Fresh Herb Butter

I recently had to trim my herb garden as all of my plants had gotten huge.  I find it almost impossible to use all of my fresh herbs.  Considering you can buy an entire plant for about the same price as a container of fresh cut herbs and the fact they are so easy to grow, they are a great value.

A quick and easy way to make use of fresh herbs is by making herb butter.  Herb butters are so simple to make and add another level of “wow” to any dish.  I use fresh herb butters to finish grilled meats, fresh veggies and even mashed potatoes.  Herb butters can be made in small or large batches and keep well in the fridge but can also be frozen.  I’ve never kept herb butter longer than about two weeks in the fridge but that is simply because it never lasts that long.  I’m sure you could store it for longer.  When freezing herb butters I put them in airtight containers pressing a layer of plastic wrap right over the top of the butter to prevent the formation of ice crystals.  They can be frozen for up to 4 months. 

One of my favorite herb butters is fresh sage butter and with just two ingredients, it’s a pretty simple way to dress up any meat-especially grilled pork served with rustic mashed potatoes.

Fresh Sage Butter

2 Tablespoons of Butter, Room Temperature

1 Teaspoon of Chopped Fresh Sage

Place butter and chopped sage into a mini-processor and blend until smooth.  This can also be blended by hand.