For more flavorful steaks, veggies, make better butter to go on top
It’s summer and your grill is about to go into overdrive. At the start of the season you’ll probably be content to cook up perfectly seared, but otherwise unadorned steaks, chops and portobello mushrooms. A few weeks down the road, you may want to dress them up a little bit. Flavored butters do the trick beautifully.
Flavored butters couldn’t be simpler to make. You start with softened unsalted butter (unsalted so you can control the seasoning) and add just a little bit of one or more flavorings. If you’re adding solid ingredients, such as shallots or herbs, they must be minced, and you need to keep the amount of those ingredients down. Too many additions and the butter won’t hold together. You also need to keep the amounts down if you’re adding liquid ingredients, such as citrus juice or Worcestershire sauce. Butter can only absorb a small bit of liquid.
Whatever your flavorings, I recommend that you roll the butter into a cylinder, which makes it that much easier to cut and portion out when it’s time to glorify that steak. If the butter is too soft to roll just after you’ve added the flavorings, put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm it up. Then just pile the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and use a rubber spatula to smooth it as best you can into the shape of a cylinder.
I’ve suggested a specific size in the recipes below, but you can make your cylinder any size you want—short and fat and or long and thin. And don’t worry if the cylinder isn’t perfectly shaped at first; once you’ve wrapped the plastic around it, it’ll be easier—using the plastic wrap—to make it more shapely. The final touch is to twist the ends like a sausage, which compresses the butter.
If you’re going to use the butter the day you make it or in the following few days, put it in the refrigerator. If you’re stockpiling it for future meals, wrap the cylinders in foil and store it in the freezer. When the moment is ripe, you slice a spoonful of it onto your newly grilled steak and just let it melt. It will mix with the meat’s juices and form an instant and mouthwatering sauce.
The herb butter described below is the ideal complement to fish, poultry, meats and vegetables. The citrus butter plays nicely with fish and vegetables. And the steak butter is the perfect partner for, uh, steak, as well as for mushrooms, especially portobellos. But the possibilities are fairly endless. Now that you know how, you can make up your own flavored butters.
COMPOUND BUTTERS
Here are three delicious variations on compound butter. Pick your ingredient mix, then follow the instructions.
Start to finish: 10 minutes, plus chilling
Makes 2 sticks (16 tablespoons)
HERB BUTTER 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons and softened 2 teaspoons minced shallots 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, dill, chives, parsley, basil or a mix 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
CITRUS BUTTER 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons and softened 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 teaspoon grated lime zest 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
STEAK BUTTER 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons and softened
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 garlic clove, finely minced 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
In a medium bowl, use a fork or a rubber spatula to combine all ingredients, mixing well.
On the counter, spread 2 sheets of plastic wrap, each 10 to 12 inches long. Transfer one-half of the butter to each sheet and use a plastic spatula to shape the butter into a log about 6 inches long and 1 inch thick. Wrap the plastic wrap around the butter, using it to smooth the log, then twist the ends in (like a sausage) until the log is about 4 inches long by 1 1/2 inches thick.
Wrap the log of butter in foil and chill or freeze until you are ready to use it. Cut off dsired amount and place on grilled steaks, chicken, fish or vegetables.