Clotted cream is similar to butter in that the fat content of the cream clots (hence clotted cream), but varies in that it is heated low and slow for several hours to bring the clots to the surface, rather than butter, which is agitated to form clots. The result is a slightly sweet and luxuriously smooth butter-like cream substance, or simply, clotted cream. It remains creamy when cold, though will still melt when smeared onto warm toast.
This super rich version is made with heavy cream from jersey cows (the cow breed, not the state). Many believe the higher the fat content of the cream you start with, the better your results. Do not attempt to make this with low-fat or ultra-pasteurized creams (remember: you need fat for this product!). Although a good quality organic full fat heavy cream (or whipping cream) will do, pasture-fed cows will produce the best quality clotted cream with a taste that will change with the seasons.

Brits will tell you clotted cream is best on scones at high tea, but I recommend you try it whenever the mood fits.

NOTE: Don’t let the long cook time throw you from making this recipe. It’s all undisturbed low-heat cooking followed by a night in the fridge.

Clotted Cream
Makes about 1.5 cups. Active time= about 10 minutes. Inactive time= 10 hours plus overnight.
2 cups heavy cream (raw cream or a good quality full-fat organic)

1) Preheat oven to 180 F. (This might just be a setting called “warm.”)
2) Place heavy cream in a heavy bottom ceramic, cast iron or enamel pot, about 8 inches by 13 inches. (You want to keep the cream shallow, but not so shallow it burns, 1-3 inches up the side is good.) Cover the pot and place in the center rack of the oven. Leave undisturbed 8-10 hours, until a dark yellow crust has formed on top of the cream.
3) Uncover and allow the cream to cool. Recover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
4) Using a spatula, pull the clotted cream from the dish and transfer to a storage container. Use leftover cream in baking applications. Use clotted cream in 4-5 days.

Basically, none of us want to be lied to or ignored. It’s something I think many of us have forgotten today.

I remember this book was one of my favorites and I distinctly remember toting it around in the car on trips. To this day when things make me mad I think of little angry Nina. I have mentioned the book to others, but no one else seems to have read it. Sometimes I think I should make the grown up version of this book, but maybe that would be too depressing.

If I did write it, a few pages of my adult That Makes Me Mad! would cover rising food prices, global warming/ the environmental crisis, and other current chatter– That Makes Me Mad!

D forwarded me this article from CounterPunch about rice shortages in Haiti and how the country could once feed itself– before the U.S. stepped in to “help.” It’s happened in other countries and well, That Makes Me Mad! The scenario often goes something like this:

Open trade borders
Artificially low-priced U.S. crops filter into country
Local farmers are driven out of business and move to cities
City populations grow
Joblessness and poverty increases and quality of life is reduced
Corporations move in to “make use” of once used farmland; Build polluting industry; Pollute the land and hire unskilled workers on the cheap (ie ex-farmers– who more often than not are not allowed to unionize)
Countries become “civilized” through industrialization
Land is destroyed and made toxic and we once again distance our understanding of sustainable land use

When is the U.S. going to stop subsidizing mono-cultures, ultimately artificially lowering prices on single commodities, like sugar, rice and corn, and put their money where it actually helps?! Subsidize items like corn and you create a huge surplus. (Because hey, if I’m a struggling farmer trying to make it, I’m going to grow whatever the government is paying big bucks for.) What to do with a huge corn surplus? Export it at prices other countries cannot compete with, turn it into high fructose corn syrup, figure out how to feed it to livestock, put more oil into it than it actually produces to make ethanol, and in general filter it into just about every processed food made, creating obesity throughout the land and making the health care industry (with funding from big Ag) a happy camper.

All of this make me very, very mad!

How about sustainable agriculture methods? Make organic fruits and vegetables more affordable for people– not corn syrup! But as so many people say, I guess the poor broccoli has no multi-million dollar spending lobbyist in Washington fighting for it, huh? I created this one, above right, for the purpose.

So it all seems really big and unbearable, right? Rather than change a light bulb, why not support a local sustainable farmer? Join a Community Supported Agriculture program (their prices are often less than non-organic prices at conventional supermarkets). Or here is another option: Don’t support Big Ag (not because you don’t want to support farmers, but you want to change where subsidies go!)! Read labels on products you buy, stay away from high fructose corn syrup, and in general, ingredients you can’t pronounce or don’t know how they are grown or produced– soy lecithin, not a soybean.

For months D and I have been eating our way through beets. About eight pounds every three weeks for four months. As D proclaimed time and again, “there are only so many beets a person can take.” That person is obviously not me. Still, it is true there are only so many pounds of beets a single person can consume when her partner in eating has sworn them off. After a recent Passover dinner I managed to squeeze a variation of this salad on the menu. D sleeps content knowing the beets are exorcised from the refrigerator.

While I know these storage babies would keep another few months in the fridge, I also know once Community Supported Agriculture season hits us June 5, we’ll be finding a home for more blushing beauties. (Note to D: Prepare yourself.)

Over the months, to hide the offensive vegetable from D, I was able to work them into pizza, gnocchi, ravioli (beet-blue cheese filling tucked into whole wheat orange zested pasta), chocolate cake, soups (of course a borscht as well) and even pickled them for holiday gifts handed off to D’s father, who shares my love of beets. I contemplated ice cream most recently, but bowed out of that thought when all the fresh mint began hitting my senses.

Over months of experimentation, the above salad was one application where I managed to get D to enjoy his beets without sausage, pesto or chocolate poured on top. It is a favorite dish of mine because it doesn’t involve a multi-step process with the beets, just roast, slice and chill.

This salad is a colorful reminder that Spring is here, a bounty of vegetables await us, but we can make do with our storage supplies until Mother Nature decides to kick in. I think it is best with a little crumbled cheese, feta or goat, tossed into it. For Passover I made due without the cheese, substituting a tahini-citrus dressing for creaminess, also good. A number of herbs work equally well depending on taste, what is around or what you are serving this with: cilantro, purslane, parsely, celery tops or basil.

Beet and Orange Herb Salad
Serving Size= 4 persons. Cook time= 1.5 hours. Active time= 15 minutes.
4 good sized beets (a little smaller than a fist), golden or red
2-3 navel oranges (grapefruit, clementines or tangerines would work too)
1/4 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
1/2 cup packed mint, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Scrub beets under running water, remove greens, reserve for another use. Place beets on a pan over a large sheet of tinfoil. Sprinkle beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap the beets in foil, bake 45 minutes, turn, bake another 45 minutes or until a fork punctures both sides easily. Remove from oven, unwrap and let cool 5 minutes. Using two paper towels, work the the skins off the beets by pushing and sliding the paper towels around, starting at the tops and working around the beets. Slice beets into bite size pieces, about 1 inch long by 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate while prepping the remaining ingredients.
2) Slice top and bottoms off oranges. Lay oranges flat then work around the orange slicing off the skin. Slice into bite size pieces, about the same size as the beets. Place in serving dish.
3) Add cheese, mint, cardamom, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil to oranges. Toss to incorporate. Add beets and toss briefly to just incorporate trying not to let too much of the beets bleed into the oranges or cheese. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
NOTE: Try a variety of other herbs. Instead of cheese, add 2 tablespoons tahini. Add croutons to make the dish a light dinner or lunch.