Compound Butters

Beginning at top-left in a clockwise direction:
Dill, whole garlic scapes, butter, radishes, and in the center, thinly sliced garlic scapes.

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Compound herb butters are a cinch to make.  All that’s needed is butter and the fresh herb (or herbs) of your choice.  Mince the herb, mix it with softened butter, and there you have it-compound herb butter!  

The butters can be used in many different ways. For instance, you can spread radish butter on a baguette and then toast it under the broiler or on a grill; garlic scape butter can be used in the same way to make garlic bread.  Dill butter is great when used with fish or even on a bagel.  Any of these butters can be used in cooking, to finish off a steak, fish, or chicken, or to enhance the flavor of vegetables.  What herb(s) to add and what to use them with is only limited by your imagination.

Properly stored, the butters will last for a year or more in the freezer.  In the summer months, you can make the butters fresh so I definitely like to store some of them now to use during the cold, winter months.  To store the packaged compound butter in the freezer, put it in a freezer bag marked with the date.

Radish Butter

The resulting flavor of this butter is surprisingly sweet (mildly so) and delicate.  The butter will not overwhelm your taste buds, making you feel like you just bit into a huge radish; it's delicate yet flavorful, and unless you tell someone it's radish butter, they probably won't guess.

8 ounces of softened butter
5-6 medium sized radishes

With a small slotted grater, grate the radishes into a bowl.

As you can see in the photo below, the radishes contain a fair amount of water.  Grabbing small handfuls at a time, sqeeeeeeze the water from the radishes and then place the compact balls in a separate dish.

Water-free

Now, loosen the grated radish and mix them into your softened butter.  And, for heaven's sake, use real butter!  Butter has been vilified wrongly for far too long.  Butter made from the milk of green grass fed cows, which have also been raised humanly and naturally, is rich with vitamins A, D, E & K2, important trace minerals, healthy fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and omega-3 and omega-6 fats.  Butter is delicious and good for you.

Garlic Scape Butter

8 ounces of softened butter

7-8 garlic scapes, with flower head removed

Thinly slice the scapes and then mince the slices.

 Blend the butter and minced scapes together well.

Scoop the mixture back into the package the butter came in, or a sheet of waxed paper, fold and store.

You get the idea- mix 8 ounces of softened butter with any fresh herb of your choice and you then have a compound butter.  The possibilities are endless and delicious!

Pistachio Bundt Cake with Buttermilk-Lime Glaze

When I was girl, my Mom's friend, Joanne, was quite the baker.  She would bake homemade desserts on a regular basis for her family, and there were always a couple from-scratch desserts available at their summer gatherings.  One of the cakes that my Mom really enjoyed was Joanne's pistachio bundt cake.  This happened to be a cake that Joanne didn't make from scratch but it was delicious nonetheless.  Joanne copied down the recipe for my Mom and she's been making it ever since.

The recipe was quite simple really: a boxed yellow cake mix and two boxes of instant pistachio pudding combined with a couple additional ingredients.  Pour the final mixture into a bundt pan, bake and viola!

Those pistachio bundt cakes set me on a path to love all things Bundt, but, as I grew older and more conscious of what I ate, it bothered me that this beloved pistachio cake was a processed nightmare.  More along the lines of a Chemical-Pistaschio Bundt Cake than anything resembling "cake" or actually containing pistachio nuts.  The instant pudding mix contains "less than 2%" of pistachio nuts!  Boo.

The last time I made the boxed version of the cake I swore it would be the last time. Determined to create a from-scratch pistachio cake recipe, I consulted "The Joy" for a yellow cake recipe.  Then I recalled a vendor at a local art fair last summer who sold her homemade nut butters.  Heck, I had tasted her pistachio butter and even thought then that it could be used to make cake.  How could this epiphany have slipped my mind?!

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking's yellow cake recipe, here is my from-scratch recipe for:

Pistachio Bundt Cake with a Buttermilk-Lime Glaze

Preheat the oven to 350˚
Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.  Take care to reach every nook and cranny.

