Anchovy Butter Recipe
There are not any hard and fast rules as such when it comes to setting up the menu for a bridal shower. The menu allows for flexibility and creativity so you could put in a lot of unconventional dishes on the list, prepared from whatever is available and whatever is knowledgeable to you. However, the trick is when it comes to appeasing every bridal shower guest and having at least one dish which fits the taste sensibilities of each guest.
If you have been to our page on egg and anchovy spread/ sandwich, you would already have a very good idea on how very important it is to include the egg and anchovy sandwich in some form or the other in your bridal shower menu, mainly for its health value, especially if the shower is a brunch or breakfast affair.
However, there are a lot of people who just do not like the taste of actual anchovy, or a mixture of anchovy with egg but happen to be huge fans of anchovy butter or spread (plain anchovy).
Anchovy butter tastes excellent on a number of items. Brown bread? Check. Submarine Buns? Check. Canapés? Check. Truly, anchovy butter make for the most perfect appetizers.
Anchovy spread recipe
The ingredients listed here are specified in quantities proportional to each other. So even if you do not have to follow the exact measure of ingredients as given below, make sure that your ingredients are in the same proportion as written here. It is just a case of multiplication really. If you are going for twelve anchovy fillets instead of six, then double the ounces of butter too to about four.
Likewise, if you are using fewer anchovies (those tinned anchovies do start to taste stale and strong after some time), then reduce the number of anchovies and with it the number of butter ounces to go along with it as well.
Without much further ado, here is the recipe for simple anchovy butter spread :-
Ingredients
- 6 anchovy fillets
- 2 ounces of butter
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt and black pepper
Procedure
For fluffy butter, first place your ounces in a mixing bowl. Start beating it about (carefully, do not waste and spill it about). You may use a potato masher to do the job.
Remove your anchovies from the tin and rinse them thoroughly.
You need to grind your anchovies into a paste next. Take your anchovies and grind them in the appropriate electrical mixer or your old mortar and pestle until you achieve a uniform paste.
Next, add your fluffy butter to the anchovy paste. Mix and rub them together in another mixing bowl, or you could use the same mixing bowl as the one where you mashed the butter previously.
The best kind of seasoning for anchovy spread happens to be cayenne pepper. After having added the butter to the anchovy paste, you may add in the cayenne pepper to the mixture as well. Stir well for the pepper to blend in well.
Anchovy butter dip for steaks
Instead of cayenne pepper, people also use salt and black pepper as condiments to season their anchovy butter or spread. The taste of the anchovy and black peppered butter is so strong that it blends in wonderfully with the thick juiciness of various steaks.
If you are not all that comfortable with a mortar and pestle or a mixing bowl, or if you are having a shortage of preparation time for your bridal shower, then in order to save time, all you have to do is place all of the above mentioned ingredients into an electrical mixer or blender and grind the mixture until uniformity is achieved in the dip with minimum or no lumps at all.
Serving your anchovy butter
Once you have made sure that you have attained smooth anchovy butter, you may sprinkle some lemon on it to enhance its tanginess.
Spread the anchovy butter or spread on different varieties of bread beforehand. Either that, or you also have the option of pouring it all in a dip bowl on your smorgasbord or sandwich board. Ultimately, it is all up to the way you are going about the presentation for your bridal shower menu courses.
See, there is nothing to be paranoid about when it comes to anchovy butter or spread. It takes a total of probably twenty minutes to prepare (a bit more depending on the quantity) and is a bit of a savior when it comes to guests who would not touch real anchovy fish with a ten foot pole (even if their life depended on it) but really enjoy the easy taste and appeal of anchovy butter. So go ahead and spare those extra twenty minutes of your bridal shower preparation schedule to make that extra anchovy dip. It will be well worth your time and effort!