Afternoon Snack feat. Homemade Butter

Doesn't my entry title sound like a song title? "Afternoon Snack" featuring artist Homemade Butter. Haw-haw-haw. I crack [only] myself up.

Sorry it's been a while. I feel like I start way too many entries with the same apology. My camera battery died right after my last entry, and I left my charger at home. So no pictures of my last days @ the university. Sadness..

Finals are over, THANK THE GRACIOUS LORD! Although I didn't do as well as I wanted, I deserve all the grades I receive (except maybe for ECON. But I'm not gonna whine anymore). Now I'm back in the comforts of my own home! No more dingy bed used by dozens of previous students, no more sharing of unhygienic toilet stalls and "showers," etc. Mmmm. And MY KITCHEN! O, HOW I'VE MISSED YOU!!!!!


On to my snack. I wasn't all too hungry, but I knew I had a carton of heavy cream in the fridge from Mother's Day dinner (which I didn't take photos of. Cooking and Mom deserved all the attention that day!). I didn't have anything to top with whipped cream, so that idea flew out the window with the quickness. I recalled seeing many Tastespottings of homemade butter, so I thought I'd give it a go w/ the additions of dried rosemary and fresh garlic.


The last time I made butter was in elementary school as a class project. Today's butter was a nice way to refresh and upgrade this memory. I used it to flavor some dinner rolls I found on the kitchen counter, and let me tell you... This butter was creamy, not waxy or laden with preservatives/chemicals, and absolutely easy. I sat here wondering why I ever bought butter from the store (and then I remembered I'm lazy). Try it sometime just for fun, if not to eat something simply delicious and better for you (not that butter will ever be "healthy").


I toasted up some rolls w/ the butter and put a slice of tomato on top of each. The crispy, herby bread straight out of the pan combines with the cool, tangy tomato to create magic in your mouf. Beleeh dat.


Homemade rosemary-garlic butter

*heavy whipping cream
*some good salt (if you want)
*dried rosemary
*fresh garlic, minced
*any other flavorings of your choice (in addition to, or in place of, the above)

This is the ghetto way I made my butter in under 10 minutes.

1. Pour heavy cream into a jar with a lid or tupperware with a tightly sealing top. Shake constantly, like you're making yourself the best darn martini in the world.

Note: After a certain point, your cream may be extremely hard to shake because it becomes a thick sludgy texture. This is right before the butter separates from the liquid. Don't fret, just keep shaking!

2. After a while, you'll see that the butter has started to form and separate from a milky liquid (also known as buttermilk! Well, kinda. I'll explain more at the end). Shake a while longer, then strain your butter by using a cheesecloth or something similar.

3. Squeeze the remaining liquid out of the butter, then rinse/knead the butter under cold water to prolong shelflife.

4. Add salt, rosemary, garlic, or whatever else. Refridgerate for about an hour for a firm butter, or use right away!


Alright. So, that is the most basic butter recipe. A lot of butters are made with slightly soured/cultured cream, which gives the resulting butter a more complex flavor. This is to mimic the flavor of churned butter from the olden days, when cream was slightly soured by the time people gathered enough to start making a batch of butter. If you wanna try that out, just add a tsp or two of plain yogurt to your cream and let it sit for a while. Then proceed with the recipe above. You can use THAT resulting buttermilk for any recipes calling for conventional buttermilk.


Random food fact of the day: Children under the age of one should not consume honey, as it carries spores that can cause infant botulism.


Cheers,
T