About five years ago, I took a class in cheese studies. This is an actual university course (albeit continuing education), and when the course ended, those of us who passed the final exam received certificates in Cheese Studies (initial caps intended).
Probably unsurprising if you've been reading here for a while, I'm proud to say that I am a Cheese Studies certificate holder and, of course, a cheese aficionado, thank you very much. My certificate might not have any real practical application, but it does help in the appreciation of cheese, and all milk products, for that matter. And what can be wrong with that?
One of the more interesting tidbits learned in cheese studies is that the quality and flavor of what the animals are grazing upon directly impacts the quality and flavor of the final product. Animals' milk changes in flavor and consistency based upon the time of year in which they are milked.
Recently, I was speaking with an organic farmer who farms in Italy. She makes incredibly flavorful sheep and goat milk cheeses, and I was inquiring as to whether fresh goat milk ricotta was available. "Oh, no, no. Not now," she said, "the goats are having their babies, so we aren't milking them. Once the babies are grown, we'll start milking again in the spring. You see, if I have the same thing all the time, I'm not a farmer, I'm a buyer. What I can make changes with the seasons."
Shortly before I had this conversation with my farmer friend, I was approached by
Kerrygold Butter to see if I'd be interested in participating in a recipe contest using new butters they've introduced into the market. In the interest of full disclosure, this post is my entry into that contest, and Kerrygold USA provided the butters to me free of charge.
I agreed to participate based on the fact that I already buy the regular Kerrygold butter that's been in the market, the fact that Kerrygold is a cooperative of farmers, and that the cooperative's cows do not receive artificial growth hormones. For flavor, fair wages, and not adding hormones to food are all of equal importance to me.
When the new Kerrygold butters arrived, my package included two 8-ounce containers of Kerrygold Reduced Fat butter, which has 25% less fat and 50% less sodium than regular butter, as well as two 8-ounce containers of Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter, which is more spreadable than regular butter because - and here is the tie-in to the cheese studies and farmer stories above - the butter is made with summer milk which is naturally higher in softer milk fat than milk produced at other times of the year. Kerrygold then uses a proprietary method of churning the butter to increase the softer milk fat. Both butters are made all-naturally, without additives.
The first dish I made was a compound butter using the Naturally Softer butter, with Slow Roasted Mushrooms, Bacon, and Shallots. It was a hit on baked potatoes, atop grilled steak, and when used to finish sauteed broccoli. JR even wanted to use it for cooking rice, and made a move to spread some on wheat bread. I think I've created a bit of a mushroom-butter monster over here.
The second dish I made was inspired by butternut squash ravioli, deconstructed a bit. I just taught a pasta-making class in Providence, and the class made ravioli which we then served with toasted hazelnuts, a bit of pecorino romano cheese, and a crumbled amaretti cookie.
The inclusion of the amaretti cookie would have taken a while for me to come up with if left to my own devices - like, possibly not in this lifetime - but on a trip to Italy I had been served a pumpkin pasta dish with one lone amaretti cookie on the side. And when that one cookie was crumbled over the pasta, it was transformational, perfectly sweet and savory.
So, in a dish featuring cookies, nuts, cheese, and pasta, I thought that the reduced fat butter would be a good choice - minimizing the damage, as it were. I served Butternut Squash-Butter Sauce (it rhymes!) with homemade pasta (though it would be fabulous with store-bought bucatini), freshly grated pecorino romano cheese, and the hazelnuts and crushed cookie.
The sauce was rich and thick, sweet from the squash, and incredibly buttery. Together, with all of the pasta accoutrement, it was a decadent and unusual dish that I marked down as a dinner party winner. Now, who to invite over? Hmmmmm.
As it turns out, the sauce is also a natural match for grilled chicken, which I served placed atop a few tablespoons of the sauce, and I plan to have it with roasted pork in the near future as well.
To make the Butternut Squash-Butter Sauce, I first roasted cubed butternut squash that I had seasoned with pepper and fresh thyme. I pureed the roasted squash with the melted butter, which resulted in a thick sauce. If you wanted to thin the sauce, you could add a tablespoon of vegetable stock at a time until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
Butternut Squash-Butter Sauce with Kerrygold Reduced Fat Butter:
Makes 1 cup (4 servings)
2 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (from approximately 1-pound of whole butternut squash)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces Kerrygold Reduced Fat butter, melted
kosher salt
Optional:
Low Sodium Vegetable Stock for thinning the sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, toss the butternut squash with the oil, then pour the squash onto the baking sheet so that the squash is in a single layer. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the squash, then season with pepper.
Roast the squash until it is easily pierced with a fork and is just starting to brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Stir the squash mid-way through the cooking time to insure even roasting.
Allow the squash to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before pureeing. Meanwhile melt the Kerrygold Reduced Fat butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
Transfer the squash to a food processor or blender, then pour in the melted butter. Puree until the mixture is well-blended and no chunks of butternut squash can be seen. You will have a thick sauce that requires spooning out of the food processor or blender.
If you prefer a thinner, smoother consistency, add one tablespoon of vegetable stock at a time until you have a consistency that you like.
Place the sauce in a small sauce pan, then reheat to your desired serving temperature, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve it forth.
To Serve with Pasta:
1 pound bucatini pasta
1 cup Butternut Squash Butter Sauce
Pecorino Romano cheese, for grating
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely crushed
4 amaretti cookies, coarsely crushed
Prepare the pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions. Drain the pasta, then dole it out to each of four plates. Top the pasta with 1/4 of the sauce (approximately 1/4 cup each), grate the pecorino-romano cheese over top, then sprinkle each dish with 1/4 of the nut and cookie mixture, and serve it forth.
Slow Roasted Mushroom, Bacon, Shallot Compound Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter:
8 ounces Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter, at room temperature
8
cremini mushrooms (also known as
baby bella), washed and trimmed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oi
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Kerrygold butter (type of your choosing)
1 slice of good-quality bacon, cooked to your desired crispness, then crumbled
Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the mushrooms in a small baking dish, drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle with the thyme, and season with black pepper. Roast the mushrooms for two hours, at which point, they'll look a bit dark and shriveled, but are in perfect condition for the compound butter, as the slow roasting will have intensified their mushroom flavor.
Allow the mushrooms to cool, then chop them into a fine dice.
While the mushrooms are roasting, saute the shallots in the butter until they are just translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the room temperature butter, the diced mushrooms, the shallots, and the crumbled bacon. Mix well so that all of the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the butter, then turn the butter out onto a sheet of waxed paper, form the butter into a log, and roll the waxed paper around the butter.
Place the compound butter in an airtight container, and use it within one week, or divide the butter up into smaller portions, roll those smaller portions in waxed paper, then seal them in freezer bags, and use within a month - or distribute to friends and family, who will surely thank you for the flavor booster you've bestowed upon them.
* Again, just to be clear, Kerrygold provided me with two 8-ounce samples of each of their two new butters described above, and this blog post is my entry into a recipe contest for Kerrygold Butter.
return to Poor Girl Gourmet homepage
