Homegrown Herbs - Compound Butter Recipes

These recipes use the herbs grown in your Basic Culinary Seed Starter Kit! Great food starts with fresh herbs, and what better way to work them in to as many recipes as possible by incorporating them into your own butter! These compound butter recipes are versatile, use it as a spread, in lieu of heavy sauces, pan frying meats or veggies, or put a spin on your movie night popcorn! Believe me, you’ll taste those fresh herbs and it will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Rules and Tips:

As a rule, you will want you butter at room temperature. Don’t use a microwave to get your butter to this state. We don’t want any part of it melted, just soft. Depending on your flavor preference you can add of one herb, just as a rule of thumb keeping your herbs at 2-3 tablespoons. (If you are going to use dried spiced such as cinnamon/allspice for a nice pancake butter, only use 1-1 ½ tablespoons of spices.)

Spiced butters will freeze well, but it is not recommended that your freeze butter when using fresh herbs. It will affect their flavor and color. Also, when adding liquids, such as oils/creams less is more.

Garlic Herb Butter:
(Great for Chicken, Steak or Pasta Sauce Base)

½ Pound Room Temperature Butter (Salted)
1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh Chives
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1 Tablespoon Parsley
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Dill Veggie Butter:
(Great for any veggie bake or sauté)

½ Pound Butter
2 Tablespoons fresh Dill
Salt and Pepper

Sriracha Butter:
(Great for popcorn, or corn dinner side)

½ pound Butter (salted)
1 Teaspoon Sriracha
1 Tablespoon fresh Parsley
Pinch of Salt & Pepper

Creole Mustard Butter:
(Great for Seafood like Fish and Shrimp, can’t go wrong adding it to your Gumbo or Jambalaya!)

½ pound butter (unsalted)
1 Tablespoon Chives
1 Tablespoon Southern Giant Mustard
2 Teaspoons Paprika
1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

In small bowl using a hand mixer or a spatula, mix the butter and your herb spice blend. You can store it in a sealed container or roll into a log shape using parchment paper or plastic wrap. Twist the ends like a tootsie roll so the log shape forms. Then refrigerate for at least two hours. This sets the shape of the butter and allows the flavors to absorb.

Then serve on top of your favorite meal or use a slice to start your sauce or sauté. This will quickly add heaps of flavor to any entree, side dish or snack you make!