I realized I had some cream that I needed to use up, so I made creme fraiche, two whole cups, but now that I’ve got it, I can’t remember what recipe I had seen recently that tempted me to make it. Argh!

Does anyone have some favorite uses for creme fraiche? (Particularly something that uses a LOT of it, LOL!)

Anna, see these posts:

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2007/10/my_most_magic_ingredient.html

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2007/10/a_tale_of_three_eggs.html

If you have an ice cream freezer, you can also use it to make ice cream!

Thank you so much! I’d forgotten about those posts completely.

I will sometimes use creme fraiche in place of sour cream - I love the flavor!

One of my favorite uses for crème fraîche ... I’ve made no chicken salad other than this one created by my friend, Amy, for about two years now:

Amy’s Chicken Salad

3-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs butter
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup toasted almond slices
2/3 cup green grapes, halved
1/3 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced shallots
3 Tbs minced fresh tarragon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup crème fraîche

1. Arrange chicken breasts in single layer in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with lemon juice and dot with butter. Pour the chicken broth and water around the breasts. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until breasts are tender and meat no longer shows sign of pink. Remove from heat and let chicken breasts cool in poaching liquid. Remove chicken breasts from liquid and cut into 1/4” dice. Reserve poaching liquid.

2. Combine the chicken with the almonds, grapes, pineapple, lemon juice, celery, shallots, tarragon, mayonnaise and crème fraîche. Loosen with a little of the reserved poaching liquid if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to meld.

I like to drain it to make mascarpone, then use that to spread on bread, make filling for a fruit tart, or make tiramisu. Or churn it to make delicious cultured butter and buttermilk!

-Holly

Holly Gates - 07 January 2008 11:41 AM

I like to drain it to make mascarpone, then use that to spread on bread, make filling for a fruit tart, or make tiramisu. Or churn it to make delicious cultured butter and buttermilk!

-Holly

To make mascarpone?... interesting, how do you do that?

You just put it in cheesecloth (real cheesecloth, not what they sell in the grocery store) or butter muslin and hang it up over a bowl at room temp for 6-12 hours. The whey drains out and leaves behind nice mascarpone. The firmness of the cheese depends on how long you let it drain. Also, at least with home made creme fraiche the culture is still active so length of drain time and room temperature will affect how tangy it gets.

For a source of cheese cloth, butter muslin, culture packs, books, and other cheesemaking supplies check out http://www.cheesemaking.com
I got Ricki Carroll’s home cheesemaking book on a whim one day at the homebrew store and it was very interesting. I’ve made a number of things from it, but probably my favorite is to make creme fraiche and either use it straight, drain it for mascarpone, or churn it for cultured butter and buttermilk.

-Holly

I Like to stir it into butternut squash soup