alexandra’s kitchen: Coeurs à La Crème

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Coeurs à La Crème

Happy Valentine's Day!

Coeurs à La Crème
Yield = 6 individual hearts (4 oz)

1¼ cups heavy cream
½ cup sifted confectioners' sugar
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
fresh strawberries

Special Equipment:
cheesecloth
6 (4-oz) perforated heart-shaped coeurs à la crème molds

Cut a double-layer of cheesecloth into six 8-inch squares. Dampen and wring out lightly. Press one square into each of the heart-shaped molds and set aside.
In a large bowl, whip 1 cup of the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer mixer to a separate bowl and store in the refrigerator.
In the same bowl used to beat the cream, whip the remaining ¼ cup of cream with the mascarpone cheese, the vanilla, lemon juice and Grand Marnier until thoroughly blended. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the chilled whipped cream mixture into the mascarpone cheese mixture. Spoon the finished mixture into the prepared molds and fold the edges of the cheesecloth over the tops. Lightly tap the bottoms of the molds on the counter to remove any air spaces between the mixture and the molds. Refrigerate on a baking sheet for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours.
When ready to serve, invert onto dessert plates, remove cheesecloth and serve with the fresh strawberries.

Note: Coeurs can be prepared up to 2 days in advanced.

The Eggmobile

The eggmobile houses laying hens. It follows the herd of cattle, arriving to grass they've grazed on four days earlier.The hens peck at the four-day-old cow pies, eating various insects, larvae and parasites - rich sources of protein - and accomplishing a whole lot more along the way: By eating the fly larvae and parasites, they rid the land of potential pathogens and disease; by scratching through the droppings and spreading them across the grass, they enable the manure to sink into the ground and fertilize the soil; and by eating the pesky insects, they reduce the presence of one of the cows' biggest irritants.

The Barn

Joel Salatin stands in the open-sided shelter where his cows spends a portion of the winter. During the winter, the cows eat hay (dried grass accumulated throughout the growing season), and live on a bedding consisting of woodchips, sawdust and old hay to absorb the cows' excrement. When the heavy cows tread on their nitrogen-rich manure and on the carbon-rich bedding, packing it together, they allow the mixture to ferment (anaerobic composting). By adding corn to the bedding, Salatin entices his pigs to turn the bedding into compost: When the cows return to pasture in March, the pigs dig through the densely packed bedding, searching for the tasty fermented corn, aerating the pile and turning it into compost for the spring.

Corn Pudding