Herb Butter
I often find myself with a surplus of herbs that I forgot to use or a large amount of herbs that I need to cut and bring inside right before the first frost. Making a compound butter is the best way to preserve the herbs because once you make this you can also freeze it! It also makes for a great lazy cook trick! I say lazy because sometimes I don’t want to chop herbs and I don’t want to peel garlic. However, if you have some of this in your fridge or freeze you can add it to just about anything and it will add load of flavor. It’s devious on fresh bread of rolls but its also amazing in mashed potatoes, pasta, even coating a chicken before you roast it in the oven. You are only limited by your imagination in terms of what you can do with this butter. It’s also amazing with a little pit of Parmesan cheese or blue cheese added if you happen to have that in your fridge.
Ingredients:
2 sticks salted butter (softened)
1 lemon zested
4-5 cloves of garlic
Fresh herbs such as: parsley, thyme, rosemary cumulatively about 2/3 cup total (but this is flexible)
Mashed potatoes were always one of my favorture dishes as a kid and even still as an adult they are something I crave if I’m not feeling well or I want some comfort food because I had a bad day. Almost everyone loves mashed potatoes and these are a culimination of all the techniques that I have picked up over the years. You can use russets or any potato you like but I have found that I love th golden potatoes they are just so light and fluffy. The chicken stock and salt in the boiling water adds a lot of flavor to the potatoes from the get go! Why use just plain ol’ boiling water? And the ricer is key, if you don’t have one you absolutely should invest in one from amazon. You can mash your potatoes but you can’t always get all the lumps and you risk overworking the starch in the potatoes creating a gummy or heavy texture. And honestly the ricer might “feel” like more work but I have found that it doesn’t take any longer than mashing the potatoes!
The brown butter just adds an extra layer of depth and nuttiness, it is absolutely not required but I LOVE IT. Heating all the ingredient before mixing the potatoes helps incorporate it much better and obviously keeps them warmer when you serve them.
In a food processor add garlic and chop it into little pieces, then add fresh herbs and pulse. Zest lemon into processor and add butter pulse until mixture is mostly combined. Lay out two sheets of plastic wrap and scrape out butter mixture on top of it. Wrap in plastic and shape into a log and refrigerate.
