After watching not only the chicken contest, but every other competition I can find on the Food Network for a couple of days, I can’t take it anymore. In the middle of trying to flesh out a chapter, I click over from Microsoft Word (finish the book finish the book finish the book) to Explorer, and type into Google “Recipe Contests”. I immediately find that there are whole websites devoted to archiving info on such contests, and that there are literally dozens in every possible arena. Forget the chicken, there are contests for pork and pizza and Prosecco. There are contests for cheese and chili and chocolate. Contests for cooking with kids, cooking with grandma, and cooking with Kraft products. I’m hesitant. Where to look, where to click first? I see one that catches my eye. Plugra European Butter contest.
I use Plugra.
It is my favorite daily-use butter.
I click. A form pops up on my screen.
Plugra European Butter is looking for your best butter blend. Grand prize $5000, and a trip for two to New York, and appearance on a local New York television show, plus Plugra may use your recipe in a blended butter for sale. Fifty honorable mention prizes of special ceramic butter bells for storing your Plugra.
All they need is basic info, the recipe for the butter, with Plugra being the primary ingredient, and serving suggestions. I think about the carefully crafted herb butter I have developed for use in my Thanksgiving Turkey recipe.
It is flawless.
I fill in the form in less than two minutes and press send. It thanks me for entering and encourages me to enter again as often as I like.
As often as I like turns out to be over forty butter recipes during the next two weeks.
Apparently butter is very inspiring to me.
There is brown sugar, cinnamon, pecan butter for use on baked sweet potatoes. Strawberry balsamic butter for putting on scones or biscuits. Feta oregano kalamata olive butter for your lamb chops. Dijon caramelized shallot thyme butter for chicken, and BBQ butter for pork chops. Chocolate hazelnut butter, cheddar chive butter, orange nutmeg butter and lemon rosemary garlic butter. Tomato basil butter, and pesto butter, and sweet pea butter with mint.
And my favorite:
Honey bacon butter for your waffles and pancakes.
Yep.
Bacon.
In butter.
Shut up. I am a genius.
NEXT: The Polymath Goes Postal
Holy cats lady. That's a lot of butter!
ReplyDeleteThe bacon butter sounds soo good!
Butter. It does a body good? LOL You go girl!
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmmm, butter. You have inspired me to indulge! The orange nutmeg sounds fantastic for scones, and I agree - bacon in butter is absolute genius.
ReplyDeleteSo where can I find these butter recipes? They sound fantastic. I think I deserve the honey bacon butter for Mother's Day this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI will not shut up. That IS genius.
ReplyDeleteSo, in time for Mother's Day...
ReplyDeleteHoney Bacon Butter
1 lb Plugra butter, unsalted, at room temperature (I recommend leaving it out overnight)
1/2 lb high quality bacon, cooked on a sheet pan in a 400 degree oven until totally crispy (about 18 minutes) should be teetering on the edge of burning when you whisk it out. Drain on paper towels and let cool completely, then chop into smallish bits.
3-4 T good quality honey ( I like something floral here, and light, clover works well, I did it with Black Sage honey and it rocked my world)
Blend 3 T honey into softened butter till well combined. Taste. If you like it sweeter, add another T of honey.
Gently blend in your cooled, chopped bacon pieces. Freshly ground black pepper (or in my house, grains of paradise) is a lovely but ultimately unecessary addition.
Spread immediately on a hot bit of carb. Pancakes, natch, waffles with all their wells to snag bacon bits, english muffing nooks and crannies don't like to be left out, ditto biscuits and scones.
Frankly, you could put it on your shoe and be perfectly happy.
Go forth and Bacon Butter. And Happy Mother's Day.
As the American Dairy Association and my dad, the milkman used to say, "It's better with butter". Just call me Ms. Butterton!
ReplyDeleteOh, Stacey! Bacon in butter... TOTALLY works for me! I simply CANNOT eat bacon without maple syrup, so I love the honey idea! GOOD LUCK! :) You know we will all vote for you, if given the chance!
ReplyDeleteAs Miss Paula Deen would say, "Bacon grease and butter..toot, toot!"
ReplyDelete