...delicious homemade sour cream
Authentic Mexican food is very unlikely to be covered in a thick and gloopy layer of suspiciously orange melted cheese. Cheese is actually used pretty sparingly in true Mexican cooking, and is more often a crumbled hard cheese than a soft a melted cheese.
Now don't get me wrong, I like a little melted cheese as much as the next guy, but for a true taste of Mexico
Making your own sour cream is a cinch, and all you need is time to produce something that is infinitely better than store bought sour cream.
You can use either half and half or heavy cream for this. If you use the heavy cream it will be VERY thick!
Homemade sour cream
500 ml (about 1 pint) of half and half, or heavy cream
¼ cup of cultured sour cream or butter milk.
You will mix these two ingredients together well, in a very clean bowl, with a very clean spoon, and cover and allow to sit on the counter at room temperature. Sour cream is formed by the natural acidification casued by the endogenous bacteria in the cultured buttermilk or sour cream.
Let the cream sit on the counter for between 12 and 24 hours. It is done when it has thickened, and has a slightly sour tang. Store in the fridge until ready to use. This product does not contain any preservatives, and thus should be consumed within a couple of days of making. It tastes so good that this is rarely a problem!
You must use a sour cream or buttermilk with a living bacterial culture. Most of the commercially available sour creams will not have a living starter, but many butter milks will. The product information should tell you whether or not a living culture is contained within. You can interchange either the butter milk or the sour cream for the same eventual effect.
Drizzle this cream over the top of Mexican dishes, or serve on the side with fajitas, burritos, tacos…whatever!
This makes a very nice change from melted cheese, and truly is authentic Mexican!
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