I’m certain homemade creme fraiche will be better than store bought, but make sure that the cream you buy to make it is not ultra-pasteurized or you may have some problems getting it to culture
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Yeah, I’d read about that. But thanks for pointing it out, if only for others down the road.
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You can actually make (probably a better flavored) crème frâiche by using commercial crème fraîche as your culturing agent rather than buttermilk, as long as you get crème fraîche that contains live cultures. Just like using commercial yogurt as your culture for homemade yogurt. Obviously this means you have to buy one of those pricey little containers, but you don’t have to use up buttermilk!
That had never occurred to me. I bet it adds a really nice flavor!
I first swapped it in for cream in the Keller deep quiche recipe and it was lovely. Also used up 2 cups buttermilk…
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This with a capital B…once you have that buttermilk handy.
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I freeze leftover purchased buttermilk. It separates upon thawing, but shake it up and it’s fine for baking. If there’s none on hand, I dilute plain yogurt to the thickness of buttermilk, which is judt as good.in baking. I have used the powdered buttermilk but the directions say to mix it with the dry ingredients, later adding the water, and for some recipes that is contradictory.
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The new Netflix series from this gal, http://ciaosamin.com/recipes-resources/
features a buttermilk chicken marinade that looks very appealing. Salted and brined in buttermilk overnight then roasted.
Highly recommend the 4 part series a fellow HO brought to my attention if you get Netflix.
So I happened upon some cultured buttermilk for $0.50 a quart, and figured I could do something with it. I’ve made an Ethiopian dish with a buttermilk curd that I can never get enough of, so I figured I could do something like that. While looking for the recipe I happened upon other versions of “fresh cheese”, and started wondering about sweet versions, and about a savory cheesecake that I read is usually made with ricotta.
From “The Spruce” link below.
“Farmer’s cheese is a fresh or unaged cheese and is also known as dry curd cheese or peasant cheese and is used in countless European recipes. Farmer’s cheese is known as twaróg in Polish, surutka in Croatian and Serbian, tvaroh in Czech and Slovak, túró in Hungarian, varškės in Lithuanian, lapte covăsit in Romanian, tvorog in Russian, skuta in Slovenian, and syr in Ukrainian.”
Most versions include heating the buttermilk, some include whole milk, and a sweet version involved freezing rather than heating the milk!
How does THAT work? How is it different?
Some others…
Farmers Cheese
How To Make Farmer’s Cheese & 5 Ways To Use It
Ethiopian
https://howtocookgreatethiopian.com/ayib-lab-fresh-ethiopian-cheese-aiyb/
I would love an idea for a no crust savory “cheesecake” with low-ish/er carbs.
Here is one with farmers cheese, again from The Spruce.
" A mild cross between ricotta and cream cheese, this fresh farmer’s cheese is everything you always wanted in a soft cheese – mild in flavor, creamy but somewhat loose consistency and thus effortlessly spreadable."
These Food Network Savory Cheesecakes start with 8 ounces cream cheese and a cup of some other cheese.
And more from The Spruce
"They don’t resemble the type of cheesecakes Americans are familiar with, aka cream cheese or New York-style cheesecake (although they do exist), because they’re usually made with dry curd cheese or farmer’s cheese. "
I’ll be saving the whey for various fermenting projects.
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I got buttermilk on sale again. I’m thinking buttermilk Panna cotta.
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My aunt used to make buttermilk pineapple sherbet. Just combine a can of crushed pineapple with buttermilk, freeze in ice cream maker, or like my aunt in ice trays and moosh up with a fork.
Me, I make up a batch of corn bread and enjoy breakfasts of broken up cornbread covered with cold buttermilk. Addictive.
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That sounds great! Looking for sherbet, and I found this.
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Buttermilk ice cream and sherbets both get a lot of love in old time cookbooks. Also, buttermilk custard pies - maybe a Midwestern thing, but not sure. I haven’t tried any of those, but I do love buttermilk. Yum.
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And oh yes, buttermilk is a blank canvas for cold soups! Add your favorite veg or blend in what’s needing to leave your fridge. All good!
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Biscuits!
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Here are some of my favorite recipes that use buttermilk:
I use the full three cups called for before the blogger revised the recipe as I prefer thin crepe like pancakes to thick pancakes.
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This sourdough waffle uses a good amount of buttermilk:
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You can make great crème fraiche with UHT cream, just as UHT milk makes great yogurt. I make kefir cream all the time with UHT cream as it’s the only kind available here. It’s very thick and rich and I like it better than crème fraiche. I’ve also made sour cream and crème fraiche with some dried culture and UHT cream.
I’m not a huge fan of Alton Brown; but that cornbread recipe seriously kicks butt. I can take sour cream; but much prefer Mexican crema to sour cream.
Here’s the recipe I use. Simple as heck. Great for dipping empanadas.
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