Show Archive
Tuesday 26th January 2021.
January 26, 2021
It is Foodie Tuesday! Sara is back with us in the last hour, we are staying with Australia and we all know they love a Barbie, not the plastic one. we are not looking at the meat but a compliment to whatever meat you are going to be cooking. “I love a delicious Compound Butter. Do you know what that is? It’s a very elegant way to make your steak fancy, with very little work! Doesn’t that sound good? I’m also going to discuss an Aussie version of Chimichurri! These recipes go great with vegetable kebabs…which is another common side dish that is grilled on the barbie in Oz! Peppers, Onions and Zucchini seem to top the list! They can be made with or without meat in between…you decide! Yum!
Compound Butters
To make compound butters, simply place a stick of butter in a bowl and to come to room temp until it’s extremely soft, then add in your extra ingredients (detailed below) and roll up tight in some cling film, twisting the ends to re-form into a tube shape (like a sausage), and place back in the fridge to re-solidify. These will last you at least a week or two in the fridge, unless you eat them all first!
Roasted Garlic and Thyme Butter
Whole garlic bulb
Olive oil
2 tsp Fresh Thyme, finely chopped
1 stick salted butter
1 Preheat your oven to 400°F (205° C). (A toaster oven works great for this.)
2 Peel and discard the papery outer layers of the whole garlic bulb, leaving intact the skins of the individual cloves of garlic.
3 Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4 to a 1/2 inch from the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
4 Place the garlic head in a piece of tin foil, cut side up. (A muffin pan works great for this if you want to roast a lot of garlic, as it keeps the garlic bulbs from rolling around.)
5 Drizzle with olive oil: Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each exposed head, using your fingers to rub the olive oil over all the cut, exposed garlic cloves.
6 Wrap the bulb with aluminum foil and Bake at 400°F (205°C) for 30-40 minutes, or until the cloves are lightly browned and feel soft when pressed.
7 Cool and remove roasted garlic cloves from their skins: Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
8 Combine the softened butter with the roasted garlic and thyme, and form into a a sausage shape with plastic film. Refrigerate until hard.
9 After steak has rested, cut ¼ inch medallions of compound butter and place in the center of the steak.
Black Pepper and Mushroom Compound Butter
8-10 dried Shitake mushrooms
Coarse black pepper
Fine black pepper
1 stick of salted butter
1 Place 8-10 dried shitakes in a bowl of hot water to reconstitute and soften, about 10-15 minutes.
2 Drain from water, chop finely and add to butter, along with ¾ tablespoon of coarse black pepper and ¼ tablespoon fine black pepper.
3 Make tube as instructed above and slice in ¼ in disks and put on hot meat or vegetable
Chimichurri Sauce (Aussie style)
1 cup firmly packed parsley, thick stems removed
2 garlic cloves
2 roasted garlic cloves
½ cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
½ tsp sea salt cracked black pepper
½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
Quickly chop parsley, fresh & roasted garlic in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients, pulsing to combine all ingredients. Add chili flakes, if desired.