Compound Butter and the glory of it.....

Today I was remembering on of the most basic things I learn in cooking school and thinking how helpful it had been over the years. The thing being compound butter. Compound butter is made by softening a good quality (preferably unsalted) butter and then blending in herbs, cheese or spices. It is great put onto a steak after it is cooked when you have no sauce. Here is a good creative example but feel free to do it with what ever floats your boat.

Grilled pork chops with lavender honey compound butter

for the butter:
1 stick good quality butter room temperature
1 TB dried or fresh lavander blooms (you can buy them at a health food store in the herb section)
1TB honey (good quality local if you have it)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of these together until creamy. Drop the mixture onto a piece of wax paper, plastic or foil. Roll it in to a tube shape and twist the ends, freeze it until needed. You can save it for months as long at it is tightly sealed and slice off a piece to put on to grilled or baked meats.
To finish making Grilled pork chops with lavender honey simply grill up a pork chop with salt and pepper when it is cooked to your desired doneness you can put the compound butter on. A 1/4 inch thick chunk of compound butter on each portion and let it melt.

Here are some other ideas for compound butters
Blue cheese and parsley
Pink pepper corn and coconut
Fresh herb (with anything you can get your hands on)
Toasted hazelnut and sage

These could go on steak, pork or even veggies. The sky is the limit.
Have fun and let me know if you come up with any good combos.