Chef Butter Makes Everything Taste Even Better

Chef Butter started when Jane Hayes, founder and president of Monterey Farms, maker of the popular fresh artichoke hearts line called ArtiHearts, got a bit bored during the pandemic. 

The longtime chef-turned entrepreneur—whose past experiences include The Lodge at Pebble Beach and the former Old Bath House and Brass Rail Bar and Grill—had been toying with the idea of compound butters. So she tapped her longtime friend and fellow chef Janet Melac, who runs the development lab at Monterey Farms, to make the dream a reality. 

Melac is a natural culinary chemist, graduating first in her class from the Cordon Bleu in Paris, after which she opened and ran two award-winning fine dining restaurants in Pacific Grove, among them the French-focused Melac on Lighthouse Ave. “It’s a hard life, and a young person’s profession!” says Melac.  “I was lucky to get out in my late 30s!” 

In fact, her son now runs the front of the house at Mezzaluna, having grown up at Melac. Happily, she found the perfect job working with her friend Jane at Monterey Farms as Research and Development Chef and Quality Assurance Manager. 

When Hayes approached her with the butter idea, Melac says she had a field day coming up with all manner of unique flavor combinations. 

“During Covid we were sitting at home,” says Melac. “I was having a glass of wine and Jane called and asked, ‘What can we do with this old idea that I’ve had for years?’ She said the words ‘compound butter,’ and it was off to the races! This is totally up my alley!! It’s totally French and so classic. I immediately made 30 to 40 different kinds!”

They did eventually settle on six flavors of Chef Butter for the launch:

Basil Garlic: Intense with fresh basil and garlic, sea salt and cracked red and black pepper. Use with: chicken, shrimp scampi, roasted tomatoes over Ad Astra bread, grilled cheese with tomato, baked potato.

Cabernet Porcini: Bold, peppery and earthy cabernet reduction with a smooth finish. Use with: steak, baked potato, risotto, baked beans, grilled artichokes.

French Herb: Classic French herbs for a refined and elegant taste. Use with: omelettes, sole, green beans, roasted carrots, kale, spinach.

Serrano Lime: Spicy and robust with roasted chilies and garlic, fresh lime and cilantro. Use with: quesadillas, rice, enchiladas, scrambled eggs, chicken wings, grilled prawns, pinto beans.

Roasted Shallot: Rich roasted shallots and garlic with fresh thyme and Chardonnay reduction. Use with: risotto, turnips, chicken, pork, winter squash, lima beans, roasted cauliflower.

Shiitake Ginger: Unique blend of grilled shiitake and ginger with umami goodness. Use with: grains, Asian greens, scallops, roasted butternut squash, chicken and rice.

As you might imagine, Melac is busily perfecting a second round of flavors, including spicy Thai, blueberry and Meyer lemon, caramelized apple, lemon dill, orange cardamom and pineapple ginger, as this idea is one that really works for a multitude of applications. The next set of butters will be especially created to go on bagels and toast. 

All the ingredients are 100% fresh, with the exception of the porcini powder that goes into the Cabernet-porcini butter that Melac says is fantastic on steak. The butter comes not from the local dairy cows that feast on the artichoke ruffage from their ArtiHearts operation (you can see that story here: ArtiHearts ), but from Darigold in Washington state. “The butter needs to be very low moisture for our purposes,” explains Melac. “The compounds add moisture.”

Melac says she uses Chef Butter every night and is constantly coming up with new combinations. You can follow Monterey Farms on Instagram and see what she’s cooking for dinner. Try the Chef Butters on all your favorite veggies and in scrambled eggs, and if you are used to cooking with olive oil, just add a bit of the butters to the oil. They also help create amazing Bernaise sauces.

If you’ve got lots of cherry tomatoes still, especially Sweet 100s, she suggests pan searing halibut, and then put the tomatoes in the pan with the French Herb and Serrano Lime butters for a great sauce. Instapot users might want to try chicken rice with shitake ginger, using chicken thighs.

Among the happy customers are The Sardine Factory, that orders the French Herb compound butter “by the ton!!”  Caterers like Roaming Feast, plus Corral de Tierra and The Pebble Beach company, are all big fans. Melac says these butters make a chef or caterer’s life so easy: just put on top and you are done. 

Star Market carries all six flavors in their butter fridge, as does Grove Market in Pacific Grove and Deluxe Foods in Aptos. You can also find it at Jerome’s Carmel Valley Market and at Bruno’s in Carmel, where they are in the butter fridge and there is also a display at the meat counter to drive people to find them in the butter fridge.  

Chef Butter will soon be available in Northern California Whole Foods, plus New Leaf and New Seasons in WA, with three flavors: Cab Porcini, Roasted Shallot and French Herb. 

Melac says they plan to start making compound vegan butters soon, although the presentation will be different, because it won’t roll like a traditional dairy butter. 

Chef Butter has proven to be an ever-evolving and fulfilling culinary foray for Melac. “It was so fun for me to put this together, and the packaging is so eye-catching on the shelf. Our products are 50% butter and 50% flavor!! It doesn’t take much to make a difference, and it makes cooking 100% more fun!”

A good way to sample all the flavors is with a Chef Butter gift bundle. The attractive hexagonal bundle contains a 100 gram log of each type of compound butter. Buy one for yourself and extras for unique holiday presents or hostess gifts.

Chef Butter and gift bundles can also be ordered online at: montereyfarms.net