Mixing It Up

After my foray into salts, I got to thinking.  What else can I mix up?  Sure, this line of food prep isn't very culinarily exciting but sometimes really great flavors come from really simple things.

My family was coming over for brunch one Sunday to see the new house.  I wasn't making anything really fancy (generally because nobody ever eats anything and when they do, they all of a sudden morph into New York Times food critics), but still I needed to feed them something.  I stuck with bagels, english muffins, fruit and a banana bread.  Not to forget coffee, and since it was my family, morning booze was a must.  Bring on the Bloody Marys and Mimosas!

Instead of just plain old butter and cream cheese I wanted to do a little something more.  Back in my working days, when I needed people to leave me alone so I could get work done, my go to breakfast was an onion bagel with bacon and scallion cream cheese.  (Worked like a charm, in case you're interested.)  Yes, it was smelly.  But even better - it tasted really good. 

While I didn't invite my family over to leave me alone, I still wanted to make this cream cheese.  It was really simple... an 8 oz. tub of plain whipped cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of minced chives (I opted for the herb over the scallion), and 2 T chopped bacon (like I did with the bacon salt, I opted for Hormel's real bacon bits... okay, I confess - I bought a giant bag of this at BJ's Wholesale Club on impulse and I'm looking for ways to use it).  Mix together, and chill for a couple of hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend. 

I'm proud to say it was a hit.  In fact, I don't think anyone touched the plain cream cheese.

I've lately been intrigued by compound butters, and have wanted to make some but haven't quite gotten around to it.  Usually when I see or hear of compound butters, it's generally for savory dishes.  I wanted to make something for breakfast, and remembered how much I love to sprinkle cinnamon sugar on my buttered toast or english muffin.  Why not eliminate a step and turn this into a compound butter?

So I took a stick of softened butter, 2 T light brown sugar and 1 t ground cinnamon and mixed them together.  Once fully incorporated, I put the butter in a ramekin and chilled in the fridge. 

Let me tell you, it was better than I ever imagined.  When that butter melted on the freshly toasted bagel or english muffin, I mean... words cannot describe.  (Well they probably can, but I need to be a much better writer.)  There was sugary cinnamon in every bite, with a slight toffee hit from the brown sugar, mixed in with delectable melted butter.  It was just oh. so. good. 

That butter is hard to resist, and so is the cream cheese.  The leftovers are mocking me every time I open the fridge.  But hey, breakfast happens once a day, so I suppose I can indulge for now.