Blue Cheese Compound Butter

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. In a large bowl, mash the butter with a potato masher or just squish it up with your hands. You can even cream the butter using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer—but the goal is just to get the butter soft so you can incorporate the blue cheese.

3. Add the blue cheese and continue mashing, squishing, or mixing the butter until it is fully mixed.

4. Spread out a large (1-foot or larger) square of plastic wrap across your work surface, then scoop the mixed butter onto the plastic wrap. Roll the butter into a cylinder inside the plastic wrap.

5. Tie the excess plastic wrap at the ends of the cylinder into a knot, or just use little pieces of string to tie off the ends. You can even make a string out of a short section of plastic wrap and roll it into a little rope.

6. Chill or freeze the blue cheese butter until needed.

7. Serve the blue cheese butter in thick slices on top of a hot, freshly grilled steak or vegetables.

Freezing Compound Butter

To freeze the butter, it is best to additionally wrap it in aluminum foil as that will help prevent off-odors being picked up from other items in your freezer. Be sure to make a label for it saying "Blue Cheese Compound Butter" and the date. Aim to use your compound butter within two to three months.

There are other methods for freezing individual pats of compound butter. If the butter is warmed to about the consistency of glue, you can pipe it into rosettes and freeze those on a sheet lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Then place the frozen rosettes into a plastic bag for frozen storage. You can also freeze individual pats in an ice cube tray.

To use the frozen compound butter, unwrap one end of the butter and warm a knife blade. Use the warm blade to slice off a section equaling about a tablespoon.