Tony Zentgraf
Compound butter or Beurre Compose is a French creation. One of the first recipes was known as Maitre d’butter that traditionally was butter that included lemon juice, parsley, salt & pepper. From there the French expanded the ingredient list to make other compound butters as well as the applications.
Other Classic French Compound Butters
- Beurre à la bourguignonne – garlic and parsley butter which has many uses but can be paired with escargot.
- Beurre au citron – lemon butter. Not to get too fancy, but it the ingredients are as stated, lemon and butter. Classically used with seafood.
- Café de Paris butter – which can have a variety of ingredients, from shallots, mustard, curry, paprika, worcestershire sauce, anchovy, white wine, tarragon and a variety of other herbs and ingredients. This compound butter can be served soft or in a log shape chilled.
Café de Paris, a restaurant in Geneva, first created this compound butter in the 1940s and France quickly copied the brasserie concept and brought it back to France.
Get Creative, Make Your Own
While the list of classic compound butters can go on, it is simple to put together a compound butter. Compound butter doesn’t have to stick to French cuisine. Give it a try, be creative.
Do you have some red onion that needs to be used? Mince it fine and pair it with some cilantro, lime juice and minced jalapeno, mix it together with some chipotle or ancho chile powder and you have a compound butter that would go great on grilled chicken, steak or shrimp.
What I am getting at is you can pretty much put whatever you want in a compound butter.
The compound butter does not have to be savory. Make a sweet compound butter with brown sugar or honey, orange zest and a dash of cinnamon for your pancakes this weekend. Yum!
Enjoy!
Bourbon Shallot & Chive Compound Butter (GF) (V)
Print RecipeRecipe Multiplier
- 1 ea 4 oz stick of Butter
- 2 ea Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 ea Shallot minced
- 2 tbsp Chives minced
- 1 ½ tbsp Bourbon
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- Allow butter to come to room temperature. It should be soft to the touch but not melting.
- Mince the garlic, shallot and chives.
- Place the softened butter in a bowl.
- Add the garlic, shallot, chives, salt & pepper. Mix with the butter, using a rubber spatula or spoon.
- Add the bourbon to the butter mixture. Mix to combine. You may want to switch to a whisk if it is not incorporating with the spatula. Whip to combine
- Once the compound butter has combined, lay out plastic wrap about 8" x 12" in size.
- Scoop the compound butter onto center of the plastic wrap.
- Form the butter into an oblong shape about the size of a butter stick.
- Fold the plastic wrap closes to you over the top of the butter. It should be tight against the butter.
- Fold the plastic wrap farthest from you over the top of the butter toward you. At this point there should be both ends left and right that are excess.
- Grab both ends of the plastic wrap.
- Begin to pull the compound butter toward you while you hold both ends of the plastic wrap. The center wrapped butter should spin tightening the ends of the butter as it twists tighter.
- At this point you can wrap the compound butter in another layer of plastic wrap so the ends do not unwrap in the refrigerator.
- Refrigerate for a few hours until the butter solidifies.
- To use – Remove the butter from the refrigerator 15 minutes before needing to cut portions. Slice the butter into 1/4" slices. Place over hot steak or pork and allow the heat from the meat melt the butter. Rewrap the compound butter and refrigerate to use again when you grill a steak. Serving suggestion – Bourbon Marinated Flat Iron Steak with Bourbon Shallot & Chive Compound Butter Enjoy!
This compound butter is great in mashed potatoes!