chilli-lime butter

chilli-lime compound butter

Compound butters are a brilliant and easy way to inject a bit of flavour into your food with minimal effort, which frankly is my favourite type of cooking. Smother chargrilled corn-on-the-cob or roasted pumpkin with a generous slice of flavoured butter.

Actually butters flavoured with herbs or citrus are brilliant lobbed onto grilled fish or shellfish, lamb chops or even steak. Or you could use it to stuff under the skin before roasting a chicken. I also use it in sandwiches or dollop onto soup before serving.

Every cook should have compound butter ready in the freezer for when a bit of instant flavour is called for!

Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
50g butter, at room temp
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
1 x fat green chilli
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tsp honey
a pinch of chilli flakes or Aleppo pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Cream all the ingredients together. Season to taste, then chill.

tip:

• These compound butters are easy to make ahead and store well in the freezer.
• The classic Café de Paris butter adds complex flavours to cooked meat such as steak - from capers and anchovies to tomato paste and curry powder!