Rosemary-Garlic Compound Butter

Bon Appetit had a great article on the ease and versatility of flavored butters in their recent Home Entertaining issue. I'm no stranger to making my own compound butter (such as this one) but loved their idea of making a large batch and keeping it in the freezer for later use. If you're like me and often find yourself wasting leftover fresh herbs and spices, then mixing them into butter is a great way to use them. This garlic and rosemary butter is perfect for spreading onto toasted bread (for the best garlic bread, ever) or melting on top of steaks, chicken, or steamed veggies. It's a great way to jazz up an ordinary meal, and I can't wait to try out more interesting flavor combinations like ginger-soy and chipotle-lime.

Rosemary-Garlic Compound Butter:

• In a small mortar and pestle,* mash together 3/4 stick room temperature unsalted butter, 1 tsp. finely minced rosemary, and 3 finely minced garlic cloves.**
• Season the butter with a pinch of salt*** and freshly ground pepper.
• Spoon butter into a mound on a piece of plastic wrap.
• Starting from one end, beginning rolling the plastic wrap over the butter to form a log shape, twisting both ends up like a Tootsie roll.
• Freeze the butter until solid, then slice and use as needed.

Makes 6-7 tbsp. of butter
*Or use a bowl and the back of a spoon.
**I used a garlic press to get the garlic extra fine.
***If using salted butter, you can probably skip this step.