Maitre de Buerre and Compound Butters

[Paul Bacino]

I actually just came across this terminology ? .. I have made my compound butter for steaks, but not sure of where this term comes from? But just curious how do you make yours for steak.

Mine:

Butter, shallots, Worcester sauce and a bit of lemon S and P

Paul

[LindaK]

Not for steaks, but I this time of year I always make a compound butter with the tarragon from my garden and freeze it in small quantities.

During the depressing depths of winter, my favorite way to use it is under the skin of a whole chicken before baking, with the flavored juices for basting. Superb!

Simpler is to throw a chunk into some cooked rice or mashed potatoes. Either way, the hit of a fresh summer herb during winter cheers me up.

As the summer comes to a close, I'd be interested in ideas for other herbs and uses.

[TheCulinaryLibrary]

Also known as Beurre Compose, Finishing butters or Flavor butters, their exact origin is unknown, but compound butters were probably invented in France in the late 1700’s in the time of the first celebrity chef, Marie-Antoine Careme or maybe even his predecessor, Savart. But it wasn't until the 1930's when Careme's successor, Auguste Escoffier, wrote his book 'Le Guide Culinaire,' that we first see comprehensive recipes for 35 different compound butters. I dedicated a whole chapter to them in my book, Alchemy of the Mortar & Pestle, but you can also experiment and make up your own easily. My 50 or so recipes included, as well as a description of the butter types, :

Almond--Anchovy—Blue Cheese or Roquefort—Brown--Café de Paris—Caper Tarragon—Caviar—Chardonnay & Sage—Champagne--Chocolate Orange Jaffa-- Chocolate White—Cranberry Sage—Crepe Suzette--Curry Orange—Egg Yolk--Garlic--Green Tea Matcha--Herb—Honey—Horseradish--Key Lime--Lavender—Lemon Dill-- Lemon Mustard--Liqueur Cherry—Maitre D’Hotel—Manie Roux--Maple Syrup—Montpellier—Mushroom--Pina Colada--Pine nut Parmesan Parsley--Pomegranate Orange--Red Wine—Printanier for soups—Roasted Garlic--Rum & Raisin Butter—Beurre manie--Saffron--Smoked Paprika—Snail--Spiced Rum & Raisin—Tarragon—Truffle—Walnut-- Walnut Raisin--Wasabi—Whiskey--White Wine.

In the Dinner!2012 post pg 70 I posted a picture of my steak compound butter (very melted), sauteed leeks, shallots etc

Edited September 15, 2012 by TheCulinaryLibrary (log)