For those of you living in Trieste, or anywhere else you can't find the world's most perfect ingredient, I have found two great solutions for you.
One: Make it yourself.
Take one pint-sized container of FULL FAT yogurt (be careful to get PLAIN and not Vanilla) and blend it with a standard-sized package of Mascarpone cheese (Italians living in America for years lived with the problem of not finding their precious Mascarpone for making Tiramisu, but I think you can find it there now. If you can't, maybe someone can suggest a good substitution?). The ratio of yogurt to mascarpone is about 2:1. Blend it really well. It tastes just like the real thing.
Two: Go to Slovenia.
In Trieste we're just 10 minutes from the border with Slovenia where you can find the real thing. You just have to know what to look for. Go to the refrigerated part where you find yogurt. It is called KISLA SMETANA.
Phyoo. Now you can make your tacos. Except you'll have to pay a mint to get the UNCLE BENS tortillas at the Super Coop at the Mall (until you live in Trieste, you think that he only makes rice. WRONG! In Italy he makes salsas and flour tortillas and they're in the "foreign" section of one or two big grocery stores like PAM and SUPER COOP...) or you can make them yourself (easier than you think and cheap. But that's for another post...) and you're in luck: the Super Coop is open on Sundays!
Happy cooking, unless you decide to go out and enjoy the day.
Ciao!
Posts
Homemade Sour Cream
ReplyDelete1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream or buttermilk (or even white vinegar will work)
Instructions
In a screw-top jar or mason jar with lid, combine the heavy cream and sour cream (or buttermilk). Shake the ingredients up a bit to thoroughly mix and let stand, covered, at room temperature for about 24 hours or until it becomes very thick. You can store your sour cream in the refrigerator in the original jar you mixed it in (or use some other resealable container) for up to one week. Make sure that your sour cream is well chilled before using.
If you want to make a lighter sour cream, substitute whole milk for 1/2 cup of the heavy cream.
NOW - do you need me to send you more ranch dressing packets???
ReplyDeleteWell, I've almost come up with a Ranch substitute... but it's not perfect yet. Your recipe is great, but we don't have buttermilk here (although it may be whole milk plus lemon juice but I'll have to check...). Haha. Actually recipes abroad are based on substitutes upon substitutes. :D Please send pumpkin waffle recipe! I'll blog it.
ReplyDelete