Dill

Basic Lemon-Dill Butter

Ingredients:
Sheet of cling film, saran wrap or wax paper
1 small lemon
¼ cup or 1 Stick Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature. (About 30 to 45 minutes usually) Test by pressing with the back of a wooden spoon or a fork. Butter should be soft and not oily. If oily, it is too soft to work easily. (If too soft, refrigerate until it firms up a bit.)
½ teaspoon of dried dill weed or 1 teaspoon fresh dill
½ teaspoon lemon juice
Zest of the lemon
Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
Course ground black pepper or fresh ground

Instructions:

In a small mixing bowl or dish, combine the butter and the dill using your spoon until dill is evenly distributed in the butter.

Using a fine zester, scrape the outside of the lemon skin. DO NOT go into the white part as that is too bitter. When you have about ½ teaspoon of zest, stop and add the zest to the butter mixture

Roll the lemon under your palm back and forth once to break up the internal structure a bit. Cut the lemon in half. Using your fingers as a strainer to keep seeds out, gently squeeze juice of the ½ lemon into the butter mixture. This should be about ½ teaspoon. Measure the juice before adding it to the mixture if unsure of how much.

Add a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper or a good shake if using the course ground black pepper. Mix the juice, salt and pepper into the butter mixture.

Place the butter mixture onto your film or wax paper in the middle of the paper. Fold the paper or film over the top of the mixture. Use your fingers to shape the butter mixture into a log shape. Then roll the film up and twist the ends.

Chill in the fridge for about one-half hour if using for a meal. Otherwise place the dill butter in its film or wax paper container in a one quart freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. When needing some to use, simply remove the log, unroll the film or wax paper and cut off the amount of dill butter you need.

This is a basic herbbutter and can be varied with different herbs and other ingredients in the butter. Have some fun. Experiment and see what winning combinations of herb butters you can develop.