Corn. Butter. Herbs. Spices. Could a recipe be any more simple than that? Ok, there is a touch more to the process but not much.
Last weekend I was preparing some plump, fresh corn on the cob (just boil the water & when you smell corn it’s ready) when I started craving… something spicy. I do have a special place in my heart for chile spiked corn. But as most of you know, I have an even bigger space in my heart for butter. So I did what anyone would do, I combined the two. Double the love! Oh, and I had a tiny bit of cilantro leftover from salsa-making so I added that to the mix too. Triple the love!
More specifically, I let 1 cube of butter come to room temperature inside my mini food processor. I sprinkled in a scant pinch of smoked Serrano powder (this stuff is seriously hot but definitely addictive), a tiny pinch of salt (because the butter was already salted), a couple grinds from the pepper mill and about 1/4 cup of loosely packed cilantro leaves. After a couple pulses on the food processor I had this:
I slathered my herbed & spiced compound butter onto the hot corn and as my brother would say, “Boy howdy!”. I didn’t even bother to tell everyone else what was on the corn. I let them blindly chomp into the buttery goodness and then I basked in the chorus of “Mmmmms!” and “Yuuuuummmms!”
I usually lean towards the Mexican side of flavors but the possibilities with compound butters are virtually endless. Someday I might try these variations:
- Fresh basil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, a sprinkle of grated Parmesan & garlic powder
- Fresh parsley, saute’d onions & garlic and the zest of half a lemon
- Fresh dill, a teensy sprinkle of Old Bay Seafood Seasoning and a little squirt of lemon juice
- I have to stop… my mouth is watering!
And you don’t have to limit your use of compound butter to corn. Compound butters are great on steaks, french bread, sandwiches, chicken, popcorn… anywhere you would normally spread a little buttery-love. If you have extra you can roll it up in waxed paper and save it for a later day. It can store in the fridge for about 1 week or the freezer for a couple months. About 5 minutes of effort for a BIG flavor payoff. Make some today, you wont regret it!
I’m hoping to catch up on some art projects this weekend. I’m taking the Brave Girl Art School course from Melody Ross. So far it is so much fun and I know it will just get better and better. I hope you are doing something fun this weekend, see you back here next week!
