Known as finishing butter, or beurre compos? in French, it's a compound butter that has been flavored by blending softened butter together with various ingredients. These can be savory or sweet, they're easy to make, they add a touch of elegance, and it's a simple way to go from "everyday" to gourmet!

The recipe for all flavored butters is basically the same: soften unsalted butter and blend in the flavor ingredients with an electric mixer, beating at medium speed until completely blended (1 to 2 minutes). Use only fresh herbs and fresh juices (lemon or lime, for instance). Let the butter stand for an hour in a cool place, covered, so the flavors can develop; then refrigerate to harden.

Before refrigerating, you can roll the butter into logs with wax paper (to be cut into small pats later on); press it into molds to create stars or other shapes; create balls with butter paddles; or simply press it into ramekins for individual servings.

Here are a few tips for preparing Finishing Butters:

• The butter must first be brought to room temperature and softened by beating it.
• The flavoring ingredients must be very finely chopped or pureed. If any extra liquid develops, it should be drained off thoroughly before mixing in the butter.
• For the flavor to better penetrate the butter, allow it to stand at cool room temperature for a few hours before refrigerating.
• Finishing butters may be stored in freezer, tightly wrapped. Use a sharp knife dipped in hot water for cutting the frozen butter.

A typical finishing butter we've all grown up with is honey butter. Way back when, Aunt Annie's proportions were 1 pound of butter to 3/4 cup of honey. She'd let the butter reach room temperature then slowly drizzle in the honey as she whipped. Today honey butter has gone glamorous with the additions of ingredients such as citrus zest, mashed fruit, spices, and flavorings (vanilla, maple, coconut, rum, etc.).

I tasted a finishing butter last week that had mild green chilis finely mashed and folded into it. This gave my baked potato a flavor zing unimaginable. I was so excited about this butter that I went online to find a recipe for it, and of course because my Cook'n v.11 allowed me to drag and drop this recipe from the site I was on into my newly created cookbook, Finishing Butters, I didn't have to print it up (like I used to in the past). AND, I was able to email this recipe to my sister because brilliant Cook'n makes it possible!

Oh, and at Costco yesterday garlic-dill butters, pesto butters, and rosemary butters were being sampled on small crackers, and they were all impressively delicious. The cool thing was, I didn't need to buy these because I knew I could find the same or similar recipes online, then drag and drop them into my Finishing Butters cookbook, and make them at home for a fraction of what they were selling for!

So whether we go sweet or savory, we're only limited by our imaginations. Give this a try and report back if you come up with a combination new and unique that you really like. The point is, though, something as simple as flavoring your butter can easily add a finished and gourmet touch to any meal, so why not?