butter Archives - A Calculated Whisk

How to Make Ghee in an Instant Pot (or on the stove!)

January 12, 2018 By Becky 19 Comments

It’s so easy and quick to make ghee in an Instant Pot (or on the stove), and it’s much more delicious than store-bought! Use your homemade ghee anywhere you’d use butter for more flavor and less lactose.

I’ve been making my own ghee at home for several years now, and it may be my favorite food in the entire world (apologies to macaroni and cheese, my childhood favorite).

If you’re not familiar with ghee, it’s basically clarified butter taken one delicious step further. When you cook butter and strain out the browned milk solids, the end result is a healthy, lactose-free fat that lasts almost forever and won’t burn at high temperatures the way butter does.

Crispy Honey Butter Salmon + How to Get Crispy Salmon Skin

February 13, 2017 By Becky 36 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Crispy honey butter salmon is a snap to make in half an hour with just five ingredients, but its flavor and texture make it worthy of a special occasion.

For the first 25 years of my life, I avoided salmon. It seemed too fishy, and its pink color always made it look suspiciously raw.

Then I started writing Paleo Planet, and my editor gently informed me that I would need to have at least one, if not two or three, salmon recipes in the book. I got cooking, and before long I discovered that crispy salmon skin is the BEST THING EVER.

Since crispy-skinned salmon is so good all on its own, I’ve started letting it shine with this super simple crispy honey butter salmon recipe. Basically we’re searing the salmon to get the skin nice and crunchy, and then topping it with a little butter and honey. The honey and butter melt onto the fish and create a rich, slightly sweet sauce that tastes like so much more than just the sum of its parts.

Ben and I are moving this week and we’re exhausted (see our super cute new digs here!), so I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. Below you’ll find my five best tips for making sure your salmon skin is truly crispy. If you’re still looking for something special to cook for Valentine’s Day, why not give this crispy honey butter salmon a try? And by the way, it’s fabulous with Instant Pot mashed potatoes.

Ribeye Steak with Chimichurri Butter + FREE Grass-fed Ribeyes

August 8, 2016 By Becky 8 Comments

Grassfed ribeye steak with chimichurri butter is the perfect easy summer dinner to throw on the grill. Thank you so much to ButcherBox for supplying the grassfed steaks for this recipe!

If you’re on a summer oven-free streak like me, I have just the meal for you: grilled ribeye steaks, sweet corn, and summer squash, all slathered with a delectable chimichurri butter. This meal is super quick and easy to put together, and if you don’t like or have corn or squash it’s easy to sub in other summer veggies. The chimichurri butter is a creamier version of the world’s best steak condiment, featuring fresh parsley, garlic, oregano, and just a hint of a vinegary tang. You’ll want to melt a pat of it on everything savory that comes off your grill for the rest of summer.

Oh, and the best part? You can get the grass-fed ribeye steaks for this meal for free!

The delicious grass-fed ribeyes pictured here are from ButcherBox, a company that searches high and low for the best grass-fed, grass-finished beef, heritage pork, and organic chicken, and delivers it all right to your door in a convenient subscription box. You can choose between an all-beef, beef and chicken, beef and pork, or all three box, and each one contains 7-10 pounds of meat, or enough for up to 20 individual meals.

Curry Butter Shrimp

August 19, 2015 By Becky 34 Comments

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Curry Butter Shrimp | acalculatedwhisk.com

An easy and flavorful meal made from pantry staples, curry butter shrimp

takes ten minutes to make and is gluten-free and paleo-friendly.

I’ve kind of been boycotting grocery stores. Weekend before last I went to Florida for a wedding, and since getting back I have not set foot in one. I finished up my last week of my last internship for graduate school this past Friday, we’re getting ready to move down to Chattanooga this coming weekend, and I’m exhausted. Ben has been kind enough to pick up essentials like coffee, eggs, fruit, and bacon for us, but the eggs ran out yesterday.

What’s a girl to do without any eggs for breakfast and with a long day of packing ahead of her? The answer is definitely not grocery shopping. The answer is curry butter shrimp! Yes, I ate this at ten in the morning. No, I have no regrets. #dinnerforbreakfast may not be mainstream yet, but just you wait and see!

