SAVORY WHISKEY BUTTER WITH SHALLOTS AND KOSHER SALT

ANYONE WHO KNOWS ME KNOWS I LIKE THINGS SIMPLE. Although I’ve enjoyed my world travels—beginning with my tours as an Irish step dancer as a youth and continuing with my culinary training—and have a deep appreciation for innovative cuisine, at heart I really am a meat-and-potatoes man. Give me a fresh, grass-fed beef steak, cooked perfectly, with a fragrant, crispy-jacketed baked potato on the side and I’m on cloud nine. Top my tender steak with a dollop of this seasoned Irish butter redolent of earthy onion and tangy mustard, and I’m sent straight to heaven.

Of course it’s fun to thrill guests at my table with surprising and exotic dishes I learn from the blue-ribbon chefs around the world whom I’m privileged to call my friends, but it’s been my experience that when handed a glass of stout and sat before an Irish steak dinner after stepping out of the chill night, my guests look at me as if I’ve shown them the Holy Grail.

MAKES ABOUT

½ CUP / 125 GRAMS WHISKEY BUTTER

2 small shallots, minced

2 tablespoons Irish whiskey

8 tablespoons (1 stick) / 113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

In a small bowl, combine the shallots and whiskey and let stand for up to 4 hours.

In a medium bowl, beat the butter until it’s creamy and smooth. Beat in the shallot mixture, mustard, Worcestershire, and parsley, stirring lightly just until the ingredients are mixed.

Pack into a small bowl or ramekin, cover loosely, and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. (If you refrigerate, the ingredients will separate.)