butter

[Guest guest]

I made some cultured butter with the whipping cream (non ultra-

pasteurized) left over from Thanksgiving by inoculating it with a

couple tablespoons of stained kefir and letting it sit in a covered

bowl over night. In the morning it was slightly thickened and tangy. I

put it in my stand mixer and beat it with the whip until the butter

came, strained off the buttermilk, washed it well, salted it with a

little Fleur de Sel and packed it into my butter keeper. It is

fantastic! I loved the Normandy butter Costco carried for a short time

and this is just as good if not better. I have an antique butter mold.

I wonder if a pretty mold of delicious homemade butter would be an nice

addition to loaves of saffron bread on my cookie trays.

Sheridan in The Art of Irish Cooking describes making her great

grandmother and grandmother making butter and says that real buttermilk

was considered an excellent hangover cure and that men suffering the

after-effects of a wedding or wake would drive ten miles in a trap and

pony for it. So maybe I should offer my pint jar of buttermilk as the

Chinese auction gift at the company Christmas party?