AVEQIA’s Spiced Butter

A really underrated accompaniment is a really good spiced butter, or why not several different ones? For the upcoming BBQ season, we want to share a basic recipe for spiced butter, as well as a delicious charcoal grilled butter from one of our previous menus. Remember that these tasty butters can be used for other dishes than BBQ foods!

When you make a solid butter, it is good if the butter is at room temperature when you work with it, as it will be easier to mix and the flavors from your spices will come out better. You can of course increase the quantities in the recipes, especially for the “solid” butters as they keep well in the fridge or freezer. One tip is that if you have some spiced butter left, why not use it in your regular cooking, e.g. as seasoning for your vegetables (e.g. roasted carrots or your cooked asparagus), bolognese sauce or similar. Don’t be afraid to try!

Spiced butter – basic recipe (best made the day before and stored in the fridge)

• 200 g room temperature butter
• 2 large cloves of garlic (finely chopped is usually tastier than pressing the garlic, feel free to remove the root/sprout).
• 50 ml Finely chopped fresh parsley (you can of course use frozen if you need to)
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• A little lemon zest for freshness (by preference)
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 pinches Salt
• 1 pinches White pepper (preferably ground)

Mix all the ingredients well, season with salt & pepper, if there is too much of one or the other, you can easily add more butter. Finally, dollop out onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a sausage (like a Christmas cracker!). Keep in the fridge until serving, when you can easily cut the butter into slices.

You can easily adapt this butter to different types of dish, why not try the following variations:

Chicken – add finely chopped tarragon (fresh or pickled), here you can also add orange zest for extra fruitiness.

Fish / Seafood – chopped red chili, fresh dill or chives

Lamb – chopped rosemary or wild garlic (if using wild garlic, halve the amount of regular garlic).

Pork – smoked paprika powder or why not 1-2 tablespoons of Ajvar?

Charcoal-grilled butter with chilli, garlic and thyme

• 1 Ancho chili pepper
• 200 g Butter
• 3 Cloves of garlic
• 5 thyme sprigs

Slowly melt the butter in a saucepan with the ancho chilli, garlic and thyme sprigs. Place a glowing piece of charcoal in the butter and leave to soak for at least 20 minutes. Then strain the butter and save it for later. After grilling your meat, brush it with the delicious butter before serving.