Foto: Mette Randem

I “invented” this so-called compound butter, the name inspired by a Frank Zappa “rap” about (among other things) intellectuals in New York, the high-yield found only in Chicago, Tommy Mars´ neck and of course “those big ole ugly cotton jobs”.

Voodoo is great with the pasta, but my favorite is a couple of heaping tablespoons of the butter and 1 pound of fresh mussels. Melt the butter in a pan over high heat. Throw in the mussels, put on the lid until the shells have opened. The butter melts and is blended with the juice from the mussels, and the resulting sauce is just great.

I also love serving Voodoo Butter with grilled fish and chicken. Another use of this rad butter is grilled vegetables: asparagus, peppers, onions or squash.

Voodoo Butter

8 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature
2-3 canned chipotle chiles, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
grated rind from 1 orange
juice from 1/2 orange
salt to taste

1. Blend together the butter, chipotles, garlic, brown sugar, pepper, orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Mix well with an electric mixer.
2. Lay the butter on a piece of plastic wrap and form into a thick sausage.
3. Roll up the the “butter sausage” in the plastic and place in freezer til ready to use.

 

and for those delicious Norwegian mussels:

Voodoosmør

1/2 kg romtemperert usaltet smør

2-3 hermetiske chipotle-chili, finhakkede

4 hvitløkfedd, skrelte og finhakkede

1 ss brunt sukker

1/2 ts kvernet sort pepper

revet skall av 1 appelsin

presset saft fra 1/2 appelsin

salt

1. Bland sammen smør, chipotle-chili, hvitløk, brunt sukker, appelsinskall og appelsinsaft i en bolle. Smak til med litt salt.
2. Lag smøret til en pølse (ca 4 cm tykk) og pakk den i plastfolie.