Harissa & Preserved Lemon Butter

I’m a big believer that a steak is improved with the addition of a thick disc of flavoured butter, after serving. This one makes up in advance. Surprisingly the boy likes it – I guess a steak is robust enough to stand up to it.

A third of a pack of salted butter - about 8 tbsp

1 tbsp harissa

1 preserved lemon

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

There are recipes for harissa and preserved lemons on this blog. I have preserved lemons in the cupboard from the summer and as this only uses a little harissa, I’m using shop bought. As always I favour the Phare Du Cape Bon brand.

Cut the flesh away from the preserved lemon and discard it. Finely chop the skin.

Put the butter in a food processor to break it up a bit and add the lemon peel, harissa, garlic and parsley. Whizz it until it is basically all butter again.

Spoon it out onto a piece of greaseproof paper and roll it up into a sausage, twisting the ends. Chill in the fridge until you are ready for it.

When it goes on the steak, I like to sprinkle on just a few caraway seeds to accent the harissa - and besides, it looks pretty. 

The boy thinks this would be great over barbecued chicken. I can see he is looking wistfully at the frost covered garden – I fear it is many months before he will get to try it.