It Really Is Better With Butter

For those of you who read these updates frequently, I apologize for the "slack" in this week's production schedule. The end of the first Module is near and exams are looming closer and closer!

However, last night in class, we made Chicken with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Let me tell you... It Didn't Suck. (Email me for the recipe) The starting ingredient to saute the chicken... butter... for the Broccoli Almondine... butter... for the Mac and cheese... butter. The starting ingredient is always butter. Julia Child would agree that the First Commandment should be "USE BUTTER". Julia Child LIVED by butter. God I loved that woman. What is it about butter that is just, well, like "buttah"?

When I was growing up, my Mother tried to be healthy by using margarine. Our morning toast was spread with what is now known to be made from, among other things, plastic. Of course, my mother referred to it as butter. My Grandfather gave me my first taste of real butter on a bagel when I was five. (He also served me a cup of coffee to go with it. He reasoned that his having loaded it up with milk and sugar made it safe for a five year old. Reader Beware : This is the recipe to make an already annoying and talkative five year old even more annoying.) There were two life altering lessons I learned that morning; 1. Butter should be in a stick form, not a plastic tub 2. Butter is proof that God exists.

That first bite of real butter was the beginning of a love affair. A simple toasted onion bagel was now transformed into something sensuous. A piece of toasted raisin bread with butter... sinful. And really, are there correct words to describe the beauty of a well toasted English Muffin with it's nooks and crannies thoughtfully holding mini pools of melted butter. I'm "farklemt" just at the thought.

I have to eat a warm baguette with butter privately due to the face I make when chewing. Jack says it looks like I'm either going to cry, or, um, well, you get the idea. Truthfully, when it's really warm and the butter is just melting, I'm close to doing both. ;-)

Don't even get me started on clarified butter. I'm not sure who the genius was that created it, but a monument should be erected for such an achievement. When I hear clarified butter, the first thing I think of is lobster. Sweet and succulent morsels of white and red meat dipped in warm, clarified butter. Farklemt again. (I'm a bad Jew. Not only do I love the pig, but lobster dripping with butter. My dear friend Pam takes the meat from the tiny legs and places them in the clarified butter while enjoying the rest of her lobster. When she's done with the rest, there's a little pile of the most sweet, buttery bits you could ever imagine. It's amazing. However, don't try and touch hers, she'll stab you in the eye for it. Crap. Now I want lobster.)

So, when making cookies, use butter. When making eggs, use butter. When looking for something to put on the outside of a roasting turkey, use butter. (Better yet, for this use Truffle Butter) When it seems like something is missing... USE BUTTER. Julia was no fool. If you're not going to use butter, don't bother.