Mediterranean Flavored Butter To Prepare At Home

Excellent for appetizers, on croutons, as an accompaniment to meat, fish and eggs, it can become a real extra touch, if used as a base for a risotto or a roast. Not to mention how “scenic” some preparations served at the edges of the dish can be as an accompaniment. We are talking about homemade flavored butter. The advantage over the one bought at the supermarket is to have fun customizing it with the ingredients you prefer. Today we try to see how to make a flavored butter and how to combine it with different dishes.

Flavored Butter: Four Tricks To Make It At Home

To obtain a homemade flavored butter, we must energetically work to cream the purchased dough, with the addition of one or more ingredients, which give it a flavor and color different from the original one. Here are four tricks to do it at home.

Softness

To work the butter we suggest leaving it at room temperature at least half an hour, and then transfer it to a bowl and start crushing it with a fork until it becomes creamy. You can also help yourself with a mixer or an electric whisk, the important thing is that it is soft.

The Addition Of Ingredients

The addition of ingredients, for example, spices, must be gradual and continue to mix so as to be homogeneous. It would then be advisable to filter the mixture with a colander, in order to obtain a butter of the same consistency, eliminating the larger pieces.

Let’s Get It Back In Shape

At this point it is necessary to give shape to the butter: place it in foil, trying to give a cylindrical shape, close well and put in the refrigerator to make it clump. Alternatively, you can have fun finding containers, such as ice trays in which to place the cream, which, once solidified, will return nice and decorative shapes for the dishes.

Rest In The Fridge

The passage in the refrigerator is essential because in addition to giving new consistency to the butter, it will ensure that it is flavored with the new ingredients.

Now that we have seen the fundamental tricks to make flavored butter at home, we want to give you ideas to customize it.

Flavored Butters To Prepare At Home

Preparing homemade butter is simple and fast: it can in fact happen to have fresh cream expiring in the fridge and that of homemade butter is an optimal solution. In this case you can limit yourself to the simple and traditional recipe, or give vent to creativity with flavored butter. The latter is obtained from raw butter that is softened to become a cream, and then mixed with other ingredients: the goal is to make the flavor even more particular and to “color” the dairy. Flavored butters are perfect for an aperitif but also for the preparation of other recipes, so let’s examine in detail the most inviting ones to do directly at home.

• Garlic Butter

Only three ingredients for this garlic flavored butter that will be perfect on canapés, fish, but also as a base for a roast. To make it, soften 100 g of butter and 50 g of garlic cloves peeled and chopped in a very fine way. Work in cream adding, if you like, even a few leaves of parsley. After making it homogeneous, pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any larger pieces of garlic. At this point wrap everything in tinfoil trying to give the shape of a cylinder and let it firm in the refrigerator. At the time of serving cut into slices.

• Basil

Butter the ingredients are identical to those seen for garlic butter, but in this case you need several basil leaves, a clove of garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Basil should be chopped very finely and combined with garlic and butter cream. Salt, lemon and pepper serve to further flavor the whole. The ideal use is with cold appetizers.

• Salmon Butter

Salmon also gives a unique touch to the taste of butter: the most appropriate choice is the smoked one, with 50 grams of fish and 100 of butter. The union between the ingredients must take place with the utmost attention and delicacy: the final result can be spread on refined canapés.

• Tuna

Butter tuna in oil is perfect to create a flavored butter to be used as a garnish for boiled eggs or in cold appetizers. Always starting from 100 grams of butter and 50 of tuna, salt and pepper are then added (onion is an additional ingredient, but only for those who are crazy about it).

• Mustard Butter

The spiciness of mustard will determine the final preparation. You need two tablespoons per 100 grams of butter, otherwise only one tablespoon if the mustard is spicy. This variant is ideal for giving even more body to some sauces or appetizers.

• Mushroom Butter

The dosage changes slightly: in fact, 120 grams of butter and 100 grams of mushrooms are needed (better those grown), in addition to garlic and parsley. Mushrooms must be washed and dried carefully, before being cut. Garlic, on the other hand, must be browned in a pan and then brown the mushrooms themselves. The dough can be placed in a mold to be covered with cellophane and to be cooled.

• Parsley Butter

So far it has been seen how parsley is the additional ingredient for different flavored butters, but can it be used as the main herb? The answer is yes, especially along with shallots, salt and pepper. This variant lends itself very well to seafood dishes.

• Lemon

Butter adding lemon to butter reduced to cream can be the right solution for meat and fish dishes, especially those prepared on the grill. Simply add the juice and zest of the citrus: the flavor is also perfect for a simple bruschetta or for chicken or turkey breasts.

• Rosemary Butter

Just a sprig of rosemary and 40 grams of butter to obtain a flavored and successful product: rosemary must be washed and dried, while the dough must be kept in the refrigerator before being served. It is an excellent condiment for croutons or pasta.

• Thyme Butter

Fresh thyme must also be washed and dried on kitchen paper: once kneaded with butter cream, it turns into a food that goes more than well with baked chicken and pasta, especially when you add a little oregano to the dough.

• Curry Butter

Perfect for vegetables, meat dishes and to flavor rice or fish, curry flavored butter is prepared by softening 100 g of butter and working it in cream with half a tablespoon of curry powder and a tablespoon of lemon. As always it is necessary to pass in the fridge to give time to flavor and make it firm.

• Dried Tomato Butter

The strong flavor of dried tomato in oil goes well with the sweetness of butter. To make this sauce, you will have to drain and drain the tomatoes very well, and then pass them in the mixer together with a few basil leaves. Then add them to the soft butter and stir until you get a homogeneous mixture. Let it rest in the refrigerator and then use to decorate canapés and croutons but also to give a touch of extra flavor to pasta dishes with vegetable sauce.

• Mushroom Butter

Wash and slice 100 g of mushrooms and cook them in a pan with a knob of butter and a clove of garlic, browned for a few minutes, with a pinch of salt and a tuft of finely chopped parsley. When cooked, chop the mushrooms in a mixer and then add them to 150 g of soft butter. Pass through the colander to remove any pieces that are too large. Use mushroom-flavored butter as an accompaniment to meat dishes, such as roasts.

• Anchovy Butter

It is made by leaving 100 g of butter at room temperature and combining it with 50 g of anchovies in oil that must be chopped very finely. You can also opt for anchovy paste in a tube. Work the two ingredients together until they are homogeneous and then place in a tray that you will keep in the fridge. Strip with the prongs of a fork to create waves. At the time of serving, leave at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and bring to the table the anchovy flavored butter accompanied by croutons or pancarrè cut into toasted squares that each diner can season as he likes.