Life is Better with Butter

I love butter. My husband, bless his soul, does not. So, while I rarely cook with butter on a regular basis, sometimes I cannot help myself. And I'm never sorry about it either. Butter lends a heartier, richer flavour to anything I'm cooking, and with very little effort. Warm butter tastes like a luxury I shouldn't be able to afford, but it's hardly expensive and a little certainly goes a long way. I really don't think there is anything in this world that wouldn't taste better with butter added.

Then there's the way it holds things together. I've made many a roux in my time, both with butter and without, and the butter based ones are always creamier and denser, flowing more like liquid chocolate than their non-butter counterparts which seem to lack that textural quality. Are there any downsides to cooking with butter? Well, I suppose if you typically wait a while between cooking and eating your food, then yes. One downside is that butter cools off relatively quickly and starts to solidify. But as quickly as it cools, it also heats up, so you can simply put the pan back on the stove or in the oven on a low temp to heat things up again.

Another potential downside is that it makes whatever you're cooking or baking dairy, so if you've got allergies in the house, as I do, using butter is pretty impractical when you're cooking for the family. Furthermore, if you keep a kosher household, using butter in a dish can make things complicated when you've got a steak dinner and are staring at some butter roasted carrots that you want as a delicious side but can't eat them together. So, as you can see, there are many reasons why I do not tend to cook with butter on a regular basis.

I've decided that I should though, at least for myself, because I don't want to be depriving myself of good food. Life is simply too short for anything but-ter. I found myself in the kitchen one night a couple of weeks ago with a package of white mushrooms I'd used earlier for a chilli con carne for dinner. And I remembered slicing the mushrooms for the chilli, and having the knife just miss cutting all the way through. I'd lifted the mushrooms, seen the smooth skin on the surface of the cap totally intact and the mushroom fan itself as I held it upside down and thought to myself "What a fantastic idea!"

The first place I went to was Google; surely someone else (or several someones) had thought of this first? But the more I searched for "Hasselback Mushrooms" the more we found recipes for hasselback potatoes and hasselback chicken cutlets WITH mushrooms, not a single mushroom itself being the star. I couldn't believe it and to a certain degree I still can't. I'm sure, somewhere out there, there's a single recipe for hasselback mushrooms that exists somewhere, just waiting to be discovered. There HAS to be. It seems too obvious. Until then I'll leave you with my own recipe and you can play around with them as you like!

The wonderful thing about these cuties is that they are simple enough to make a giant pan of them and use as a brunch side, but also classy enough to serve at a dinner. They also make a wonderful amuse bouche and are packed with flavor. The buttery richness, the salty feta, the bright, fresh taste of herbs and the earthiness of the pan seared mushrooms all come together and really make this a mini but memorable little appetizer.

Pan-Seared, Butter-Soaked Hasselback Champignons with Feta and Basil

Ingredients:

8 White Mushrooms, sliced hasselback

4 Tbsp butter

1.5-2 Ozs Crumbled Feta Cheese

1 Tsp Parsley, frozen or fresh, minced

Kosher salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Basil Pesto, fresh or store bought, for serving

Instructions:

1) In a medium sized cast-iron skillet, heat half the butter on medium. When foam begins to subside and butter is hot enough, add half the mushrooms cap side down. Season with salt and pepper. As they cook, tilt the pan to collect the warm butter and spoon it over the mushrooms. Make sure to toss the mushrooms around the pan and cook on all sides, about 10 minutes.

2) Transfer to a plate and stuff with the feta and parsley in between all the layers. Return to pan and place in the oven on 300 until feta warms and starts to melt, about 15 minutes. Alternatively, broil for about 2-3 minutes very carefully so as not to burn the small mushrooms. Serve each mushroom on or with a scoop of basil pesto.