Krauter Butter

Photo by Rob Robitaille

When I was young, I used to wonder, who would put butter on meat?  Well, a lot of people, and rightly so.  It is not uncommon for a steak house to finish a steak with a bit of butter.  But, butter with something in it is even better.  There are numerous ways to make a compound butter, which is just a fancy name for butter with something else added to it.  Growing up, this was a foreign idea to me until we visited my grandparents in Germany and had Krauter Butter, or herb butter.  In Germany, they market herb salts, or krauter salz.  After that trip, no steak dinner in our house was complete without krauter butter, which amounts to nothing more than butter, krauter salz, and garlic to taste. Again, this can be made however you like, with almost any kind of seasoning mix, herbs, spices, cheese, shallot, onion, and on and on.  This can be served on pretty much any meat, poultry, fish, even vegetables.  Obviously, you need to select the flavors that match what you are serving it on.  For steak, something a little bossy goes well such as garlic, shallots, and blue cheese.  Something a bit sweeter for pork and poultry, and something acidic for fish, like capers, onions, and anchovies.  You are only limited by your imagination.