what you should know
Unsalted butter is always equally unsalted, but salted butter is never quite salted the same.
The NaCl uncertainty is the main reason we prefer to use unsalted butter when we cook. Often that salt can subdue the sweet flavor of butter. (Unsalted butter is often labeled as "sweet butter.")
salt conversion In most recipes, the little extra salt will go unnoticed. Still, as a general rule if a recipe calls for unsalted butter but all you've got is salted butter, cut 1/4 teaspoon of salt per stick of butter (1/2 cup) you use.
stick it up Salt acts as a preservative for butter. Tightly wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge, salted butter can last for five months, while unsalted butter lasts about three before going stale. (Spot stale butter by slicing into the stick; the outside will be darker than the inside.) Then again, many people don't store butter in the fridge to begin with.
cooking with butter Sometimes, when you want a nuttier flavor, you'll want to let the butter's foam subside. But butter has a low smoke point, so be careful using it as your cooking fat. It'll burn easily. Clarified butter, or ghee, has a higher smoke point (and also makes a tasty dipping sauce for crab, lobster and anything else).
roux-dimentary Butter forms the foundation for countless classic sauces and thickeners, including béchamel, beurre manié and roux.
what you need
Have you ever wanted to make fresh butter at home? This traditional butter churn is based on the famous Dazey churn from the early 20th century.
You can also make a small batch of butter by putting cream in a jar and shaking it for a long, long time until you've shaken it solid.
The water-cooled crock owners we know swear by the constant supply of creamy, spreadable butter they keep on their tables.
Other butter lovers who shun the refrigerator prefer the classic rectangular butter dish.
what you do
Sage and butter are absolutely delicious together. How delicious? Try this rich and pillowy tortellini with sage brown butter and parmesan to find out.
Steamy Kitchen likes to top her slow butter- braised asparagus with parmesan and sea salt. With that savory finale, you definitely don't need salted butter.
Drizzling roasted sweet potatoes with cilantro-lime butter gives them a burst of tart richness.
Salted butter might interfere with the complex sugar-spice interaction in these orange-scented popovers with cinnamon-orange honey.
These better-for-you whole-grain flapjacks from hogwash are made with quinoa, millet and flaxseed. After using butter to grease the pan, you can afford to use a little extra on the cakes themselves.
Coconut & Lime's worked out one of the fastest and tastiest cinnamon bun recipes out there.
Cake flour is flour made from the softest part of the wheat kernel. It contains less protein than other types of flour and is finely ground and bleached. This increases its ability to absorb water and disperse fat and air, making it ideal for cakes, cookies and other baked treats that benefit from a light texture.
If you don't have cake flour, you can substitute 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour for each cup of cake flour required, or 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Related Articles: What's the point of sifting flour?
Lemon zest adds a bright spark to a dish. There are lots of tools for zesting a lemon -- zester, a knife -- but it's hard to go wrong with a fine grater (such as the popular Microplane version), which makes a beautiful light zest that melds into a dish and gives great flavor.
To zest with the Microplane, just rub the lemon in one direction against the little blades. Turn the lemon as you go so you remove only the yellow part -- the zest. You don't want the white pith just beneath -- it's bitter.
If you use a traditional zester, which makes long, thin strands of zest, or a knife, be sure to finely chop the strands with a knife. The finer shrivels of zest will permeate the dish better than the strands.
To get the most flavor out of lemon zest, add it toward the end of cooking.
Recipe: Agnolotti With Eggplant, Tomatoes And Garlic (Cookthink)
Recipe: Broccoli With Fettuccine, Lemon Zest And Parmesan (Cookthink)
Recipe: Cremini Mushroom Risotto With Lemon Zest (Cookthink)
Reference: What is a Meyer lemon? (Cookthink)
