Rosemary & Garlic Infused Butter

I started making my own butter a while ago; I really work hard to buy from local vendors and when I can’t do that I at least try to buy products that were made in state, so the fact that I couldn’t walk into my neighborhood grocery store and buy butter that was actually made in Wisconsin(the Dairy State for crying out loud!) just annoyed me. Rather than running myself ragged between stores on grocery day, I opted to cut out the middle man and do it myself. Turns out, churning your own butter is really not that difficult, and the result is WAY better than anything I’ve even bought in a store.

And then, I was photographing this incredible wedding this past summer that had some wonderful flavored butters and it got my gears spinning. Garlic & Rosemary infused butter started coming out of my kitchen shortly there after and I’m really quite pleased with myself about it, simple though it may be.

Fresh Homemade Butter:
Yield Approx. 1 Cup butter and 1 Cup buttermilk.

1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream (from a Wisconsin farm!)
Salt, to taste(optional)

Pour the cream into a food processor and turn it on for about 5 minutes. The cream will go through a few different phases, first turning into whipped cream, then becoming curdled looking, and finally the butter solid will completely separate from the liquids. You’re done when a round ball of butter forms in the processor. Usually around 5 minutes. If you want to add salt, I’d do so around the 3 minute mark, otherwise it may not incorporate smoothly once the solids start to form.

Strain the buttermilk off of the butter with a cheesecloth or clean towel, and pat your butter dry (save the buttermilk for pancakes, you won’t be sorry!). Place butter on waxed paper and roll into a neat package for storage.

Rosemary & Garlic Infused Butter:

1 Cup Butter
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Springs of Rosemary, loosely chopped
Salt, to taste(optional)

Warm the butter slowly in a saucepan over a low burner and throw in the garlic, rosemary, and salt(since I hadn’t salted my butter when I made it, I put a couple of cranks on my salt grinder at this point, had I started with salted butter I wouldn’t have bothered) . Once the butter is completely melted I turn off the heat and let the ingredients sit together until the butter starts to cool. Pour the butter through a fine strainer to extract the bits of garlic and rosemary, and place in the fridge to chill.

Once the butter returns to it’s solid state you can bring it back up to room temperature again and serve with fresh bread, or wrap in waxed paper for later use.

Alternatively you could skip the cooling stage and used the butter in it’s melted state over garlic bread. Yum!