My shopping philosophy is pretty simple, and it’s served me pretty well.
The higher the quality the higher the price. So, buy the best quality you can afford, at the best price you can.
But there’s an exception to this theory: butter—but butter in a particular state.
Growing up, at our house, we always ate margarine. The only time I ate butter was when we visited family in either Pennsylvania, on my grandmother’s delicious homemade potato bread, or in New Jersey on a freshly baked breakfast roll.
Because of this, in addition to being way tastier than Parkay, I also associate butter which childhood and indulgence. So, when I began stocking my own larder, it was butter, not margarine which had a place of pride in fridge, table, and belly.
I don’t remember when I discovered the wonder that is brown butter. But, it was the luckiest kitchen mishap ever. I was melting butter for a veggie side dish, and my attention strayed. Soon I smelled this amazing, nutty, buttery aroma. By the time I returned to the stove, the light golden color of melted butter had deepened to a rich caramel.
Normally I would just utter a few rude oaths to my ineptitude, pour it down the disposal and start again. But this stuff just smelled and looked too darn good. And it tasted even better.
After that, I began experimenting. At first, I used it like a flavoring. I mixed it into Velveeta Shells and Cheese. It tasted so good, I almost forgot that the resulting dish had enough fat and calories to kill an elephant.
You know, I don’t feel quite so guilty about the brown butter mac. But Petey would happily eat this abomination seven days a week.
When I decided I wanted to live past my thirties, I cut back on the double fat mac, and began substituting it for regular butter; both in melted form, and solid (like for baking).
Brown Butter
Butter
Melt butter on medium-low in a shallow saucepan or skillet. Once melted, let it continue cooking, watching it constantly. It will start to foam, and then brown. As it browns, swirl the pan to monitor the color. The darker it is, the more pronounced the flavor, but burned it is inedible. When the butter solids are the color of dark brown sugar, take it off the heat.
To use as solid butter, let it cool slowly, stirring frequently to keep the browned solids suspended throughout.
One of our favorite things on which to pour melted brown butter is steamed cauliflower. The nutty flavor works beautifully with the slightly bitter veg. Lately, I’ve been using it as a sauce for simple pasta dishes. It enhances the taste without covering delicate flavor.
Have the butter browned and waiting in a skillet when the pasta is ready. Then just spoon the finished noodles or ravioli into the butter and toss. Ravioli with a mild-flavored filling is made for brown butter. For a sauce with more complex flavor, add the juice of a lemon and a handful of grated parmesan. It’s a delicious, sophisticated sauce for fish and poultry.
And this brings us back to where we began.
Although expensive European higher fat, lower water content butter is delicious (heck, I have a box of Kerry Gold from Ireland in my fridge right now), it isn’t the best pick for browning.
What browns in butter are the milk solids, and as you move up the price and quality scale, the amount of solids drop. So, the cheaper and less clarified butter makes the best brown butter.
Would that it worked that way for shoes.
Thanks for your time.
The Kid and I both love dogs, to complete and utter distraction. Our favorite movie is The Big Chill, but we adore those awful chimera movies (think of the walking abomination of a horse/wasp hybrid) on SyFy. My child and I are big fans of Chap Hop; a musical genre wherein polite, anachronistic British gentlemen rap about things like tea, robots, and orangutan valets. Clean sheet night is our favorite night of the week. We talk to strangers, probably way more than we should.
And our hearts reside in the kitchen.
This means, that just like the rest of our Southern-fried psyches, in cooking and food, we have many similarities.
And, I honestly don’t think we’ve ever cooked from a recipe without changing something. It’s usually the addition, subtraction, or tweaking of an ingredient.
Recently The Kid tried out a new recipe from a website called, Smitten Kitchen. It’s for blondies; the moist and gooey love child of chocolate chip cookies and brownies.
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times — nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them.
Thanks for your time.
It’s the singer-dancer-actor Gene Kelly of the kitchen. A triple threat.
One of the favorite meals in our family is roadkill. It’s not what you think, though. I have never served flattened possum, or sunbaked squirrel. Roadkill is our name for porcupine meatballs. But because I have trouble making meat spheres, I make patties. And years ago The Kid decided the pressed shape with bits of rice poking out resemble the result of animal versus auto.
The best, nay, the only side dish allowed when we dine on road kill is steamed cauliflower tossed with plenty of slowly cooked, chestnut-colored butter.
For softened butter, just brown the butter and let it re-solidify, stirring occasionally to keep the browned solids dispersed.
2 cups nut pieces of your choice 
2 cups confectioners’ sugar 
As good as these bars are, The Kid has a real problem with them. It has nothing to do with flavor; they are bright, moist, and sweet, but thanks to the brown butter, not too sweet.
Thanks for your time.
bull city mom 