`5 Suggestions to Eschew Butter for Olive Oil - Olive Oil Times
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5 Suggestions to Eschew Butter for Olive Oil

By Angela Bell
Aug. 27, 2012 10:42 UTC

When you first tried wine, as a neo­phyte, you prob­a­bly lim­ited your­self to a but­tery chardon­nay or the light fruity taste of a white zin­fan­del. Then with expe­ri­ence and oppor­tu­nity, your palate began to notice and favor dryer whites and per­haps even heav­ier reds.

The same is true of olive oil. With expe­ri­ence and oppor­tu­nity you will find what pleases your palate the most. When you do, don’t limit the use to the sauté pan, salad or your favorite pasta dish. Think instead of driz­zling over, rub­bing on or dip­ping into your favorite extra vir­gin olive oil — just as you might a melted stick of but­ter.

There are cer­tain foods that come to mind when we think of melted but­ter. They are foods that since child­hood, we would never con­sider eat­ing with­out it — foods such as pop­corn, lob­ster or morn­ing toast. Just as you now favor more com­plex wines with your go-to foods from your youth, you just might favor the more com­plex fla­vor of olive oil over but­ter. Here are five of my favorites. Butter or olive oil? You decide.

Popcorn
Whisk up some olive oil with sea salt, black pep­per and gar­lic gran­ules, driz­zle over and toss.

Lobster
Dip it into extra vir­gin olive oil fla­vored with cel­ery seed, sea salt and thyme. It’s like eat­ing the best part of a lob­ster roll — the lob­ster.

Corn on the cob
Brush the warm cob gen­er­ously with extra vir­gin olive oil and sprin­kle it with your favorite herbs and spices. Wrap it in foil and let it rest, allow­ing the oil to absorb all of the fla­vors.

Grilled cheese
Cover the bot­tom of a pan with olive oil and sprin­kle it with your favorite sea­son­ing. Heat the pan just until rip­ples form then sear each side of the sand­wich. Cover and cook until the crust is crunchy, golden brown and the cheese has melted.

Beurre blanc or but­ter sauce
Sweat minced shal­lots and reduce equal parts of white wine vine­gar and dry ver­mouth to desired thick­ness. Add sea­son­ings. Whisk in extra vir­gin olive oil and spoon the sauce over your favorite flaky white fish.

Which do you pre­fer — the expected banal fla­vor of but­ter or the unex­pected com­plex­ity of your favorite extra vir­gin olive oil?

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