Homemade Cornbread with Compound Butter

Instead of serving a basket of bread with our dinner party, we wanted to stick to the "American Theme" and I felt that a cornbread would be a perfect substitution.

Cornbread
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of cornmeal
¼ cup of sugar
1 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of fresh cracked pepper
1 egg-beaten
1 cup of milk
½ cup of melted butter

Procedure
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place first six dry ingredients into a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk egg, milk and butter, add to dry ingredients and mix gently. Place into a greased 8X8 pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a rack for ten minutes then slice and place in a basket lined with a linen napkin. Serve with the compound butter.

Compound Butter (Serve with Cornbread)
Ingredients
2 sticks of unsalted sweet butter-at room temperature
1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of chopped chives
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of paprika
½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper
5 dashes of hot pepper sauce (Tabasco, Crystal or Franks)

Procedure
Place all ingredients into a kitchen aid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix thoroughly until incorporated and fluffy, about three minutes. Place a sheet of saran wrap on your counter, approximately 15 inches in length. Spoon the butter onto the saran wrap about 10 inches in length and about 1 ½ " wide. Then roll the saran to form a "tube". Twist the ends to remove any air and make sure that it is very tight. Place in the refrigerator to harden. You can place it in the freezer if you need it to set quickly. When the butter has hardened, remove the saran wrap and slice ½ " in round pieces for each of your guests. The compound butter can be placed on a decorative serving dish to be passed or placed on each of your guests' bread and butter plate. The spicy flavor of the butter is a perfect match with the sweet cornbread. *Notes: This compound butter is fantastic on steaks, chicken, grilled fish or shellfish. Remember to be creative with your ingredients. You can add blue cheese, which would be great on grilled steak, or you could add sun-dried tomatoes, olives and goat cheese and it would go great with a Mediterranean lamb.