Simple pan-seared steaks are topped with a compound butter made with cilantro, jalapeño peppers, shallots and lime juice for a lively flavor boost. Recipe below.
Julia Child famously said, “If you’re afraid of butter, just use cream.” We’re not afraid of butter. It sees a lot of action in our kitchen, if in moderate amounts. Sometimes, it’s just a pat added to oil in a pan to give something a little buttery goodness.
So compound butters already have something going for them in my book because, well, they contain butter. Simply put, compound butters are butter with something added for flavor. Those herb butters that come with dinner rolls in some restaurants are an example.
Often, though, compound butters are used as finishing sauces for fish, meats or vegetables, a dollop placed on the still hot food just before serving, melting into and onto it as we eat. The herbs, aromatics and other seasonings team with the butter’s richness to elevate almost any dish. The French are of course masters at compound butters (or beurres composés). Beurre à la bourguignonne is a classic—and classically simple. Butter, garlic and parsley are mashed together to form a paste. Among other dishes, this beurre composé is used with escargot.
There are countless variations on compound butter, another thing I like about them. You can chop up just about any combination of herbs and perhaps an aromatic (chives, garlic, shallots and scallions are all good bets) and mash them into room temperature butter. Add spices, if you like, and a little salt. Some recipes also include lemon juice or lime juice or even some alcohol. You then re-chill the butter, forming it into a log, if you like.
For this recipe, I took a slightly spicy direction. Jalapeño pepper provided the heat. (Only a little, as it happened—have you noticed that jalapeños are all over the place in terms of heat? The recipe below calls for removing the seeds and ribs; if you think your pepper isn’t going to be very hot, leave some in.) For the other flavors, I took my cue from La Cocina, a Mexican storefront restaurant in our neighborhood. When we order taco dinners there, they always ask if we want them topped Mexican style (cilantro and onion) or American style (tomato and cheese). We always choose Mexican. I substituted shallot for the onion to give it a little hint of garlic without adding garlic and having it overpower the other flavors.
Cook the steaks however you choose. I seasoned strip steaks with salt and pepper and pan-seared them to medium rare, but grilling them would make them deliciously smoky.
Cilantro Jalapeño Compound Butter
Makes 4 to 6 servings
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper, seeds and ribs removed
2 teaspoons finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons (packed) chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cut butter into chunks and place in a bowl. Bring to room temperature (if you’re a little impatient, and the butter’s still a little stiff, that’s okay). Mix the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl (this will help distribute their flavors more evenly throughout the butter). Add the cilantro jalapeño mixture to the butter and mash with a fork until thoroughly combined. The lime juice won’t completely mix into the butter, but that’s okay.
Form the compound butter roughly into a ball or log shape in the bowl with the fork and transfer it to a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the compound butter in the plastic wrap, shaping it into a log. Place the wrapped compound butter in a bowl and refrigerate (the bowl will catch any stubborn lime juice that escapes from the plastic wrap). Chill for at least a few hours to let the butter re-harden and the flavors swap around. You can make your compound butter a day or more ahead from when you want to use it.
Remove the compound butter from the fridge while the steaks are cooking. When you plate the steaks, top them with a slice of the butter. Serve.
Boy, I have noticed that jalapeños vary a lot in the intensity of their spiciness. I’m wondering if there’s a seasonal aspect to this — it seems they’re a bit milder in the fall? More likely it’s the store is sourcing different growers then. I like the heat, but I do want to know how much I’m using. Anyway, nice post. And nice recipe. I haven’t done much with compound butters in recent years, but you’ve reminded me of how great they are. And easy! I’m getting in a serious grilling mood, and they’re great with all sorts of meats and fish. I expect I’ll be mixing up some compound butter for myself in a week or two! Thanks for the inspiration.
My Grandfather use to make beurre a la bourguignonne for steaks and it was heavenly. It really added that extra something. I really like your jalapeno cilantro version. This is going on my must do list! How true about the jalapeno’s. I’ve notice the same with poblanos. My sister and I once both ordered Chiles rellenos at a dinner. Hers was perfect and no one at the table could handle mine. It was unpleasant. The picture looks so yummy I could slice off a piece and just eat it. On a side note I made your Chimichurri last night for our flank steak. So good! I like your version the best.
I probably won’t make this exact combination because I’m a real wimp when it comes to chile peppers, but if you don’t mind, I do have a question about the beurre à la bourguignonne that you mention, and that I would like to try – the garlic is added raw, is that right? And how would you prepare it? I have a garlic press that I’ve used since college, but so many recipes/cooks/bloggers now sneer at the use of a press. Dunno, it’s always worked fine for me!
Kitchenriffs, I don’t think it’s seasonality with the peppers, because I’ve noticed differences within a week or two. And as Randi mentions below, she and her family noticed differences in the same meal cooked at the same time in a restaurant! But I think that next time, I’ll definitely include some seeds and ribs in this.
Thanks, Randi! And I’m really glad you liked the chimichurri—I don’t make that often enough, and it brings really big flavor to steaks. A friend of ours from Ecuador says his mother always kept some for stirring into soups.
Anita, the mild jalapeño in this particular batch wouldn’t have troubled you at all, I’ll bet. Regarding the beurre à la bourguignonne, the few recipes I found say to add the garlic mashed. Your garlic press would be a good tool for that. You might also place the pressed garlic on a cutting board and just use the edge of a chef’s knife to spread it repeatedly on the board; this would give you a very fine consistency. I also consulted Julia’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She doesn’t make beurre à la bourguignonne per se, but has a beurre d’ail (garlic butter) recipe, which is the same thing. For 1/4 cup of butter (1/2 stick), she would use 1 to 4 cloves of garlic and blanch them in boiling water before mashing them (she recommended a mortar and pestle). Blend the garlic and butter together, then add 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional) and season with salt and pepper. Good luck!
What a cool idea? I hadn’t even considered this. The butter is a great way to make a steak ‘special’.
We just about never cook steaks and just might start this up? (we are more the one-pot meal types). Thanks for the recipe, Terry!
Thank you so much… that advice was above and beyond a polite reply 🙂 !
Thanks, Kitty! I hope you do give it a try. Last night, I roasted some chicken thighs and, having some leftover compound butter, slipped a small pat under the skin of each thigh. It was delicious!
Glad to help, Anita.
Just made this and it’s delicious! I’ve always made more French inspired herbaceous compound butters, but this one really hits the spot. I was just going to toss in a quick note about the lime juice not absorbing into the mix – I tossed mine all into a stand mixer (you could probably just use a hand mixer too) and blended it a couple times with some scraps in between and the lime juice blended in great, maybe it helps emulsify it a little? Either way – this rules, thanks so much for the recipe! 🙂