I didn’t do a 30 Minute Mondays post yesterday because I wanted to announce my cookbook (Paleo Planet is available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and indie bookstores near you!). This is even better, though, because this is like 10 Minute Wednesday–not as alliterative, but much faster. Not counting the rice or cauliflower rice, this meal comes together in just ten minutes. (And, true confession, I didn’t even make this rice. It’s left over from the Indian food we ordered last night.)

Curry butter shrimp is a flavorful pantry recipe that requires almost no chopping (except for the cilantro–but if you’re really anti-chop you could just break that up into little sprigs). Melted butter or ghee is mixed with Thai curry paste to form a fragrant sauce for cooking the shrimp. A tiny bit of maple syrup and fish sauce add just enough sweetness and umami to complement the rich butter and spicy curry.

Brown Butter Cacao Nib Skillet Cake

July 27, 2015 By Becky 38 Comments

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Brown Butter Cacao Nib Skillet Cake (Gluten free, Grain free) | acalculatedwhisk.com

It cooled down just enough in Boston this weekend for me to feel good about cranking up the oven and baking a cake. And boy, was I glad I did! This grain-free skillet cake is so easy to whip up, looks and smells like a giant cookie, but boasts a unique and sophisticated flavor thanks to the browned butter and cacao nibs. I highly recommend making it today–it’s perfect for dessert or simply as a snack cake!

This recipe is adapted from Selma’s Table, my assigned blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club reveal day. I had a hard time choosing a recipe because Selma has so many tantalizing options. I almost bought anchovies for the first time because this walnut, herb, and anchovy sauce sounded so delicious (I wanted to pair it with some zoodles!). This Italian version of shepherd’s pie looks fabulous, too. Also, what sounds better than black summer truffle pesto roast chicken?

Basil Lime Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

July 24, 2015 By Becky 4 Comments

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Basil Lime Chicken with Roasted Vegetables | acalculatedwhisk.com

Happy Friday! Are you ready to slather your dinner in an irresistible basil lime compound butter?

I love this meal because it’s simple and flavorful. The basil lime butter makes the chicken and vegetables more delicious without making them taste any less like themselves. Instead of obscuring the flavors of the main ingredients like heavy sauces sometimes do, it just kisses them with a little herbal, citrusy richness that still lets their natural essence come through.

For the roasted vegetables, you can use whatever you have on hand. I used beets, carrots, summer squash, and onions. They need different amounts of time to roast, so I added the beets to the baking sheet first, then the carrots, and finally the squash and onions. If you want to sub in other vegetables and aren’t sure how long they need to roast, check out this handy chart.

Vanilla Chai Spiced Ghee + Chai Ghee “Latte” (Whole30 Day 26)

January 27, 2014 By Becky 8 Comments

I am so obsessed with ghee. Ever since I followed Nom Nom Paleo’s instructions and made my first batch, it’s been a staple in my kitchen. First of all, it smells amazing. Second, it’s easy to make. Third, it has a high smoke point, which means it won’t burn like butter does during high-heat cooking. Fourth, it tastes great with everything. And bonus–it’s lactose and casein free.

I’ve even been putting a teaspoon or so of ghee and coconut oil in my morning coffee (inspired by Stupid Easy Paleo). After a short blitz with the immersion blender, it’s foamy like a latte. Delicious. Basically, ghee is saving my Whole30 life.

Make Your Own Butter (plus Maple Spice Compound Butter)

October 12, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

When I was in kindergarten, my teacher brought in cream and we all made butter together. I loved it, and butter-making became a Thanksgiving tradition for me–every year I make my own butter and use a cookie cutter to make it into a turkey shape. I’ve also made butter with my own students and their families several times, and I’m always surprised at how many parents don’t know that you can easily make your own butter at home with just a jar and some heavy cream.

There is a bit of work involved, since you need to shake the jar like crazy for a while. It’s easy with a group because you can pass the jar to the next person if you get tired, but I can still get from cream to butter in 15 minutes or less when I’m the only one shaking.

Of course, there is an easier method: pour the cream into a big bowl and beat it with an electric mixer. However, there’s something really nice about doing it the old-fashioned way.