About a week ago I picked up a half gallon of "Manufacturing Cream" from Smart & Final. This appears to be a "unique to West Coast" item as when I asked chef-instructors at the CIA about it, they hadn't heard of it.
The attributes of it are: higher in butterfat than most heavy cream, and no additional ingredients. Most heavy cream has stablizers in it, which can make for less than ideal chocolate truffles and whipping behavior. So I'm Told. I've never myself had any problems in these areas.
In any case, I've got quite a bit of very heavy cream in the fridge now. So last night I made a quick chicken stew in heavy cream.
I cut up a really nice and small chicken I managed to find into four pieces. A quick browning in clarified butter. Then fine minced onion and sliced mushrooms. Some white wine, chicken stock, and thyme. I then returned the chicken to the pan, covered, and simmered for about 10 minutes. Removed the chicken, reduced the sauce and then added about a cup and a half of heavy cream. Reduced this again to thicken.
Served the whole thing over noodles.
Posted by dowdy at April 18, 2003 07:57 AM