The Sweet Marriage of Butter-and-Olive Oil

I recently had occasion to consult a dietician…consequence of discovering I have what is delicately termed “Old Kidneys.” Try to avoid getting them.

She gave me some useful notions. The first: “Sylvia, READ THE LABEL…”

When she said that to me on the phone, Mrs. Gracious did not respond icily, “My dear young woman, I’ve been buying, writing about, and preparing food since 1956…”

But when I put down the phone and pulled out our bottle of oat milk just out of curiosity, Lawksa’mercy! I was horrified to read it contained:

Dipotassium Phosphate,

Calcium Carbonate,

Tricalcium Phosphate.

I looked them up. Do not want to ingest them. I had been trusting. No. Stupid. Since our cardiologist advised us to limit dairy products, I’ve bought oat milk for cereal and coffee. But hadn’t read the label…Mrs. Know-It-All was heading for a fall…

Upset with myself, happily at the market I discovered a new product, organic almond milk that declares on the label, “Only 3 Ingredients: Water, Almonds, Sea Salt.”  Pure and delicious.

The second pointer the nutritionist gave me was another new product: butter blended with olive oil. Great idea! Since the pandemic I’ve bought an “olive oil buttery spread” assuming it was healthy. Now at last I took a moment to discover that the first ingredient was palm fruit (a crop responsible for severe deforestation)…and olive was the fifth oil down the list. Stupid me twice.

That afternoon at Safeway I found Challenge Spreadable Butter with Olive Oil, Sea Salted…also Land O Lakes Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt. I’ve tried them but my favorite is Kerrygold Irish Butter with Olive Oil. I love the thought it comes from grass-fed Irish cows. It’s not just the image of Irish Bossies grazing…I read that cream from grass-fed cows (as opposed to grain-fed) is more nutritious.

These butter/oil blends are not just free of chemicals, their flavor is rich and pure, their texture creamy, and they’re longkeeping. Nutritionally, tablespoon for tablespoon*, calorie count is the same as pure butter…saturated fat is a bit less (5 gms vs 7.3 gms), and cholesterol is half (15 mg. vs 30.5).

But hey! Why not blend your own with cream from local cows and your favorite extra virgin olive oil? It’s quick and easy:

Begin with equal measures** of extra virgin olive oil and unsalted*** butter at room temperature. Place the butter in a medium bowl, beat with your good old electric hand mixer until creamy, then drizzle in the olive oil. When completely blended, finish with a sprinkling of coarse salt to taste—Maldon salt flakes if you can…they add a pleasing moment of discovery and keep the cream from spoiling.

I smooth the pale gold into my butter crock and keep it on my kitchen worktable… it lasts at least one week.

By the way, I also smooth the store-bought blend into my butter crock. As with all such products, the butter comes in a plastic tub. I’ve become painfully aware how much plastic has seeped into my bod’…so when I come home from the market, every foodstuff packed in plastic gets repacked in glass before it goes into the fridge.

Something else…I find the presence of an old-fashioned butter crock comforting in our AI day and age…ain’t’ nothing artificial about it.

So much to think about. So many options to consider. I’m just grateful to have our What does Bill spread on his toast before the peanut butter? issue deliciously healthily resolved.

*Numbers are for the Kerrygold product.
**I’ve found a recipe on the Net for Olive Oil Butter. It’s excellent except the ratio is twice the butter to olive oil–which defeats the health benefits of the olive oil.
***Of course you can use salted butter, but I’ve come to regard sweet butter as a finer product.