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!