Homemade Easy Chive Blossom Compound Butter Recipe

I was introduced to the idea of making compound butter from chive blossoms from someone who responded to a photo I posted of my profusely blooming chives one year. I cut down three-quarters of my chive blossoms and turned them into butter, and was surprised by how excellent it really is.

The butter is simple – just chive blossoms and some vermouth for a bit of alcohol extraction, along with the other benefits of vermouth. The resulting butter has a lovely floral quality in addition to the bulby chive/shallot flavor one might generally expect. It is scrumptious just on toast, but could be used in many other ways – in butter sauces, in pats on steak, enrichment of a potato soup.

Once mixed, let the butter sit for some time to allow the flavors to marry. After a week or two, the butter may be frozen if desired to keep it fresh for longer.

Makes a little over half a pound of chive blossom butter.

Equipment:
• large mixing bowl
• parchment or wax paper, and plastic wrap, to wrap up butter

Ingredients:
1/2 lb butter
20-24 ea chive blossoms ideally from the garden; also available in markets at times
1 Tbsp dry vermouth

Procedure:
1. Let the butter come to room temperature so that it is soft to work with. Do not melt the butter.
2. Clean and chop the chive blossoms. The stalks may be chopped and frozen for future use. They are typically a bit more rigid/crunchy/tough than regular chives, so they may not be as useful fresh.
3. Add the vermouth and the chopped chive blossoms to the mixing bowl and mix together.
4. If desired, cover the bowl and let the mixture of vermouth and herbs stand for 15-60 minutes.
5. Add the softened butter and use a fork or whisk to mix everything together.
6. Once the butter is homogeneously combined with the other elements, arrange it in a low, even mound on a sheet of wax paper or parchment, and then roll into a log with twisted ends to keep the butter in.
7. Wrap the log in plastic and store in the fridge for a day or two minimum before use.