I recently picked up a flat of beautiful mushrooms from the Columbia Mushroom Company and have been happily cooking with them all week long. I love mushrooms and their unique earthy and umami flavor. They offer interest to any dish they are added to and this is especially true in my Mushroom and Thyme Compound Butter.
Compound butter may sound fancy, but it’s simply butter flavored with herbs, spices and the like. It takes just a few minutes to make a compound butter and the results are phenomenal. My Mushroom and Thyme Compound Butter will take any dish from ordinary to extraordinary. Try a dollop on anything from vegetables to artisan bread to steak. The uses are endless and so are the flavors.
To start, place one stick (½ cup) of salted butter on the counter top to soften. Next, clean and trim 1 cup of mushrooms. I use a combination of Chestnut and Blue Oyster mushrooms; choose your favorite. Place the mushrooms in a food processor along with 1 clove of garlic, ½ teaspoon of dried thyme and a pinch of salt. Chop until fine.
Heat up one teaspoon of olive oil in a medium-sized sauté pan. When hot, add the contents from the food processor to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. When cooled, place the sautéed mushrooms and very soft butter in a bowl and using a handheld mixer, mix until well incorporated. Place the compound butter onto a piece of wax paper, roll it into a log and twist the ends of the wax paper to seal. Store the butter in the refrigerator for up to one month or the freezer for up to three months. Enjoy on top of steaks, fresh baked bread, potatoes or vegetables such as roasted butternut squash.
Mushroom and Thyme Compound Butter
Ingredients
- 1 stick (½ cup) of salted butter, softened
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Set butter out on countertop to soften.
- Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme and salt to the food processor and chop mushrooms until fine.
- Heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and cook mushroom mixture for 5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and all liquid has evaporated.
- Allow mushrooms to cool to room temperature. When ready, add mushrooms and butter to a bowl and using a hand mixer, blend until combined.
- Spoon compound butter onto a piece of wax paper, roll into a log and twist the ends. Store butter in the fridge for up to one month or in the freezer for up to three months.
- Use butter overtop of vegetables, potatoes, bread or steak. Enjoy!
