When I’ve come across recipes that call for crème fraîche, I more or less assumed that sour cream would be a pretty straightforward substitute – and it is – mostly; tho’ you have to be careful cooking with sour cream because it will curdle if the flame is too high.
No such worries with crème fraîche, which, strangely enough, because of its higher fat content, can be boiled like a week-old cabbage, ermmm, with abandon, and without the curdling or cabbage-y smell.
The few times I’ve looked for it in the market, however, it has been unavailable or wicked expensive, so I just kept to my sour cream ways…
Until Rich came across an article on the internets which explained how very simple it is to make your own:
INGREDIENTS (I doubled the amounts)
•1 cup cream
•1 tbsp buttermilk
Stir the one into t’other and allow to rest in a cool spot for 24 hours, or until it is very thick. This being January in Northern Illinois and all, I stashed mine in a corner of the garage.
The author didn’t specify what type of cream to use, but I reasoned that heavy would be the way to go, and other resources did call for heavy whipping cream. They also warned against using ultrapasteurized cream – but such are the resources of my market’s dairy case that ultra is it, and I can’t see any real harm done.
How’d it turn out?
See for yourself; a mash-up of Swedish Meatballs and Beef Stroganoff with crème fraiche replacing the sour cream – YUMMERS!
Oh, you want details?
Tomorrow…