Making compound butter is an easy way to preserve fresh garden herbs. Try making butter with a single herb or a mix of several. I like to use combinations of sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary and basil. This post was updated on October 7, 2014.
Stalwart rosemary, buttoned-up thyme, flirty sage, cheerful oregano: I can’t pull off Thanksgiving without them. Frustratingly, I know that they will go into hibernation mode, turning dark and shriveled for the winter, about a month before the holiday feast. It is their time to truly shine, and I’m going to be stuck buying them from the grocery store instead of using them fresh out of the garden? A tragedy. And that’s why I’m making herby compound butter now, and freezing it until November. I’m making two batches with oregano, thyme and rosemary, and another with just sage. Later, I’ll slice them to stuff under the skin of our turkey, to brown and simmer with winter squash and to blend into mashed potatoes.
Making your own herb compound butter is incredibly easy. Here’s all you need:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed fresh herb leaves
To make your herb butter:
- Blend the butter with the herbs until completely mixed.
- Press the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap into a long, narrow log. It doesn’t need to look pretty; it will get smoothed out later!
- Fold the short ends of the plastic wrap in, then tightly roll up the butter in the plastic wrap lengthwise, just like the way you roll a burrito. Roll the wrapped butter back and forth on the counter to create a smooth, round log.
- Wrap the butter log in a piece of aluminum foil. Label and freeze.
To freeze your herb butter:
Wrap the compound butter tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil. Butter picks up odors easily, so the foil will protect it from developing off-flavors from the other foods in your freezer. The butter should be used within 2-3 months.
This is so smart to make ahead Julie!! An easy thing to bring to Thanksgiving without having to cook all day!
yummmmmmm!
First off I would like to say awesome blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your thoughts prior to writing. I’ve had a tough time clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there. I do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Kudos!
My main tip is to just start in the middle. If a phrase or description comes to mind, I write it down and continue from there,even if it is a sentence that will be in the middle of a post. As I keep writing, I can usually come up with an intro/way to start the post, or a new way to frame the story. There is a lot of crossing out going on in my journal as I figure out the story!
I am SOOOO doing this! I’ve got rosemary I want to get the most out of while it’s still here!
i love this idea! our oregano and rosemary just decided to bloom again, out of nowhere. I need to remember to do this – now!
Do it this weekend for sure!
Love this trick for turkey day. The site looks amazing 🙂 Thought I’d stop by and say hi!
Oh, thank you so much!
I have a batch of homemade butter. I was wondering what to do with all that butter. I will make me some cpmpound butter to freeze. Thanks for the idea!!
Enjoy, Ansh!