Easy, tasty way to increase fat: herb butters

[synger]

An easy way to increase your fat is with herbed butters. They're really easy to make, and you can vary the flavors depending on what you like. Use cardboard tubes to make a "butter log", and then it's easy to just cut off a slice when you need it. One stick of butter will fill a toilet-paper roll. I use two sticks, which I use with a paper towel roll.

My favorite herbed butter:

2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons rosemary, crushed
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon shallot powder
salt and white pepper to taste

one empty paper towel roll
aluminum foil

Soften the butter. Mince the garlic (I mash it with the blade of my knife with some of the salt so it is more crushed than minced). Mix garlic and herbs in a medium bowl. Add softened butter and mix thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Cut a slit down the cardboard towel roll, then cut about a third of the roll off the length of the roll, leaving you with a half-pipe of cardboard. You need enough left to keep the firm structure of the tube, but enough removed along the length so you can easily put the softened butter into it. Put a piece of aluminum foil to line the tube, with the edges hanging over (enough to wrap the butter log when finished).

Starting at the middle, put herbed butter into the foil-lined cardboard tube. It should fill the tube to about 1 inch from the end of the tube. I flatten the top of the butter log (so it will stand better when it's hard). Fold the aluminum foil up on the ends and over the top. Put filled tube in the refrigerator.

When you serve meat or vegetables or eggs, cut off a slice of herbed butter and use it to top your food. Or use a pat of herbed butter to cook your food in.

You can easily make other versions: curry butter, anchovy/tomato butter, chili/garlic butter, buffalo butter, even bacon butter!