Ingredients and Flavorings

• Always start with sweet, unsalted butter. Salted whipped butter can taste bitter when you add spices, herbs and other flavorings to it. Bring the unsalted butter to room temperature, but not warm enough to make it runny. Use only fresh herbs and fresh lemon or lime juice.

Mixing and Storing

• Herbs and other seasonings mix more evenly in tepid butter. Beat the seasonings into the butter with an electric mixer for a minute or two. Cover the butter and let the flavors marry in a cool place for about an hour. Before refrigerating, roll the butter into logs with waxed paper for easy cutting into tabs later or pack it into ramekins for easy spooning. When serving guests, press the butter into molds to make fancy shapes. Flavored butters can be refrigerated for a few days before serving or frozen for as long as three weeks. Double-wrap frozen butter in plastic wrap, as butter easily absorbs flavors of surrounding foods.

Traditional Butters

• French herb butter is the most conventional whipped butter used on restaurant steaks. It's flavored with white wine, shallots, garlic, parsley, thyme and, sometimes, a few small capers. A simpler version contains only lemon juice, parsley, salt, and pepper. Herb lovers may appreciate fresh basil, dill, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, or a combination of herbs. Add a few drops of lemon juice to make the herb flavors burst. A teaspoon of prepared horseradish or a few drops of Worcestershire sauce adds pizzazz to any of these combinations.

Uniquely Flavored Butters

• Once you get hooked on flavored butters, explore other flavor combinations. Add finely chopped dried porcini mushrooms and red wine to unsalted butter to enhance steaks with a mushroom topping. Give steak a spicy kick with a butter spiked with chipotle and lime juice. Butter mixed with cilantro, lime juice and cumin imparts a Mexican taste. Mixing butter with crisp bacon bits, bourbon, brown sugar and maple syrup creates a distinctively flavored steak.

Be Adventurous

• Flavored whipped butter enhances many other foods besides steak. Place it on grilled fish, pork or chicken fillets. Mix it into cooked rice; top roasted or steamed vegetables with a pat; or create the best baked potato you've ever tasted with a spoonful. You can even use it as a spread for warm bread or rolls. Butter always adds richness to a dish, and flavored butter adds even more taste and depth.