Are the simple things in life the most enjoyable ones? It’s a hard question but flavoring our favorite butter with some herbs may help us find the answer.
We, humans are a very strange species. Not like the platypus is a very normal thing or anyone would like to live the life of a jellyfish, but we are strange in a sense of contradictions.
We strive to live a steady stream of life but can’t bear the thought of someone limiting our ability of roaming freely among the shop isles and buying whatever we like.
Do ideologies define us?
Our Western style society is built to accommodate our behavior but there were experiments with other ideologies that were put to the test. As an example, communism could have been a huge success of human values where everyone is born equal and one takes its share from the burdens, required by the common good.
Unfortunately, Lenin and Marx weren’t really obsessed with fashion or queued days for an iPhone. Otherwise they could have known better than thinking of that forcing the same pair of shoes or the same car on everyone will be good enough.
This is the real problem with ideologies. Those who dream them up generally fail to account for the human nature. The moment, we don’t have to fight for our life, we think about saving our species.
Do our needs define us?
However, there are more things we desire in our life, the need for our personal and general survival as a species are the ones that define many other aspects of our life. It’s not a uniquely human feature, though.
The animal kingdom is full of similar examples, starting from the songs of the various birds to the peacock divine feathers. Luckily though, we can make things do without devotion our whole body for the sole purpose of mating.
Or at least most of us can do. And those who can’t, still have the option to pay 300 times more than the original price for Lidl sneakers.
Do our choices define us?
As long as we have been provided by some sort of choice, we are happy to keep on going with any provided ideology. Successful religions that have lasted through the centuries all recognized and then exploited this loophole of the human nature to their advantage.
A bit of praying here and there could go a long way in the atoning of our sins, be it lust or gluttony. The same principles are being used on our holidays or diets that incorporates cheat days on specific days on the week.
So, we need variety in our life, or the mundanity will destroy our whole existence. Sure, there are people who can have the same meal over and over again for years without end, but for the rest of us, life is more difficult.
Are we what we eat?
Luckily though, we don’t have to seek constantly top end restaurants and spend our life savings on fancy meals if we don’t want to. There are more subtle changes in our every day or every meal that can be done without much effort.
Herbs and spices provide infinite variations for modifying our favorite or yet less, so meal be that a complex stew that requires 6 hours of cooking or just a humble bread and butter.
Flavoring our butter is always a huge win, be it simply spread on a slice of bread or use it in more elaborate dishes.
Making flavored butter or compound butter as it is frequently called or sold is as easy as it sounds. It doesn’t require special tools or exotic ingredients. A plain old chopping board with our trusty knife and a couple of cloves or garlic is enough for an excellent start.
Ingredients
- 1 stick / 100g Butter
- 2 tablespoon Basic flavoring (finely cut or grated)
- Garlic
- Parmesan
- Bacon
- Paprika
- 2 tablespoon Herbs of choice (finely cut or grated)
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Chili
- Cayenne
- Basil
- Oregano
How to make Herb Compound Butter
- Soften butter by leaving it out of the fridge for a couple of hours. Alternatively, we can just put it into the microwave oven for 10 – 20 sec on the highest setting. We don’t need it to be liquified but only soft enough to work with.
- Chop up the other ingredients finely that we want to add to our compound butter. Alternatively, we can use dried spices or herbs but fresh always tastes better.
- Add in some or all of the basic flavorings.
- Throw in some extra flavors by adding pungent fresh herbs to our compound butter. Of course, we can just use one thing from all the available options but who could resist of some garlic, Parmesan, bacon or all?
- Mix them well together. We can use a machine but it should be doable with a fork, given that we started off with a soft butter.
- There are many options to store our flavored butter. We can simply leave it in the bowl we prepared it, roll it up into plastic wraps or use our silicone cupcake moulds and fill them all up.
- Place the freshly made compound butter into the fridge or freezer until it hardens back to normal or use it straight away.
Enjoy!
F.A.Q.
What is compound butter made of?
Compound butter is made of butter and various herbs and spices of choice. Once the all the ingredients are whipped together the butter is reformed chilled then can be used in recipes.
How long does compound butter last?
Depending on what’s in it and where its kept compound butter can even last months in the fridge and even longer time in the freezer. If mold starts to take hold on the bits and pieces exposed to the air make sure to cut that part off though.
How to package compound butter?
There isn’t a right or bad way doing it. We can use plastic wraps, or parchment paper to roll it up or give it a shape we desire. Simply filling it into a silicone mold is also a very convenient option.
What are the most common ingredients in a compound butter?
Garlic is probably the most common ingredient in compound butter followed by parsley.
How long does butter last in the fridge?
Butter lasts for about 6 – 9 months in the fridge if it’s stored properly.
FitttZee
©
Herb - Compound Butter Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 stick / 100g Butter
2 tablespoon Basic flavoring (finely cut or grated)
- Garlic
- Parmesan
- Bacon
- Paprika
2 tablespoon Herbs of choice (finely cut or grated)
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Chili
- Cayenne
- Basil
- Oregano
Instructions
- Soften butter by leaving it out of the fridge for a couple of hours. Alternatively, we can just put it into the microwave oven for 10 - 20 sec on the highest setting. We don't need it to be liquified but only soft enough to work with.
- Chop up the other ingredients finely that we want to add to our compound butter. Alternatively, we can use dried spices or herbs but fresh always tastes better.
- Add in some or all of the basic flavorings.
- Throw in some extra flavors by adding pungent fresh herbs to our compound butter. Of course, we can just use one thing from all the available options but who could resist of some garlic, Parmesan, bacon or all?
- Mix them well together. We can use a machine but it should be doable with a fork, given that we started off with a soft butter.
- There are many options to store our flavored butter. We can simply leave it in the bowl we prepared it, roll it up into plastic wraps or use our silicone cupcake moulds and fill them all up.
- Place the freshly made compound butter into the fridge or freezer until it hardens back to normal or use it straight away.
Notes
Pin now, Enjoy later!
Lovely idea to spice up boring breakfast. Thanks!
Happy to spice up your meals! 😀