Nothing lifts the humble piece of steak or fish as quickly and easily as a compound butter.

So what is compound butter? Basically, it is flavoured butter. Using salted or unsalted butter, mix in a selection of your favourite herbs or other ingredients.

Some simple combinations include:

• garlic, lemon and parsley
• parsley with tarragon, chervil or dill
• wholegrain mustard, lemon and chives
• capers and lemon

The combinations are endless but one of our favourites for beef is basil butter…mmmm, so good!

What you’ll need:
125g softened butter
1 tbs Dijon mustard
½ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs green peppercorns, crushed (optional)

In a bowl mash the softened butter a few times with the back of a fork. Combine the mustard, basil and garlic with the butter and mix until well combined.

Roll the butter mixture into a log shape in some foil and refrigerate to set. When you serve your steaks simply slice off some butter, smear it on the steak and watch it melt into a delicious sauce.

Another way we use compound butter is to refrigerate only half the butter and use the other half to rub into a piece of eye fillet, which is then baked in the oven – divine! When the eye fillet is cooked to your liking serve it with the other half of the butter on the side, so you can add additional flavour if you want it.

Recently that was a quick dish grandly called Garlic Chicken Majestic. Grand it may sound, majestic it is in taste, but it is simple comfort food at its best.

I have no idea where the recipe came from, and it sounds like a strange combination, but it is absolutely delicious and very quick to prepare.

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
20g butter
1 tsp oil
1 tbs soy sauce (or tamari)
1-2 tbs curry powder
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp plain flour (optional)
1 cup cream

Heat butter and oil in a saute pan. Cook chicken over medium heat until cooked through and golden. Remove from the pan and cover with foil to rest.

Reduce heat to low and saute the garlic. Add curry powder and soy sauce, and stir into a paste. Add cream (and plain flour if desired) and heat gently till the sauce starts to thicken.

Return chicken and juices to the pan and heat through. Serve chicken on a bed of rice with your choice of steamed greens.