CB’s Garlic Herb Butter
And writers block?
It’s food blog week. The early mission statement was to “make easy recipes with accessible and affordable ingredients.” I’m not a chef, although I went to cooking school for awhile and have taken cooking classes around the world. Okonomiyaki and Mayuko’s little kitchen cooking class. I find it’s a great way to get to know the culture of the places I visit. Everyone loves food, well, most everyone, and growing up I had two great cooks in my parents who threw dinner parties all the time and would plan menus weeks in advance. Food blogs are kind of similar. The planning, filming, editing and publishing take me, oh so remedial, about a week to complete, always ending with, “I’m way too old for this s#@!
The YouTube rabbit hole
Like Alice through the looking glass, I fall down the YouTube rabbit hole almost every single day. I try to imagine what I did before YouTube and I draw a blank. I watch everything from news and sports, to how to fix a chipped tooth. I’ll never forget hearing comedian Jerry Seinfeld, about 10 years ago, describe YouTube as “the world’s trashcan.” Owned by Google, kids today have no idea what an encyclopedia even is. Ours were kept at the end of the hall on the bottom of a makeshift bookshelf. I did full reports in middle school using the “S” and the “T”.
Umami
I’ve been a huge fan of the food blogger smitten kitchen, https://smittenkitchen.com/, for over a decade now. Deb Perelman is the gold standard on how to food blog. Her photos are amazing, her writing warm and personal. Chef Byron Talbott, http://www.byrontalbott.com/ is my YouTube gold standard. I love watching food videos, and his are exemplary. Both started out in small apartments with modest equipment and a lot of passion. Though I fall incredibly short, I aspire to create well-produced and executed content like they do. As a result, the food blogs and videos are my most challenging, also most rewarding.
Not good for date night
Unless you’re both eating this delectable garlic herb butter, where two garlics cancel each other out, then, no kissing. I had a kissing scene with an actress on this TV show I won’t name, and, at lunch I had garlic bread. Huge mistake despite several brushings and altoids. Never heard the end of it. Don’t recommend it. But do recommend this easy to make spread. Vegan friendly, simply replace the butter with the vegan version. I prefer unsalted butter, that way I can control how much salt goes in, but, salted works just fine. The dried herbs are interchangeable given your personal preferences. It also freezes well in an airtight container. The clips in the video are from a movie I did called “A Reason to Believe.“
CB's Garlic Herb Butter
Equipment
- 1 Chefs knife
- 1 plastic cutting board
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 or 7 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Cut cold butter into 1-inch cubes, set aside
- In a small bowl, combine herbs, olive oil and salt, stir and set aside
- using about a tablespoon amount at a time, with the back of the knife grind the garlic into a paste. add to herb bowl until complete, stir
- with herb-garlic mix on the board, fold the butter into the mix, a few cubes at a time, until fully incorporated
- place in plastic wrap and roll into a log or store in a airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Also freezes well.
Enjoy!
Butter or Vegan Butter?
Thank you for this mouthwatering (and intermittently hilarious) post!
Great tip about grinding the butter, too.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Laura. Enjoy!