Compound Butter

Don't you just hate all those fancy names chefs use for ordinary food?

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Burre Blanc = White butter sauce

chiffonade = cut into ribbons

duxelle sauces = mushroom sauce

compound butter = butter with stuff mixed in it

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Here in America, we love our butter. We have 4 states dedicated to making our beloved dairy products, they even have funny hats made of wedges of cheese and such.

So it doesn't surprise me at all to see lots of different types of butter being shown on Food Network, for us, the lowly home cooks.

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I love making compound butters.

No, it doesn't have to be intricate, keep it simple, and jazz it up with presentation.

I am all about presentation.

Whoever said we eat with our eyes first was dead on accurate.

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Here's a list of my favorite mix ins.

Each these butters are mixed when the butter is at room temperature.

Honey butter = 1 cup butter to 1/4-1/2 cup honey. Use this butter for up to one week.

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Herb Butter = 1 cup butter and 1 tsp each of your favorite herbs. If using only one herb in the butter, use 1 tbs of herbs. Use this butter the same day and only for 2 days after its made.

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Jalapeno Butter = 1 T chopped jalapeno into 1 cup butter

Use within 2 days.

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Marmalade butter - 3 T marmalade to 1 cup butter

Use within 1 week

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Cinnamon butter = 1 tsp cinnamon to 1 cup butter

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You get the picture!

Now for making it extra special.

On the day of your dinner or lunch, make your butter mixture.

You can now lay it out on parchment paper and refrigerate it slightly and use small cookie cutters to make lovely shapes of the butter. Then freeze the shapes and put them on the table when you set it.

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Or, you can put it into a pastry bag or Easy Accent Decorator from Pampered Chef (wink)

and make lovely little dollops of butter on a pastry sheet or parchment, refrigerate or freeze.

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Roll it into a long tube in the parchment and refrigerate the log. When it's time to serve, cut the log into butter coins.

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Use any type of cookie type form or silicone form to make elegant shapes.

The sky's the limit!