Photo by Jun Pang
So, we have been through compound butters before.
If you can’t remember, a quick re-cap. It is basically “flavoured” butter. Simply put, you take softened butter, place it in a mixer and add flavourings such as nuts, herbs etc. Depending on what you are going to use the butters for will depend on the ingredients you put into the butter for flavour. For example, chopped herbs with lemon zest will go great with flavouring fish, a little bit of Jus (refined juices from a roast, most home cooks would call it “gravy”) and some type of fruit jelly with chopped herbs would go great with grilled beef and so on.
Most compound butters acts as a sauce in essence. This type of compound butter is the flavouring agent and adds moisture to the bread. The butter used for “garlic breads” is a type of compound butter.
I have added cheese to this butter for an extra element of flavour and goes well with aged sour dough bread. If you exchange the cheese from brie to a blue cheese or a “stinky” wash rind cheese like a talegio, then you can perhaps use that in pastas. Simply blanch pasta, a fusili perhaps, add to a heated pan with a little normal butter, add garlic and broccolini, toss the pasta through then finish with knobs of this “stinky” cheese compound butter with lashings of herbs and you have a flavoursome and quick meal.
Make plenty of this butter as mentioned in prior blogs and freeze it in small batches and when ever you have limited time to make a meal, take a protein, add this on top and simply bake in the oven, grill or toss through a heated pan and there you go, a meal in seconds.
The chutney can also be used in many ways. In this recipe, the acidity from the green tomatoes simply counter balances the richness of the compound butter, really smoothing out the palate. The vincotto is also great for sweetness with a type of “prune” flavour finish.
This dish does act as a great starter to a meal but it can also be a meal in its self. Add some sliced parma ham, some dressed rocket and you have a complete and appetising light meal.
Photo by Jun Pang
Baked Sour Dough with Brie and Chive Butter, Green Tomato Chutney
Enough for 4 people
1 Sour Dough Loaf
For the green tomato chutney:
1kg Green Cherry Tomatoes
300ml Cider Vinegar
400gr Brown Sugar
1 Brown Onion – diced
1 Cinnamon Stick
5 Star Anise
For the compound butter:
300gr Brie – softened
200gr Butter – softened
1 Bunch Chives – finely sliced
To Finish:
2 Punnets Baby Herbs
Vincotto
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Method
For the green tomato chutney:
- Place the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, onion, cinnamon stick and start anise in a pot. Cook for about 3 hours on low heat, continually stirring until it breaks down and looks and states like a chutney. May need to adjust sugar quantity depending on the tomatoes.
For the compound butter:
- Place the butter and brie in a mixer and mix using a paddle on low until it blends together. It does not have to be super smooth, then add the chopped chives.
- Cut deep slits into the loaf on a slight angle but do not cut through.
- Butter the slits with the brie butter and cover with foil.
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius in an oven or Webber for about 10 minutes.
To finish:
- Serve with tomato chutney on top and garnished with herbs.
- Drizzle the vincotto and EVOO for dipping.
Vincotto – is cooked grape must. Simply put, it is the residue that is left from pressing grapes then that residue is cooked for a long period of time until it is slightly caramelised. The end product is thick, dark (almost black) liquid, similar to reduced balsamic. The flavour is much like prunes but it can also be infused with flavourings such as fig and orange on production. Great to finish a dish such as duck with high level of sweetness but can also be treated much the same way as a vinaigrette, emulsified with EVOO, salt and pepper and used in many salads.