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A common phrase that describes much of my cooking is “butter makes everything better.” While my arteries might not agree, my tastebuds are calling the shots. From meat to veggies to carbs, butter helps take a dish from drab to delicious. Sometimes, when it’s time to kick it up a notch and plain old butter won’t do, adding an ingredient or two can turn you into a real Mr./Ms./Mrs. Fancy Pants! One easy, crowd-pleasing option is garlic. I’ll bet reading the phrase “garlic butter” makes your mouth water a bit. It’s only natural! Luckily, I’m here to talk about garlic butter, how to make it, and how to incorporate it into your dishes.
Almost anyone can make garlic butter because it’s super easy. As basic as it sounds, the most fundamental recipes call for mixing one stick of butter with chopped or pressed garlic. That’s it! Of course, you can add more, if you’d like, but there’s really nothing more to it. If you’re feeling a little uncertain, let me walk you through some tips.
Now that you can make garlic butter, here’s how you can use it:
Bread and Garlic Butter
Sirah Quyyom / flickr Creative Commons
Get a loaf of your favorite bread, slice it up, and serve with the garlic butter you just mixed up. There’s really no simpler way to take a meal-time staple—bread and butter—and kick it up.
Chowhound
If you’re looking to give a salad a little flavor, make some homemade garlic croutons. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take your garlic butter and melt it on low heat in a small frying pan or saucepan. Next, break up some pieces of bread with your hands (if you like the perfect-angle look, use a knife) and sauté your bread, mixing until all pieces are thoroughly coated with garlic butter. Spread each piece of bread on some aluminum foil or a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the bread is crisp. Remove and let cool (or don’t let cool, they’re your croutons!). Sprinkle the croutons on top of your salad. You win.
Chowhound
This one is a combination of the two above. Let’s say you’re having a nice pasta dinner (see below), and you want a solid garlic bread to go with it. No problem! Remove the garlic butter from the refrigerator (if refrigerated) to soften. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice up your favorite loaf of Italian bread. Spread the garlic butter on each slice. Place the bread on aluminum foil or a cooking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until toasted golden brown. You ever wonder how you say “awesome” with bread? This is how.
Chowhound
You know that nice pasta dinner I just talked about? Well, here’s how you can make that happen. Cook eight ounces of your favorite pasta (make sure it’s al dente). Pan sear then sauté about a pound of diced chicken or medium sized shrimp in your garlic butter. Sprinkle in some parsley. Combine pasta, protein, and garlic butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve. Too easy. Too good.
Sautéed Vegetables
Pixabay
My mom makes one of the best vegetable dishes I’ve ever had. The secret? Garlic butter. You can sauté any vegetable in your garlic butter until the veggie has reached your desired tenderness and you’ll be a vegetable hero. My mom’s dish? Tarragon carrots. She takes her garlic butter up a level by adding a bit of tarragon (naturally) and red wine vinegar. Normally, I reserve the term “delicious” for meat dishes, but these are delicious!
Chowhound
Speaking of meat, you can use garlic butter to turn your boring roast into a tastebud celebration! Simply spread your garlic butter on the roast (it’s okay to use your hands!), and bake as normal. This works great with pork, beef, and lamb. This might also be a time to try throwing some more stuff into your garlic butter—salt and pepper, for starters. Cooking lamb? Try rosemary and thyme.
Maybe I should start using a new phrase: Garlic makes butter better. After reviewing these six dishes, it seems appropriate. The next time you have a job that calls for spreading or sauteing in butter, add some flair—add some garlic. Enjoy!
If you have never made biscotti but often order them at coffee shops, you will be pleasantly surprised how easy they are to make at home.
Continue reading "Cranberry Pistachio Chocolate Biscotti" »
Is there nothing Nabisco won’t put in Oreos? From Swedish Fish to Peeps, the company sure loves to cram an entire supermarket aisle of candy into their cookies. Hell, they’ve even filled Oreos with more Oreos to create the most “Inception”-like snack possible.
So when Oreo dropped their Mystery Flavor earlier this year, we knew it had to be stuffed with some high fructose-y product of dubious origin that they hadn’t yet managed to exploit. And that was before we even tasted it.
Well, Nabisco just revealed the flavor in question and suffice it to say, we were right. The culprit this time around is Fruity Pebbles, that sugary, Flintstones-approved cereal.
Pretty much everyone who tried the damn things figured this out right away, including yours truly. This puts me in the company of Kathie Lee and Hoda (who ate them alongside their breakfast wine on “The Today Show”). And everyone on Twitter (making it rare instance where everyone actually agreed on something on the internet). Because one bite is really all it takes to discern the taste of pre-fab fruit salad and prehistoric nostalgia. Yabba dabba doo!
People could also submit their guesses to an official Oreo-sponsored contest with a grand prize of $50,000. No winners have been announced yet, probably because they’re trying to figure out how to split that check amongst the millions of applicants who guessed correctly.
Now that we’ve made it clear that it was obvious, let us also make it clear that it is gross. If you’re going to put cereal in Oreos, at least make it a good one. Might we suggest Rice Krispies, for added texture, or Frosted Flakes, because tigers think they’re great (and tigers are better than cavemen). I’m not sure what kind of logic goes into the Oreo-making process—probably none—but this is as close as I imagine it gets.
