Yesterday I decided to try my hand at making butter. Why, I’m not entirely sure, other than it seemed one of those oddly gourmet sorta thing to do and yet seemed REALLY easy to do. There are instructions online in about a million places for home made butter, but they’re all pretty much identical, I picked this set because I liked the pictures. I will say it was more like 1/2 hour to get butter rather than 10 minutes. Not sure why. But otherwise it really was as easy as they said it was. Pour whipping cream in the mixer, and let it run till it forms butter. Used the buttermilk this morning to make pancakes, and of course used the butter ON the pancakes. Turned out pretty good too, though I’m not sure its worth the fuss and bother.
Then today I decided to try my hand at the cheese spread recipe I mentioned before. Much thanks to North and DaddyBear for the suggestions and help. My ingredients were about 9oz of cheese total, mostly sharp chedder (cubed), with a handfull of grated asiago, 1/4 pound of butter (softened in the microwave), a big dollop of sour cream, and a dash of Red Hot. First thing I learned: my blender hates me. I really need a food processer if I’m going to start doing things like this on a regular basis. The blender managed, but it wasn’t happy about it. I’m also not sure the flavor is going to be strong enough, I might want some extra extra sharp chedder next time. But its currently sitting in the fridge solidifying a bit so we’ll see. Flavor at first spoon lick wasn’t bad, just not as strong as I was hoping for. Unless it turns out really nasty (which I don’t expect at this point) I’ll eat it no problem, but I’ll have to break down and get the food processer before I start serious experimenting. I think a bit less sour cream less time, unless it solidifies up more than expected its a bit creamer than I prefer. Also the stick of butter seemed a bit much, though it blended in better than I thought at first glance.
Sorry for the less than steller pictures, I almost forgot to take them at all!