Can I get a bit of help? I love to make homemade Benedictine with just cucumber, garlic, onion and cream cheese. My problem is , in order to get it to taste as 'cucumbery' as I like I have to put so much cucumber pulp in it that it won't set up as firm as I would like it to. I squeeze out as much liquid as I can from the pulp and let it drain in cheesecloth for a bit before I add it to the cream cheese but to no avail. Should I be using a better cream cheese? I'm just using the grocery store stuff.
Carla There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost
carla griffin wrote:Should I be using a better cream cheese? I'm just using the grocery store stuff.
Carla, a slightly different question: Are you using soft cream cheese in a tub? That could be a problem. As long as you use the block cream cheese in foil, though, it should be fine as long as you squeeze it well - roll the pulp up in a cloth dish towel and squeeeeeze. (You do scoop out and discard the seeds first, right?)
Here's a link to a benedictine recipe I had in the Wine Advisor FoodLetter just a couple of months ago. Read down past the hot-tomato rant to the recipe.
Yeah I'm using the cream cheese in foil. This recipe looks like what I'm doing but I'm using more cucumber and a little less onion. I'm not actually rolling the pulp and squeezing it however; maybe that will help. The Crestwood supermarket out here near me carries a homemade Bendictine that is awesome. Unfortunately they don't make it themselves but buy it from a woman around here someplace so they don't always have it.
Thanks for your help!
Carla There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost
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Beth K.
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by Beth K. » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:19 pm
I use a sieve and a spatula - and lots of patience.
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Michelle R.
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by Michelle R. » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:45 am
A good back-up plan may be Paul's Fruit Market. I worked there several years ago, and they make theirs fresh. I'm not a huge fan of benedictine, but it was actually pretty good.
My husband makes Benedictine as well. In addition to allowing the cucumbers to drain in a strainer, he also runs the onions through the food processor and drains those as well. They produce a lot of liquid too. Maybe this would help?
Good luck!
Dawn
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carla griffin
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by carla griffin » Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:24 am
That might help as well. I've got the perportions and the taste where I want them...I'm just need to squeeze out even more moisture.
Thank you everybody for your help. (And for not laughing at me!)
Carla There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost
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David B
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by David B » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:34 pm
how long after you make it do you eat it? I have not made benedictine, but when I make tzatziki sauce, I find that the garlic and cucumber flavors really come out after it has sat in the fridge for a few days. Also, a pinch of salt couldn't hurt.
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carla griffin
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by carla griffin » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:51 am
You make a good point David. I always put so much cucumber pulp in to get the flavor I want; perhaps if I made it with less pulp and more cheese and allow it to "age" a day in the fridge I'd still get the rich flavor I wan and it won't be so very loose. I'm too impatient!
Carla There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost