Compound butter is something we make often, especially to serve with grilled chicken paillard. Normally I make parsley shallot lemon butter AKA maître d’hôtel butter. Recently Jane Spencer, an old friend gave us a gift of a bright yellow turmeric miso honey butter that she made. I ate it with a spoon. In fact, it was so utterly delicious I made my own version, which I share here.
Turmeric is a spice I enjoy with stewed vegetables and in South Asian dishes. The natural compound in turmeric, curcumin, is an anti-inflammatory and promotes good health Jane explained. (She trained in holistic nutrition.) And man does it taste delicious. We’ve tried it spread on bread, on roasted squash and melted over grilled chicken.
Whether turmeric counterbalances the richness of butter, I can’t say but I do know we’re thrilled to have this in our pantry.
I made this compound butter in a mortar with a pestle because I thought hand mixing would give the butter a more rustic appearance. And I didn’t want to mash the minced shallots. They can get bitter and overpower the butter if they get mashed. (Note the step to rinse the minced shallots, this helps mellow their strong flavor.)
You can see it here, the compound butter is ever so slightly chunky yet well blended.
Here’s a sample of a log of compound butter tightly wrapped in parchment paper. You can store these neat logs in a container in the freezer. Then you’ll have an instant sauce at your fingertips.
What to do with this butter? Slice and serve over baked potatoes, roasted vegetables, tossed into pasta with greens, on grilled meats or fish, atop a bowl of hot brown rice. Or here on grilled chicken.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon shallots minced
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon white miso
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper, as needed
Directions
- Rinse the shallots in a small strainer under cold running water. Drain well.
- Break up the butter into a few pieces. Place the pieces of butter and the remaining ingredients in a large mortar. Blend it using a pestle. Adjust the seasonings with more miso plus salt and pepper if you like.
- (Or blend the butter, miso, turmeric and honey in a small food processor, scraping the bowl often. Then stir in the shallots before adjusting the seasonings.)
- Scrape the butter into a log shape onto a large sheet of parchment paper approximately 10 inches wide. Roll up the paper around the butter. Twist the ends of the paper in opposite directions to tighten. Refrigerate until needed. It will keep for one week in the refrigerator or up to one month in the freezer.
