Sage Compound Butter

I have mentioned this before:  I watch a lot of the FnF movie selections by myself.   It’s just easier that way sometimes.

Oh, how I wish I had had my entire family with me (except for the young nephews) when I watched Butter.   

You see, Butter is set in the great state of Iowa and celebrates the quirkiness of Iowans’ traditions (like the Iowa State Fair’s butter sculpting competitions) and the state’s charm.   It also skews some of these Midwestern mores. Since most of my immediate family has made Iowa their home for the last ten years or so, you can see why I found this film so hilarious (and telling).

Thank you, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, for hosting Food ‘n Flix this month and choosing this film.  (For the announcement post, click here.)

This is an all-star cast including Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Olliva Wilde, and Hugh Jackman (!!!!!) to name a few. Garner is hilarious as the prim and proper stand-by-her-man housewife, Laura Pickler; that is, of course, before the powers that be bar her butter-sculpting-champion husband from entering anymore state fair contests.   To save the family honor and butter champion tradition, Pickler morphs into a competitive force and is determined to keep the Pickler name on the butter trophy.   She did not count on a sympathetic butter-sculpting phenom to spoil her plans.   Yara Shahidi plays this artistic dairy prodigy.

Pickler (Garner) will stoop to low levels to win the coveted butter trophy.  (I would love to tell you about her inspired historically-based sculpture that she enters into the final contest….that, however, would be a spoiler.)

For more information on the film, click here.

A trifecta of sage varieties.

I am sure that everyone will be posting buttery goodness for this round, and I am no different.  I used three varieties of sage from my herb garden for this browned compound butter.

Sage Compound Butter
Based on The Joy Kitchen’s Browned Sage Butter

1 stick salted butter
1/8 c. fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

In a medium, deep sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.   After about five minutes the butter will start to foam; then, it will start to bubble.   At this point, you might hear some hissing and crackling from deep within the buttery goodness.   (For a more detailed description, click here.)   As the butter foams, you will want to use a heat-proof rubber spatula for stirring to prevent the milk solids from sticking to the bottom of the pan and scorching.

You will begin to smell a nutty aroma and begin to see milk solids browning in the bottom of the pan.   Add the sage and be prepared for some more foaming action. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and pour into a bowl, being sure to scrape the browned milk solids from the bottom of the pan.

Cooling browned butter with sage.

Let the butter come to room temperature, and refrigerate briefly, until it is of a spreadable consistency.

Stirred up and ready to roll.

To make sure that all the browned bits and sage are incorporated evenly, you need to stir the soft mixture before forming into a roll and wrapping.

Wrapped and ready for the fridge.

This compound butter freezes nicely as well.

For a great step-by-step tutorial on browning butter, click here.

This concoction smells delicious.   I first tossed it with some steamed peas and carrots.

I could not get the vision of corn on the cob doused with the sagey goodness out of my head, so I served this up next with a large dollop of butter.

This would be sublime on grilled steaks or roasted chicken.

I doubt that Laura Pickler would approve of this recipe, however;  she prefers her butter, I am sure, pure, simple, and unadulterated.   🙂

Join Food ‘n Flix for the July film hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen:  Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. Participation is easy but for the guidelines you can check out the FnF site.

Sorry about the hiatus.  This is probably the longest I have been away from blogging.  Summers are supposed to be carefree and relaxing, right? Common wisdom is such that this is especially true for public school personnel.  

This summer has been busy and not in a good way.  I won’t bore you with details, but much has gone on at school.  (As a principal, I still go to the office in the summer albeit in a more laid back fashion.) We had a death in our school family that was unexpected and tragic.  This is the second tragedy of this kind to befall us this year.   

These, and other events, have made me realize the brevity of life and of the importance of focusing on family and friends.   

Sorry, but EE may suffer a bit.