Saturday, May 5, 2012

Crema Mexicana + Cinco de Mayo Round-Up




From the Kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Many of the dishes in the collection below can be served with Crema Mexicana. This mildly sour, slightly thickened cream can be drizzled over food and, unlike sour cream, will not separate when it is heated. Commercial versions of crema are expensive and most of them are thicker than they should be. Fortunately, it can be made at home using heavy cream and buttermilk. The finished cream has a lovely texture and a nutty flavor that makes it a perfect condiment for many Mexican dishes. I love to bake with it and use it as a substitute for sour cream when I prepare beef or chicken Stroganoff. The thickness of crema can be regulated by the amount of buttermilk that is added to the heavy cream, and once it has thickened it can be flavored with salt, lime zest or chiles. The crema will keep for about 10 days in the refrigerator. Here is the recipe I use for my Crema Mexicana.

Crema Mexicana...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup cultured buttermilk

Directions:
1) Pour cream into a small saucepan set over low heat and stir just until the chill is off. Do not heat cream above 100 degrees F. (lukewarm).
2) Remove saucepan from the heat, stir in buttermilk and pour into a clean glass jar. Cover jar with a lid but do not screw it down. Allow cream to sit at room temperature until it is noticeably thicker, about 12 to 24 hours. Stir gently and chill for 4 to 24 hours to complete thickening process. Yield: 2cups.








Orange Glazed Fiesta Chicken














Chicken Mole Poblano
















Camarones a la Mexicana

















Black Bean Burritos














Mexicali Pizza















Chicken Enchiladas Verde















Tortilla Soup















Pork Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce - Albondigas















Gratineed Chicken in Poblano Cream Sauce

















Crock-Pot Pork Posole















Shrimp Enchiladas Verde














Chicken Tinga

23 comments :

Diane said...

The only chance of buying buttermilk in France, it seems, is to find a dairy farmer and there are none near us. I now replace buttermilk in recipes with creme fraiche :( Diane

Alessandra said...

What a round up! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Ciao
Alessandra

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I love watching cooking shows and admire how beautiful the food is. yours look so good.

came via ginny's

Kim said...

I can see preparing creme fraiche and crema is actually pretty much the same... Next time I'm having a mexican meal, I'll think of this recipe!

Big Dude said...

As I looked down the list of dishes, I wanted to go make them all, but it was the Chicken Enchiladas Verde that rose to the must-make-first position.

Tanna said...

Wow what a line up of choices for cinco de mayo!! YUMMMMM! Hope you enjoy the day! blessings ~ tanna

Ana Regalado said...

Do you think using homemade buttermilk - lemon + milk = will do ?

Eliotseats said...

Thanks for stopping by Eliot's Eats. We're glad to have ya'!

So, I am assuming this is like Creme Fraiche? Love the tip about using it like sour cream (and that it won't separate).

Glad I made it over here too.

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

You have such a plethora of fabulous Cinco de Mayo options, I just don't know which one I'd make first! Have a wonderful day~

Claudia said...

What a gorgeous round-up for the day. I've always wondered what Mexican crema was - thought it akin to clotted cream - so learned something today!

Valerie's Kitchen said...

What a fantastic selection of Mexican recipes! That pizza, please!

Karen (Back Road Journal) said...

Mexican crema is hard to find where I live so I really do welcome your post.

Rita said...

Love all these Mexican recipes you are offering today. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Rita

Valérie said...

Thanks for sharing this technique! I've seen some Mexican recipes call for crema, I was wondering what it was exactly. And thank you for the round-up, so many great ideas!

Chelsea said...

Shockingly, I've never heard of this! All of your Mexican dishes look fabulous.

Shug said...

Interesting! I see a lot of gooood
food here today....
Camarones a la Mexicana really looks great!
Have a good weekend

Sue/the view from great island said...

I'm so happy to have this recipe, Mary. I often have trouble with sour cream in sauces, so this will be fun to try. Great Cinco de Mayo roundup!

Anonymous said...

Crema is something new to me but I love it :D
And this post has a fablous Mexican round up my friend
Thanks!

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Anonymous said...

that is something new to me... i love to try it.

Alicia Foodycat said...

So many delicious recipes! What a treat!

Kathy said...

Incredible round up of great looking dishes! I am definitely going to make the crema…it sounds perfect for so many dishes!

Life's a shoe said...

yumyumyum i'm getting hungry looking at all of these!

My Little Space said...

Mary, thanks so much for sharing the making of this crema. It's my first time came to learn about it. Glad it's still not too late.
Kristy

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