small containers to put them in to freeze for either use at home or slightly larger to freeze and give as gift along with something yummy to use it on. We had it on large dinner rolls.

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