Food • Photography • Life
Feets. Big blog post with lots o’ pics to come.
Tea pot at Tokyo Noodle Bowl.
Crema is a Mexican condiment that is much like sour creme or creme fraiche in taste. Either can be substituted for crema in a recipe, but since crema is so ridiculously easy to make, it’s little trouble to have some on hand.
Plus, you can spice it up any way you like with the addition of chopped chipotle pepper (or the adobo sauce chipotles come packaged in), chopped cilantro or chives, lemon or lime juice/zest, or diced onion. Crema is a great multi-purpose ingredient not only for Mexican dishes, but to add body to a quick pan sauce for pasta or rice, as a quick dressing for fish or chicken, or as a base for salad dressing.
Make it once, use it a thousand different ways.
Stuck on what to do with the extra buttermilk? You can always make some fresh ricotta or a batch of Southern-style biscuits.
Mexican Crema
2 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. buttermilk
big pinch salt
big pinch pepper
Bring your cream up to room temperature by setting it on your counter for an hour or so.
Stir in the buttermilk, cover with plastic, and let set in a warm place (80-90 degrees F) over night. If you are using a jar or other lidded container for this step, make sure not to secure the lid tight; you need bacteria to come in and do its thing. I made mine in a glass measuring cup covered with plastic wrap and it worked like a charm.
Voila. In the morning, you will have a cream that is noticeably thicker than the night before. Add salt & pepper and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours more to continue the thickening process and there you go. Crema, and lots of it.
Add your optional ingredients and enjoy. The first thing I enjoyed mine in was the Nacho Empanadas (recipe to come) I made on Superbowl Sunday.
Taken at the Miami Beach Antique Show. Things I learned today: they make necklaces that look like strands of pearls from opals; there are a ton of antique diamond ring settings I really like; blunderbusses are even more amazing looking in person; I need to remember the art of Charlie Harper; Tiffany glass is very beautiful in person; they just don’t make books as beautifully as they used to; Tiffany also makes a ton of silver items, like silverware; loose diamonds are very pretty; there is a lot of deco design we really dig; and ship’s binoculars/spy glasses are really cool looking.
Today was a day of food. I had the very rare treat of lunching with a couple of friends/former coworkers this afternoon on a wind-swept and sunny veranda overlooking a marina/channel in Fort Lauderdale then hit up my favorite restaurant in all of Miami, Michael’s Genuine, to celebrate my DH’s birthday.
Lunch was fabulous–I forgot how much I missed those girls–and we had a really perfect, cathartic afternoon. Complete with good food & booze.
Dinner at Michael’s Genuine is always great. It’s really down to Earth, genuine even, and has a great quality/seasonal and local where possible ethos. This is a place that makes a simple dish like a quarter chicken taste so good, my husband wanted that instead of a big juicy steak for his birthday dinner. And that’s really saying something for a carnivore like him. We also had the ridiculously tasty hand cut potato chips with French onion dip, a mussel dish, cheesy grits, and perhaps one of the 10 best dishes I’ve ever put in my mouth: popcorn ice cream for dessert.
My day has left my belly past full and my psyche satisfied. Thank you, ladies.
Pics: lunch with the ladies, chocolate mousse tulip cup with lunch, birthday “Popcorn and Peanuts” dessert at dinner.
Today’s picture was supposed to be tied to the Penn & Teller show my DH (dearest husband) and I were supposed to attend, but the fates conspired against us, and home we are. Upon leaving for the show we discovered that not one, but both of our vehicles had a flat tire. What are the odds of that?! And, one is 4WD and the other is a big work van, needless to say, spares just weren’t in the cards for us traveling the few towns over to get to the show. Boo.
And we were all dolled up, too. And, since exactly two of the 7 or so dresses I own fit at this particular moment in time, I was even inadvertently dressed to at least the 8s in a silky party dress and sky-high heels. All dressed up & nowhere to go.
At least we haven’t seen all the Penn & Teller “Bullshit” episodes on Netflix.
What is that I see through the window, cooking low & slow?
You know you’re jealous;) Just a portion of the Star Wars Legos we have chillin’ in the dust on our headboard.
What? You mean other 30-somethings don’t have Legos lining their only available horizontal surface? Screw that. Legos are frakin awesome.
Meet my new friend Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. We’ll call him meat-tacular for short. I have a feeling we’ll be getting to know him well over the coming months.
I am participating in Charcutepalooza, a blogger challenge to make 1 preparation from this book per month in 2011. I hope to accomplish all 12 dishes this year. Meat curing has been a craft I’ve been interested in for awhile, but until now have been too scared to try. Ruhlman’s book, like his previous books The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef’s Craft for Every Kitchen and Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, set techniques out in plain English with plenty of the hows and whys behind each ingredient/step. If you haven’t yet picked up a copy of Elements, you really should. Ruhlman has a straightforward and open writing style that makes things easy to understand (must be because he’s an Ohioan). I’ve had many a duh! moment reading this book. Think Alton Brown on Good Eats (whom I also absolutely love) but in well-indexed page form.
First up: Home! Made! Bacon! I’ll be posting about my trials and tribulations making fresh home made bacon around Feb. 15th or thereabouts. Duck prosciutto to follow some time shortly thereafter.
Mmmmm…… bacon……. *Homer drool*
Out to dinner in Fort Lauderdale with a dear friend. I’ve known J for going on 15 years. We’ve been through a lot of crap in that time, and I’m happy to count him amongst my closest friends.
Gastography 