Basic Breads & Breakfast Foods

• Bread and Toast: Add excitement to everyday breads, from plain toast, whole wheat and seven-grain bread and baguettes to bagels and rolls.
• Artisan Breads: Make luscious breads even more so by buttering up ciabatta, olive bread, walnut bread, semolina bread and other artisanal specialties.
• Scones and Muffins: Make them even more special with some delicate goat goodness.
• Eggs: Cook eggs in goat butter for added nuances of flavor.
• Cereal: Taste the delightful difference with a pat swirled into grits or other hot cereal.
• Pancakes and Waffles: Add a dab instead of cow’s milk butter. The subtle savory note is so interesting that we now prefer to eat our pancakes buttered, without syrup.

Sandwiches, Snacks & Cocktails

• Sandwiches: Transform simple sandwiches— add panache to tomato and watercress, grilled vegetables, Serrano or Parma ham (prosciutto), or smoked salmon.
• Popcorn: Make a batch of buttered popcorn more special with goat butter.
• Tea: Scones, muffins, tea sandwiches get a refreshing new point-of-view with goat butter.
• Canapés: Spread a round of bread with goat butter instead of mayonnaise, and add the topping of your choice—anything from roe or marinated vegetables to a thin slice of meat or seafood (scallop, smoked salmon, crab, lobster, shrimp, seared tuna).

Mains & Sides

• Soup: Serve the soup course with slices of baguette—fresh or toasted—buttered and drizzled with sea salt.
• Vegetables: Add a distinct difference to vegetables, rice and potatoes (a pat in a baked potato is sublime—snip on some fresh chives, too). And don’t forget corn on the cob.
• Filet Mignon or Steak: If you normally like a pat of butter on the top, go goat.
• Seafood: Try melted goat butter with lobster and crab legs for real flavor.
• Chicken: Tuck bits under the skin of chicken prior to roasting, along with fresh rosemary.
• Bread: Serve goat butter with the bread basket, of course!

On pancakes

For canapés


On sandwiches

On artisanal breads

Butter Tips

Whether cow, goat or other provenance, butter is one of the most delicate foods in the refrigerator: it easily picks up flavors and odors. You can do a lot to keep your butter fresh.

How should butter be stored?

• Contrary to what refrigerator designers lead us to believe, butter should not be left unwrapped in the butter tray on the refrigerator door. It should be kept in its original wrapper and container, and stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator, i.e. the meat and vegetable drawers at the bottom. (While extra butter can be stored there, this is not the most convenient solution for an item many people use frequently.)
• If you prefer to keep the open bar in the butter tray, wrap it tightly in the paper or foil it came in. We use an extra layer of plastic wrap. For the freshest flavor, we advise not stocking up, but buying butter more frequently.
• Do not store butter near foods with strong odors, such as onions or garlic. Further protect those bars that are not in immediate use by putting them in heavy-duty plastic storage bags and keeping them in their original cartons.
• Salt acts as a preservative: salted butter can be refrigerated for up to a month. Unsalted butter should be used within two weeks.
• Butter can be frozen for up to six months. To protect it from absorbing flavors and odors in the freezer, place the original carton in double plastic freezer bags.

Can salted and unsalted butter be used interchangeably?

The only difference between the two butters is that one has salt added and one does not: it’s a personal taste preference.

• Generally in savory dishes, you can use salted or unsalted butter interchangeably because salt is added to the recipe to taste. In sweet baked goods, salted butter should not be substituted because the sweet flavor of unsalted butter should shine through.
• When one or the other is specified in a recipe, it is because the recipe was developed with it and the amount of salt has been adjusted accordingly. If you enjoy the added salt in salted butter, you generally won’t notice the added amount of salt in the recipe.

What is the best way to soften butter?

Soften butter for baking by removing it from the refrigerator and letting it stand for 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature.

• To soften butter quickly, cut it into 1-inch chunks and allow it to soften at room temperature for about 15 minutes. If you need it even faster than that, place the chunks between sheets of wax paper and smash them with a rolling pin, flipping the wax paper so that you smash each side.
• While you can melt butter in the microwave for cooking, it is not recommended for baking: it alters the physical properties of the butter so it adheres differently to the flour, and won’t achieve the same texture.
• To soften butter in the microwave for non-baking purposes, select the defrost setting (30% power). Check sticks of butter every 5 seconds so that they do not over-soften or melt completely: the butter can quickly melt even when watched carefully.

If you want to keep butter softened for ease of use, you can keep it at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. The flavor and color may be affected, but it is safe to use. You can store butter in any covered dish, but many are made specifically for butter. We’ve included a selection of traditional butter dishes below but wanted to call out this hand-painted ceramic butter dish by Tracy Porter: in an Asian-inspired motif, a peacock sits atop a bamboo cage, protecting your butter. It’s functional art, and it’s just $33.00! Click here for more information.

MEYENBERG GOAT MILK BUTTER

Lightly Salted Butter

Certified Kosher (Dairy) by The Vaad Hakashrus of Denver

• 8-Ounce Package
  $7.00

Purchase online at Meyenberg.com

Available at Whole Foods Markets, Wild Oats and many other fine supermarkets and specialty retailers.

About Butter

• All About Butter: From Prehistory
  to Our History
• The Best Butters in America
• Butter Glossary
• D’Artagnan Truffle Butter
• Flavored Butter Recipes

About Goat’s Milk Products

• Bleating Comfort: Glorious Goat’s Milk
  Recipes
• Dairy Goat Breeds: Who’s Responsible
  For All That Great Cheese
• Redwood Hill Farm Goat Milk Yogurt
• The Gourmet Goat: Parlez-Vous Chèvre