Looking for that perfect finish to a beautifully grilled ribeye or a simple way to take that cheap prepackaged Ramen to a whole new level? Well, folks, there are a variety of things that could fit the bill, but none more simple than this Vampire Assassin Roasted Garlic Butter! Spread it on your toast in the morning to keep those annoying coworkers at bay and sauté your shrimp in it at night because it's just that damn good. Roasting the garlic cloves really mellows out the intense flavor and the butter provides a perfect medium to carry them over to any meal. The uses for this over-the-top garlic compound butter are nearly endless so stick around an see how you can help prevent the return and overpopulation of Vampires among us. Let's get cooking!
The first obvious step of creating this amazing compound butter is to roast some garlic. When I say SOME garlic, I'm talking 2 cups of cloves or 5-6 whole garlic heads! Check out this Roasted Garlic Cloves recipe for a simple version or keep reading below where I kick it up a notch. Begin by coating your garlic cloves with some olive oil and spread them out evenly in a single layer in a tray. Since we are going to be adding these to butter why not go ahead and start infusing a little butter flavor along with the garlic so slice some butter pats and lay them over the cloves as well. Pop the tray into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit and let the wonderful roasted garlic aroma envelop your kitchen! You can also do this step in your grill outside if you routinely invite Vampires over for dinner or don't want to warm your kitchen up too much in the scorching summer heat. Oh, it's also a good time to get your butter out of the fridge and let it start warming up to room temperature to soften.
The garlic should be roasted in 30-40 minutes so check it for color and softness around that 30 minute mark and judge from there. You are looking for a golden brown color and super soft, easy to mush into paste texture. The easiest thing to do is just to bake the cloves for 20 minutes, mix everything around, and let them go another 20 minutes. It should end up pretty close to the image below.
Once the garlic is roasted, remove it from the oven and let it cool a few minutes. No need to end up in the burn unit smelling like a Garlic Boss and only have vending machine snacks to munch on. If you are feeling lazy, transfer the cloves with additional melted oils to a food processor and pulse to create a paste. Otherwise, feel free to use a spoon to individually smash each clove and stir by hand. Four score and seven years later you will regret not using the food processor, but congrats on your hard work and accomplishments!
While the garlic continues to cool down a bit more, put your butter into a stand mixer and give it a few whips to break it down and combine the individual sticks. I happened to have some Kerrygold on hand, but use whatever you have or prefer. Add the roasted garlic paste to the butter and mix to incorporate evenly.
That is pretty much it for making the compound butter itself. Now we have to make it look pretty and a bit more usable, eh? Pull the bowl from the stand mixer and put it in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to start hardening. We still want it to be somewhat workable, though, so don't completely forget about it and run off for several hours. Once the butter has started to harden back to normal texture, pull it out and form a log of sorts on some parchment paper. It shouldn't stick too much and be easily formed into shape.
Also, got a pro tip for all you wax paper/parchment paper users out there. After you pull off your desired amount from the roll, crinkle and ball it up before smoothing it back out. This will prevent the paper from rolling back up when you need it to lay flat!
Once you are happy with your butter log, simply roll the wax/parchment paper around it and stick it in the freezer for a bit to fully harden. Once hard, you can remove the garlic butter form the freezer and transfer it to some plastic wrap to be rolled up. You could leave it in the original paper but the plastic wrap will help it keep better and prevent your entire fridge contents from smelling like garlic. Otherwise, put it in a sealable container. Man I wish Country Crock still made those butter tubs we all grew up wondering what grandma had cooked and put leftovers in, lol!
Now you have the World's Best Vampire Assassin Roasted Garlic Butter! Cut a slice off to sauté your veggies or shrimp, top that steak as it comes off the grill, or add to those pan sauces after cooking to create a gravy. This butter can literally be used in just about any savory recipe you can think of so give it a try and let me know what you think and how you ended up using it. Post your pics on Instagram and tag me @grubbongrub with #roastedgarlicbutter. You know the drill at this point....stay classy and make delicious food, just keep cooking!
VAMPIRE ASSASSIN ROASTED GARLIC BUTTER
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