A Southern Gallimaufry
Cream 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar with 1 cup softened butter. Add two beaten eggs and a teaspoon vanilla extract; mix well. Then work in 3 cups flour that have been sifted with a teaspoon of baking soda. When thoroughly blended, refrigerate for an hour, then roll out on a floured board, cut into rounds, place on a flat, heavy baking sheet, and place in a 350-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool thoroughly before serving.
Florentine means “spinach” in cook-talk, and this sauce is wonderful on lots and lots of stuff. I use a Mornay for a base, which is of course TOTAL BLASPHEMY, and mild peppers and/or whatever good onion is at hand, which of course consigns me to the coldest levels of hell beneath the very wings of Satan. The sauce should be creamy and savory rather than pungent, always served hot; a Rockefeller is a variation. Use a hard mild cheese and do NOT add parsley.
This dish, like so many others, has become needlessly consigned to a specific holiday, but such a rich dessert should grace our tables much more often. Most recipes for coeur a la creme have only four ingredients—crème fraiche, cream cheese, egg whites and sugar—though the misguided might add vanilla or lemon. For years I’ve been making a coeur a la crème using cottage cheese for convenience, but this year, I’ve upped my game and made crème fraiche, which is not difficult, a little goes a long way and keeps quite well.
You can make a simple crème fraiche by adding a packet of culture to store-bought dairy, but that’s a slacker’s option; me, I trotted down to the Mississippi Farmer’s Market and bought lightly pasteurized local products that retain enough lactic bacteria for the process. I mixed a cup of whole milk and a quarter cup of buttermilk along with a spoonful of store-bought sour cream, which does have a tiny bit of its characteristic bacteria, enough to make a bit of a bite. I kept the starter out overnight; by morning it had thickened to a dense slurry. I added a half cup or so of this culture to a quart of whole cream from the supermarket, and it worked like a charm. I ended up with a thick, tart crème fraiche. If you’re so inclined, the culture can be tended as you would a sourdough, and in time will mellow and deepen.
If you happen to frequent the kinds of stores that sell such things as stainless steel strawberry stem removers, chromium banana slicers, and cast-iron hot dog toasters, then you’re likely to run into these cute little ceramic heart molds with holes that are made specifically for a coeur a le crème. Since I am most assuredly not the Williams-Sonoma-type, I went to the Dollar Store and found a purple plastic, heart-shaped container with Ninja Turtles embossed on the front (“Be My Bodacious Valentine!”) that was just the right size, about a pint. I burned holes in the plastic with a hot nail, and lined the mold—for that’s what it had become—with damp cheesecloth, mixed one cup of my crème fraiche with six ounces of cream cheese, blended in two (organic) stiffly-beaten egg whites and a tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar.
I placed the coeur on a plate in the coldest part of the refrigerator for several hours. After inverting the mold onto a server and removing the cloth, I added a puddle of pureed raspberries, though any kind of berry would have been good. One of these days I’m going to try bananas.
Use thick slices of bread to make six peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Grape is traditional, but I like to use strawberry jam, and peach is awesome, too. Whip four eggs, a quarter cup of sugar, and a teaspoon vanilla or almond extract together until smooth. Dip each sandwich into egg mixture, turning to coat both sides and ends. Plate on paper towels and refrigerate for about five minutes. Toast in a well-buttered skillet until golden brown. Serve with crisp bacon.
Sweet and sour sauce is a thickened version of a Chinese marinade for fatty pork. Western recipes come from Canton via Hong Kong, and usually have foreign ingredients.
Combine a cup of apple cider vinegar, a half cup low-sodium soy sauce, a tablespoon of sesame oil, a half cup ketchup, and three-quarters cup of white sugar in a saucepan. Mix well, add a half cup pineapple or orange juice, a slice of fresh ginger, and bring to a simmer. To a quarter cup of cornstarch, stir in a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and enough water to make a thin paste. Dribble into hot mixture; when it begins to thicken, set aside to cool. Remove ginger before serving. Or not.