Sift together and set aside:
2-2/3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2-1/4 tsp baking power
1/2 tsp salt

In a measuring cup combine and set aside:
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

In a large bowl, cream 2 sticks of butter (1/2 pound).  Add 1-1/2 cups of sugar to the butter and beat until light and creamy.  Then add 4 large eggs and mix well.  Alternating the flour mixture and the milk mixture, add and blend each with the butter/egg mixture.  Add 1 cup of Futters pistachio nut butter, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, and 1 TB of walnut oil and blend well.

Add the cake batter to your Bundt pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Buttermilk-Lime Glaze:
2 TB of well-shaken buttermilk
1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
Zest of two limes

Once the cake has cooled completely, whisk the above three ingredients together and then drizzle the glaze over the bundt cake.

Moist, nutty, and delicious!

Paella de Marisco

Paella de Marisco 
(this recipe will create a 26” paella, enough for 12-24 people)

To a large stockpot add:

12-15 cups chicken stock
2 tsp saffron, ground with a mortar and pestle
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
1 TB smoked sweet paprika
2 bay leaves

Simmer, covered, until onion is soft and translucent.  Keep stock simmering until you begin to prepare the paella.  You want the stock to be boiling hot by the time you’re ready to add it to the paella pan, so remember to adjust the heat a few minutes before you’re ready to add the stock.

Using seasoned wood or hardwood lump charcoal, build a fire hot enough to maintain a rapid simmer once the stock and rice is added to the pan, but not so hot that the stock evaporates faster than the rice can absorb it.  The latter will result in a burnt paella.  Achieving (and maintaining) the right temperature of the fire can be the trickiest part of the entire cooking process.  However, don’t let this deter you from attempting to make this fantastic dish over an open fire; the result is phenomenal. 

To the paella pan add:
1/8 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
Sauté for a minute and then add...

8 large cloves of garlic, minced
12 scallions, chopped
Sauté for a minute and then add...

15.8 ounces dry-cured chorizo, sliced
4 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
Sauté for 3-4 minutes and then add...

1 TB kosher salt
2 cups dry white wine
4 TB fresh parsley, minced
3 TB fresh thyme leaves
Stir contents together and then add to the paella pan…

12 cups of boiling hot chicken stock (minus the onion and bay leaves)
4 cups (equivalent to two pounds) of Calasparra rice.  Sprinkle the rice in the pan to help evenly distribute it.  Allow the mixture to simmer for 3-4 minutes, without stirring, before adding the remainder of the components.

Beyond this point, it is forbidden to stir the paella!  Stirring will prevent socarrat from forming on the bottom of the pan, which is key to adding a depth of flavor to your paella that cannot be obtained any other way.  Socarrat is a thin layer of rice on the bottom of the pan that becomes caramelized and crispy (not burnt), and is quite delicious.  Again, have a fire hot enough to maintain a rapid simmer but not so hot that the stock evaporates faster than the rice can absorb it. 

You’re now ready to assemble a visual masterpiece!  Add to the paella pan, distributing evenly, one ingredient at a time:

2 pounds firm-fleshed fish (such as Amberjack or Halibut), cut in bite-sized pieces
2 cups of peas
14-ounce can of artichoke hearts, plus brine
Fresh-squeezed juice from one lemon
2 dozen mussels, scrubbed and debearded, seam side down
2 dozen littleneck clams, seam side down (you want the shellfish to open facing up)
2 dozen scallops
24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
8-ounce jar of roasted piquillo pepper, cut into strips
Thinly sliced lemon rings from one lemon

Cover the paella pan with foil and allow paella to cook for 20-25 minutes.  Then, taste rice for doneness.  If the rice is nearly done but a fair amount of liquid remains in the pan, let the paella finish cooking uncovered for roughly another 10 minutes.  Conversely, if too little stock remains, add more hot stock (as much as you feel is necessary), re-cover, and cook until rice is done,  checking frequently.

Serve with lemon wedges, a sliced, warm baguette, and Verdejo wine.  

Enjoy!