Lately, I have been baking bread first thing in the wee light hours of the morning. Nothing too amazing, just a plain jane white bread, but the aroma…ahhh, the sweet smell of the bread baking gets me every time. I love when my house magically transforms into a bakery. These sweet loafs have been wrapped neatly and sent away as holiday gifts this year but not without including a special, deliciously scrumptious, compound butter. YUM! They are partners and besties – bread and butter.
Now, compound butters are by far the EASIEST to make but the special touch and simplicity goes a long way. Make any ordinary bread, extraordinary. Last night, I used chives to make , you guessed it, a Chive Butter Compound. You can add anything you want to your butter and more. Keep going, it’s not just for bread! Take a slice of butter and rub-a-dub all over your chicken and then bake your chicken or you can even add it to your fish! Compound butters are quite versatile and extremely delicious – experiment! Are you ready to dive in? First, let’s get the ingredients, ready?
Ingredients:
1. Stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
2. Chives (as many as you like, I use 2 tsp)
(giggle, giggle, that’s it….)
Recipe:
1. Place butter into a bowl and mash with spatula
2. Chop chives, as many or as little as you want and place into butter bowl. (I used roughly 2 tsp and made them slightly big so everyone can see what is inside their butter!)
3. Now stir baby stir. Gently combine those beautiful chives with the butter!
4. Roll out about a foot of syran wrap and place butter in the center. Wrap the butter into a cylinder and twist the sides and/or place the sides into knots.
5. Place in refrigerator for at least thirty minutes. Butter is good for several days.
For even another version of this delicious butter, try adding 1 small clove of garlic, minced into the mixture. It’s a great way to add even more bold flavor!