Compound Butter

We had some friends over this weekend to celebrate Labor Day. As one last hurrah of the summer, we decided to go all out with a steak and shrimp dinner on the grill. I marinated some zucchini and summer squash in my garlic herb marinade recipe from this post. Then I skewered some shrimp and sprinkled it with a little Cajun seasoning. For the steak, I like to keep that simple. I just sprinkled some salt and pepper on them and grilled them until medium. Then I put a garlic chive compound butter on the hot steaks as soon as they came off the grill. The butter melts with all the yummy herbs and combines with the juice from the steak to create a wonderful plate sauce that's just begging to be sopped up by a piece of crusty bread.

Compound butter is just butter that has yummy stuff added to it. You soften the butter at room temperature for about an hour. Then add whatever flavorings you like by mashing them into the softened butter with a fork. Here are a few examples of flavor combinations and what you might use them for:

• Honey and cinnamon - breads, grilled or baked fruits (especially peaches!)
• Garlic and chives - vegetables, chicken, fish, steak
• Bleu cheese, bacon, and chives or scallions - chicken, steak, breads
• Orange zest and cardamom - breads, chicken, grilled or baked fruits
• Lime zest, garlic, and cayenne - fish, chicken

This is definitely not an exhaustive list. But it's a great place to start!

Once you have mixed the butter with the herbs and spices, spoon the butter into a ziploc bag. Then snip off one corner of the bag and pipe out little portion sizes on to wax paper. If you're really against wasting a bag, you can just spoon the mixture onto the wax paper and smooth it out with the back of the spoon. Refrigerate the butter until used. Freeze any leftovers for later use.

Keeping compound butter in the freezer makes for a really easy weeknight meal. You can pick up some fresh fish on your way home from work. Broil the fish then melt some compound butter on top as soon as it comes out of the oven. Use the same compound butter to saute some red potatoes and green beans. Easy and delicious!