Beke's Garlic Butter Spread

This guy is at his weekly Homeschool Interaction Program at the Y.

This is a picture he took himself. This must be his "gangsta rappa" look.  Problem is that this particular "gangsta rappa" looks like he has a little mustard on his mouth left over from lunch.

Meanwhile I am "interacting" with electronic media. It is always nice to have a few moments for myself on Thursdays, but I miss him when he's gone. It's a good miss.

Instead of napping (which was probably what I should have done), I whipped up a little Garlic Butter Spread for supper tonight. I plan on fixing something else with it, but I have to say that this stuff is good enough to stand up all by itself. The garlic alone might make your nose hairs come to life.

I have been making this particular spread for years. I don't make it very often...it's not necessarily on my diet. But it's a nice little treat from time to time. Plus, it is wonderful to make when you are having company. People who ooww and awww. In a good way. And that's always what we are going for.

The great thing about this garlic butter is that you can pretty much use a variety of ingredients to make it...as long as you have the basics down. I always use Parmesan cheese (just the kind from the shaker...no need to get fancy), lemon juice and of course, margarine or butter. I will say that butter is my obvious favorite, but butter is also on the list of "once in a great while" purchases right now. I don't eat enough of the margarine to worry too much about. The star of the show is obviously Garlic...more on that in just a minute.

What kind of butter or margarine you use will determine any kind of salt you might use. I am using some sort of margarine that is supposed to be a little better for you, but it doesn't need any extra salt. The other spices I am using are black pepper, Italian seasoning and paprika.... Dill is another favorite of mine and I love using fresh herbs from the garden in the summer.

Don't be afraid of the fresh garlic! It has more uses than keeping away all of your vampire friends. You may use garlic salt if you must, but then it's not going to be "Beke's Garlic Butter Spread." It will be "(fill in the blank) Garlic Butter Spread." I pressed 2 cloves through my Pampered Chef Garlic Press.  Don't you like my fancy dancy mixing bowl? It's actually a plastic Frosted Flakes cereal bowl. It was clean.

Add about 1 cup of butter. If you are using stick butter or margarine you need to soften it before you use it. If you are making alot use a food processor to whip everything together. I'm just making a little bit (some for tonight and more for later). I then add about 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and then a few dashes of lemon juice. You can add more lemon juice later. In my humble opinion the lemon juice makes it extra special...it makes it a little different (in a good way) from other Garlic Butter Spread recipes.

Mix in the spices. I used about 1 tsp. of Italian Seasoning and then 1/4 tsp. of pepper and 1/4 tsp. of paprika. We like a little extra bite at our house, but I refrained from using too much pepper. I occasionally use a little bit of crushed red pepper as well.

Do a little taste test. If you think it needs salt add some. I added just a little bit more lemon juice. I like a little tang. Put your butter in a container with a lid and refrigerate. All of those flavors will meld wonderfully together. You can even freeze it or use butter molds to make it extra fancy.

Here is the Recipe:

1 cup of butter

1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese

a few dashes of lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 tsp. of Italian Seasoning

1/4 tsp. of black pepper

1/4 tsp. of paprika

Mix all together and refrigerate. Serve on bread, steak, potatoes, noodles, broccoli....You get the idea.

Enjoy!

Rebekah