Making Butter Better with Herbs or Edible Flowers

Making Herb or Edible Flower Butters
www.urbanherbal.com/recipes
Butters are often an overlooked culinary touch; fresh herbs from the garden are unlimited in decadent flavor combinations, and can supply thousands of possible serving ideas! Since fat carries flavor better than any other medium, just a small pat of herb butter goes a long way toward enhancing not only bread, but also meat, fish, poultry, eggs, steam vegetables, and fresh pasta.
Herb butters can be made with little effort; most herbs are easily creamed into softened butter, while others may require a few minutes in the food processor. They freeze well, too, because the butterfat naturally coats and preserves the ingredients.
Start with unsalted butter to contraol the amount of salt in the finished spread and to retain a more delicate flavor.
As a general rule, use 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh herbs to 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter. After blending the herbs and butter thouroughly, lay a piece of parchment paper, or plastic wrap on the counter, spread the butter to make a log and roll up. Place in the freezer or the refrigerator. Let the flavors sit for at least 3 hours for all the flavors to blend. You can then slice off a section to use and put the remainder back to refrigearate, for later use. Today I made an Edible Flowers Honey Butter. It is great on little toasts, biscuits, waffles, or to use in cake icing.

Edible Flowers Honey Butter
1/2 cup organic rose petals and assorted edible flowers (minced)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon natural rose flower water
Combine all of the above ingredients and mix well. Spread onto parchment paper or plastic wrap roll into a log and refrigerate

Here are a few other herb butter blends: Cilanto and toasted pine nuts, parsley, chives, chervil and tarragon, dill and lemon butter, rosemary olive butter. The combinations are endless.