Here’s a quick one for you today–How to make Basil Butter!
Yes, I know that for most of us the gardening season is over–and making this butter in any quantity is really most cost effective if you have home grown basil. Personally I made this about 3 weeks back when I realized that I had better harvest the last of the basil or run the risk of losing it in a fall frost–I’m just getting the chance to post now.
Herb butters in general are dead simple to make. Take clean fresh herb. Take softened butter. Mix together (a food processor is best for this). Store in freezer. Rolling it into a “fancy” log with waxed paper is optional, but convenient.
I don’t really have any particular proportions, or any in progress photos for this one. I just filled my mini food processor up with fresh basil leaves, whirred, added the butter, whirred more, and adjusted to taste. Then I plopped it on some wax paper and rolled it up. I used a permanent marker to label them and put it in the freezer.
Tada! Basil preserved for winter. You can do the same thing with any herb you fancy, or even with a combination of herbs. It’s up to you. For example you could make a lemon/dill/thyme butter for fish, or a garlic/basil butter just to use for garlic bread. . . mmm. . .
And that brings me to another though–how do you actually USE basil (or any herb) butter?
First of all you have to get over a fear of butter. It’s ok to use it on food, really! A little bit of butter adds a glorious finishing touch to many foods–and that’s what compound butters are used for, a finishing touch. Add them at the end of a meal to hot food and watch them melt into glorious flavorful butterness!
Here’s a few ideas for using basil butter:
- Add a small pat on top of your of fish, meat, chicken just before serving.
- Slather some on a roll or piece of bread.
- Make truly amazing garlic bread–with the addition of some garlic of course.
- Give a fancy finish to simple steamed or sauteed vegetables.
- Be truly decadent and place a pat inside a hamburger before grilling.
EL @ Moneywatch101 says
Great Idea to save the herbs and to have a great tasting variation of butter for food flavoring.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
It’s such a simple thing to do–as long as you have a tiny bit of freezer space to store it in 🙂