This week’s Doris Project, home made crème fraîche, came in very handy in preparing our Thanksgiving feast; I used it in place of sour cream when I made the mebbe better for you green bean casserole; and used it in place of plain ole buttermilk to marinate some boneless chicken strips I planned to turn into tomato basil chicken and rice.
Note: this recipe will not make a super thick (consistency of sour cream) crème fraîche, but the high fat content should stand up well to high temp cooking.
INGREDIENTS
•1 cup heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)*
•2 tbsp buttermilk**
*this was the tricky part. The only place around here I could find non ultra pasteurized cream was at Trader Joe’s.
**No buttermilk? As always, no problem! Place a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar in a measuring cup, then add milk to make one full cup. Stir to blend, then set aside to rest for five or ten minutes. Voilà! Buttermilk.
To make the crème fraîche, stir the cream together with the buttermilk in a jar, then cover and let rest on the counter top for eight to 24 hours, until it has thickened a bit. Store your finished crème fraîche in the fridge until needed.
Worked a treat in the green bean casserole, and using the crème fraîche in place of plain buttermilk in the chicken marinade was very, very good, well, see for yourself; really tasty tomato basil chicken with yellow rice and ‘shrooms.
Looking for that recipe?
Check it out, in next week’s Doris Project!