We love some traditions…
And there are some traditions we all get through for the sake of family.
For me (Katie) that’s always been Thanksgiving.
I’m a lover of mashed potatoes but it’s joy is dashed by a dried out slice of turkey that no gravy can rescue so when I discovered my husband’s dislike for a whole roasted turkey, we made a decision to start a new decision with our family- steaksgiving. For years, we have ditched the bird and have delighted in different cuts of steak. We’ve had roast beef, prime rib, smoked tri-tip, new york strip sandwhiches sandwiches (we were traveling), tenderloin, and coming up next on the agenda- tomahawk steaks!
My favorite part about replacing the main protein, you still have all the nostalgia of thanksgiving sides- we make my mom’s holiday potatoes, green beans and, of course, have a lot of pie! We supplement all our dishes with lots of rolls and sourdough for sandwiches later and tended to run out of butter by the end of the night. We always needed more butter.
A quick-growing favorite addition to our Thanksgiving flex is our butter boards. They serve as an appetizer with crudites and can add complexity to your dinner plate for steak.
Want more of a balsamic glaze? Choose that butter.
What about roasted garlic? Great, we have that in butter, too!
Butterboards are your solution to steaksgiving, easy appetizers and a great conversation starter that’s not politics. If arguing is your thing, our family has even started a competition to rate presentation, flavor, and creativity. ;)
Here’s some of my favorite butter boards over the last year:
Start with an unsalted high-fat butter, such as Kerrygold, and sploot, smash, spread, carve it onto your serving platter. Layer on your toppings so a swipe of the crostini will get all the flavors in one bite.
Roasted Garlic:
Two heads roasted garlic, smashed
Zest of 1 lemon
1 T honey
3-4 T of the leftover herbs you have from cooking dinner
good flakey sea salt
Dried Fruit:
Zest of 1 lemon (catch on that all butter boards need citrus)
Dried tangerines, peaches, strawberries
2 Tbs crushed honeycomb
Course Sea Salt
‘Thanksgiving’
If you can’t kick the bird, this is going to be a great butterboard options for you!
⅛ tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tsp orange zest
1 T. fresh thyme leaves
2 T. fresh oregano
1 T honey
¼ cup fresh pomegranate seed or chopped craisins