A compound butter is nothing more than butter that has been flavored with herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, or even protein such as caviar or lobster.
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With Thanksgiving just around the corner, can Christmas be far behind?
And with all the holiday meals, you can always count on there being leftovers. What to do?
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“Beurre blanc” is a rich French butter sauce (translated from the French as “white butter”). It is made by reducing shallots, wine, and vinegar, then whisking in pieces of cold butter over a low flame until an emulsion forms. It can be served in this way, or strained for a smoother sauce to accompany seafood, poultry, and vegetables. Beurre Rouge is a similar sauce, but made with red wine instead of white.

The type of coconut that most folks use, (sweetened, flaked coconut), is best toasted in a moderate oven (300°-350°F) by placing a single layer onto a baking sheet and baking until crispy and golden brown around the edges. Be careful - this doesn’t take long! It’s best to keep a watchful eye on the baking sheet so that you don’t overcook the coconut. For the most even browning, remove the baking sheet midway during the cooking process and toss the coconut, then return the baking sheet to the oven until evenly browned and crispy. Hint: the coconut crisps up more as it cools.

Drawn butter and clarified butter are the same thing and is quite easy to make. Simply melt unsalted butter over a low flame. The milk solids will separate dropping to the bottom of the pan) and leave a golden liquid (your clarified butter) at the top.
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If you find yourself with more fresh parsley than you can use, try storing it in the freezer (cleaned and mostly dried) in a plastic Ziploc bag or wrapped in plastic wrap. Next time you need some parsley, remove bag from the freezer and chop it or crumble it with your hands. The texture will be different, but the flavor remains the same. (Will stay fresh up to 2 months.)

If you have trouble making all of your meatballs the same size, try using an ice cream scoop. They come in many different sizes and you end up with a beautifully uniform product. This technique also works well for things such as chocolate truffles and crab cakes.

If a recipe calls for buttermilk and all you have in your refrigerator is regular milk, you can make an acceptable substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let this stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, or until you see the milk thicken to the consistency of buttermilk.

In order to curb the gastric disturbance which beans cause in some folks, try adding a small amount of baking soda to the beans just before serving (a teaspoon or so should do it). You should see some bubbling action, and this helps temper the affect on sensitive individuals.

If you hate throwing away that expensive vanilla bean after using it only one time to make a custard (or whatever), don’t!
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