Parsley butter: Cream 4 oz (100g) unsalted butter until soft. Beat in 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley, a seasoning of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix together well and chill. To use: Spoon parsley butter on to hot vegetables; use to enrich vegetable soup before serving or for scrambled eggs. Pots of parsley butter can be served with crusty rolls as an accompaniment to soups. Use instead of ordinary butter for making ham, chicken and other cold meat sandwiches. Dot the butter over grilled gammon or fish. Make tarragon butter the same way and spread it over chicken joints before grilling or baking them.
Garlic butter: Cream 4 oz (100g) unsalted butter until soft. Crush 2-3 cloves of garlic and remove papery coating, then mash to a puree with a little salt. Add garlic puree, 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice and a seasoning of freshly milled pepper to the butter. Mix together well and chill. To use: Serve over steaks, or use for frying mushrooms or for making hot garlic bread.
Clarified butter
Clarified butter is butter with the salt, moisture
• and curd extracted. It is marvellous for frying omelettes or vegetables. It is also excellent to use for sealing potted meats, pastas and terrines.
Melt the butter over gentle heat until the foaming subsides. Pour into a bowl and leave until cold and firm. Carefully scrape away the top white layer which contains the salt. Loosen the sides and lift out the cake of butter, discarding any liquid or curd at the bottom of the bowl. Gently melt the butter again until oily. Store in the refrigerator.
To clarify dripping: This is the traditional method of clarifying dripping left over from a roast joint, a roast duck or goose. Place dripping in a saucepan with boiling water to cover and heat until dripping has melted. Pour into a bowl and leave until cold. Then loosen the sides and lift out the cake of dripping, discarding liquid and sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Melt the dripping again and pour into a container. Store in the refrigerator.
Blue cheese butter: Cream 4 oz (100g) unsalted butter and 3,oz (75g) Roquefort cheese (or similar blue cheese like Danish Blue), until soft and blended. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Mix together well and chill. To use: Serve over steaks.
Mustard butter: Cream 4 oz (100g) unsalted butter until soft. Beat in 2 tablespoons French mustard, a seasoning of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix together well and chill. To use: Serve over steaks or with roast fillet of beef. Use to spread over chicken joints before grilling or baking them.
For flavoured butters to slice: Spoon the softened flavoured butter on to a square of kitchen foil, then roll up and twist ends in opposite directions like a Christmas cracker to make a fat roll. Chill until firm. When required, unwrap and slice chilled butter using a hot knife blade. Neat rounds of flavoured butter slowly melting over grilled meats and fish make these simple dishes look especially appetizing.
Beurre manie
This is a blended butter and flour mixture used to thicken hot soups, sauces and gravies. To make beurre manie, use a table knife to blend 1′h oz (40g) butter with 1 oz (25g) plain flour on a plate. Always add the beurre manie in very small lumps to the liquid off the heat, a few at a time. I always place a few lumps on the tip of a knife and scrape them off against the hot saucepan side. The beurre manie melts as it runs down into the hot liquid â a good way to ensure that the beurre manie is slowly added without it going lumpy.
Stir the hot liquid until the beurre manie is completely blended. Return the saucepan to the heat and slowly bring to the boil, stirring all the time, until thickened. The amount of beurre manie given above is sufficient to thicken 1/2 pint (300ml) liquid for a sauce, 1 pint (600ml) liquid for sauces of pouring consistency like gravy and 2 pints (1.1 litres) liquid for soups.