Flavored butter

With lemon, with herbs, with truffle and more specific versions for meat or fish. Here's how to prepare flavored butter.

Flavored butter is a typical ingredient of Central European cuisine , in particular France and Germany. In fact, in these two states the custom of accompanying dishes, especially meat and fish , with a disk of flavored butter is very much alive. This touch of simplicity is able to completely change the nature of the dish.

But how do you prepare homemade flavored butter? The starting point is a butter which must be of high quality. If you've never done it, we recommend you try making one of these versions with salted butter : you'll taste how delicious it is. Alternatively you can add a pinch of salt during processing.

How to prepare flavored butter

1. First, remove the butter from the refrigerator , cut it into cubes and leave it at room temperature for a few hours. If you want, you can also make homemade butter .
2. Once you have reached the consistency of ointment butter, work it with an electric whisk for a few moments, adding the ingredients chosen to flavor it. Just below you will find doses and proportions for making different types of salted butter.
3. Once the aromas have blended, transfer the butter onto a sheet of baking paper and roll it up, closing it like a candy.
4. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least a few hours before using it.

Variations for preparing flavored butter

This butter is excellent spread on toast, with breadsticks, on grilled or steamed meat or fish but also with vegetables. Here are the types of flavored butter that are easy to make:

• Lemon flavored butter : add the filtered juice of a lemon and the zest to the butter. A pinch of salt to taste.
• Citrus butter : same as the previous one, choosing between grapefruit, orange and lime. Remember to grate the peel without removing the white part.
• Truffle flavored butter : grate 70-80 grams of it and add it to the butter. It is excellent both for stirring risotto and for accompanying meat.
• Basil butter : chop a sprig of basil with a knife and add it to the butter ointment. Adding half a clove of garlic will make it even tastier.
• Herb butter: it is perhaps the most famous and versatile and can be made either with a single type of aromatic herbs or with a mixture. We recommend thyme, marjoram, mint and parsley. You should get 1 heaping tablespoon once chopped.

If you use fresh herbs we recommend placing the butter in the freezer rather than the refrigerator because it could go rancid. You can make an excellent flavored butter for meat by adding chopped sage, rosemary, juniper and garlic to the butter. For the fish instead go classic with parsley, garlic and lemon zest.

To obtain a spreadable butter you can add 30 ml of seed oil when working with an electric whisk.

Conservation

The flavored butter can be kept in the refrigerator until the expiration date of the butter itself. Alternatively you can freeze it.

Read also

Unusual and delicious, salted butter is simple to prepare and perfect for many recipes