Buttermilk Specialities?

[Lindsay Yssel]

I have a cup of buttermilk in my fridge, need recipes to use this up with, hate throwing away food...

[Amy_C]

I *think* you can freeze buttermilk and save it for future uses, it might seperate so it'd be best for baked goods and maybe marinades.

[laurendlewis]

There was just a thread recently about this, and I promptly froze my buttermilk into little ice cubes - haven't used it yet though, so I'll let you know.

[amyzan]

Buttermilk makes fantastic panna cotta with a little half and half to add richness. It's a great summertime dessert with strawberries and raspberries.

[Will Owen]

Once more with Mr. Owen's colesaw dressing: equal parts buttermilk and Hellman's/BF mayonnaise, 1 Tbs. each of vinegar and sweet pickle relish (more if you want), salt and a dash of Tabasco, sugar to taste if you absolutely have to (Mrs. O likes it sweet). I like it also with DILL pickle relish, but I seldom make this just for me... This makes enough for over two pounds of shredded cabbage, but it keeps very well in a closed bottle. It's also a very good dressing for macaroni salad: just add cooked macaroni, chopped onion and chopped celery in your chosen proportions.

[foxy fairy]

I often have this problem - I buy buttermilk with one recipe in mind, and then the rest of the carton sits there. Last time, though, I used it all up in one fell swoop:

Nigella's ritzy chicken --- this is just amazing. So easy, fast, and it will disappear faster than you can believe! Marinate chicken in buttermilk, roll in Ritz, bake! I make food from scratch every night and this is one of my ultimate favorites, far surpassing fancy-schmancy recipes that consume much more fuss and time! Plus, it comes from the astonishing and lovely Nigella! I actually spotted her making this on foodnetwork, but everything I make from her books is delightful too. She said everyone gobbles these up at her cocktail parties.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_34971,00.html?rsrc=search

To go with the chicken, I made a buttermilk-feta-garlic-dill sauce in the blender, I guess similar to the ranch dressings suggested above, but even tangier with the feta. This is lovely too.

I also made buttermilk biscuits to go with the chicken - yum.

I still had some left, so I actually baked some for a chicken salad in a buttermilk/milk mixture, going off tips from this board:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/406155

I have such fondness for buttermilk pancakes too! You can do some really cool pancakes with fresh fruit - either swirled into the batter, or served on top, or as a compote.

One more: tonight I'm doing fish tacos, marinating my cod in buttermilk, cilantro, etc and then pan frying.

[AbdulSheikhMohammed]

First off, I've found that buttermilk keeps a good bit longer than regular milk in the fridge.

You can make your own ranch dressing! Basically, it's just buttermilk, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper, and some kind of herb (dill and cilantro both work okay). It's pretty thin if you do it this way, so if you want creamier ranch dressing, you may need to figure out something else... add mayo or something. I'm still working on it myself. I usually just make a vinaigrette, so I don't practice much on this one. Buttermilk is the heart of ranch dressing though.

Also, try using some buttermilk the next time you make mashed potatoes. I use it instead of whole milk or cream, and I think it tastes much better.

[bite bite]

Buttermilk biscuits a classic --
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

Throw on some strawberries macerated w/a bit of sugar and ice cream or whipped cream and you've got one of the best summer desserts out there.

[SweetPhyl]

Get a glass, crumble up enough cornbread to fill to the top. Sprinkle with salt. Pour buttermilk over and eat with a spoon. Crumblin' In...a true southern delicacy as there rarely any leftover cornbread.

[jinet12]

For simple, quick, and delicious, combine your one cup of buttermilk with one cup of mayo and a packet of Original Hidden Valley Ranch dressing packet...The one that uses buttermilk is really a very good Ranch dressing...

[Sharuf]

Buttermilk is my gravy base. Use 1 cup buttermilk and 2T Wondra and add it to pan drippings or sauteed onions or mushrooms.

[Procrastibaker]

Two favorites:
lemon buttermilk sorbet (I usually add lime zest for color) on Epicurious-- it is amazing
balsamic-rosemary fried chicken-- I think this recipe is from Southern Living

[laurendlewis]

I use it in muffins, baked goods, pancakes, etc.
I really like this peach upside-down cake from Cooking Light:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...

[kate used to be 50]

I just made a banana/chocolate cake from the King Arthur book that had buttermilk. Awesome cake.

I always marinate my soft-shell crabs in buttermilk for about an hour (chilled in frig) and it is the season.

[Candy]

It is not summer with out this tart, at least once.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/10539

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/...

[chef chicklet]

Purdy! I appreciate the visual, makes me one to make it!

[Val]

Buttermilk is a great marinade for chicken especially with a little hot sauce thrown in ... it's also super in baked goods...Lindsay, if you put that word in the search function on this board, you will bring up some very good threads on how to use up buttermilk also.
And, here's a link to a pretty good recipe for Spicy Oven Fried Chicken that uses the buttermilk marinade--it's best with skinless bone-in chicken, IMO:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[AbdulSheikhMohammed]

Probably good anytime you're going to fry some whitish meat... I've also used it to marinate softshell crabs before dusting and frying. My mom's always told me about using it for chicken, but I've never tried it myself. Maybe good for pork cutlets too?