cooking

If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you will know that Kerrygold butter is a big part of my cooking and baking (And spreading on crackers for a snack!). Farm fresh butter, sourced from Irish farms, and other Irish dairy products such as Kerrygold’s delicious cheeses taste the best to me. When we visit Ireland, we go through gallons of milk, dozens of cups of yogurt, and multiple bars of Kerrygold butter and cheese. For my husband, it tastes like home. For me, it tastes like some of the best dairy products I have ever had.

Luckily, Kerrygold products have become fairly plentiful on this side of the Atlantic, and I was delighted to receive samples of their new naturally softer and reduced fat butters to use in a special recipe contest they are hosting.

These new butters are for spreading and cooking, rather than baking, and before I could come up with spreadable ideas, I had to give both butters a try.

The naturally softer butter tastes just like the regular Kerrygold gold bar of butter, only softer and creamier, perfect for spreading on multi-grain bread or crackers. And I was absolutely amazed to discover how delicious the reduced fat butter is. I normally do not do reduced fat anything, and especially reduced fat butter, but this tasted and felt like the real deal. I would not have been able to tell the difference in a taste test, and I like to think I know my butter.  

And one thing I love to do with butter is to eat slivers of it, along with a sprinkle of salt, atop giant farmers market radishes. I have been known to make a dinner or lunch out of this, and I decided for my first use of the butter, I would make a radish butter with Kerrygold’s naturally softer version.

For this spread (which serves 2-3 as a spread for hearty bread) you will need:

2 large radishes, washed and cut into matchsticks

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons of Kerrygold naturally softer butter (I left it out for a bit to make it even softer for mixing purposes)

The spread is simple. Cut the radishes into “squares” by trimming off the rounded edges, then cut into even matchsticks.

Set the cut up radish in a small bowl and sprinkle with salt, tossing thoroughly. Leave the radish in the salt for about 20 minutes. This gets some of the moisture out so you are not mixing butter with a ton of water.

There’s no need to rinse the radish; simply drain it or use a slotted spoon to pull out the pieces, leaving the liquid to be thrown away.

In a clean bowl, use a fork to thoroughly blend salted radish and butter until a uniform consistency has been reached.

Spread on delicious bread like this sunflower oatmeal loaf or a crusty, hot baguette (or little crostini, for a party appetizer) and prepare to enjoy a salty, sweet, crunchy, and creamy spread.

My second use of the new Kerrygold butter was inspired by one of my all time favorite dishes to make, Whiskey and Brown Sugar Salmon. This spread could be used to top hot salmon filets, but it’s sweet and tangy flavors would also be perfect on a pound cake, bread pudding, or even on a slice of bread for a treat on a cold winter night. And it can be prepared a couple of ways, either by whipping up a buttery spread, as I do below, or melted together on low in a saucepan, making more of a glaze or sauce than a spread.

For a serving for four, I used the following:

4 tablespoons Kerrygold reduced fat butter

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons Jameson Irish Whiskey

(Chopped walnuts would make a fabulous optional addition!)

Again I let the butter sit out for a few minutes. It is, right off the bat, softer than bar butter, but I wanted to be able to really incorporate my ingredients.

By hand or using a small food processor, whip the butter, brown sugar, and whiskey until soft, creamy, and a consistent light brown color throughout. Transfer into a glass or other mold, chill, and cut into desired shapes before serving.

You might be wondering if the alcohol curdled the butter at all. It did not, but it did change the consistency a little. That’s why I recommend really chilling it again or heating it all up together in a pan to make more of a buttery whiskey caramel sauce. Either way, the flavors are out of this world, and it is one of the easiest ways to add something spectacular to the everyday.

Thanks to Kerrygold for inviting me to participate in this contest and for providing the butter for me to play with. I did receive the butter free of charge, but if you know my blog, you know it’s been full of Kerrygold long before I was ever in contact with the brand!

What are your favorite ways to use butter?