Compound Butter

Mash 125 g of soft butter with whatever goes with the dish: chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest for steak; chives and shallot for fish; miso and scallion for corn; honey and cinnamon for bread. Season it with salt. Scrape it onto plastic wrap, roll it into a log and twist the ends. Chill or freeze it. A coin of it on a resting steak melts into an instant sauce. It keeps a week in the fridge and three months in the freezer, and you can slice off what you need.