The Hotness

I'd like to make a suggestion. Stay away from me for the next 48 - 72 hours. Far far away. Really. Give me a WIDE girth. I am going to be cranky. Crazy. Cray-cray. Touched. Literally. I know it is super lame and uninteresting to talk about the weather (although I am obsessed), but the forecast for 97 degree highs in NYC for the next 2 days fills me with fear. And loathing. Unless you are offering me enough ice cream to bathe in or unlimited air conditioning, I'm not interested.

That also means that I won't be braising any meat, baking any cakes, or having anything to do with my oven or stove top. But I might open my fridge...just to stand in front of it. I have actually been trying to figure out what I could do with some leftover buttermilk that's been languishing in my fridge for...ever (without baking up some biscuits or coffeecake) so decided that salad dressing was the way to go, both from a calorie saving point of view and general heat avoidance.

The recipe that I stumbled upon was the best of many others that included mayo. Ummm...why would you use something low fat like buttermilk only to yuck it up with mayo? I even used low fat Greek yogurt in place of regular yogurt because it still has an amazing consistency. If you wanted to cut back on the cheese, I would either reduce the amount of buttermilk or increase the yogurt a bit until you have a nice creamy dressing. Dump it over a chopped salad filled with your fave ingredients and enjoy. Follow with a tub of ice cream. And a frozen margarita. Not necessarily together.




Buttermilk Dressing
Adapted from Martha Stewart

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Whisk together the buttermilk, cheese, yogurt, olive oil, zest, lemon juice, pepper, and salt in a medium bowl. Makes about 2 cups.

Breakfast Biscuits

The only time I ever make biscuits is for Thanksgiving. I'll add a little chopped rosemary to make them "different" but let's face it, more bread is about the last thing anyone needs to eat with a plate full of stuffing and mashed potatoes sitting in front of them. Even though I didn't (and never do) have 12 people to feed, I decided to make some biscuits this past weekend just to use up some buttermilk and cake flour. (What? It's established that I have way to much random crap in my cupboards.) And I wanted to have something for breakfast other than cereal. I made these from start to finish in about 20 minutes, not because I'm a fabulous baker but because they are so simple.

They're not unlike scones (without the cream) and as a basic recipe it's just as easy to make them more savory to accompany dinner or more sweet to have for breakfast or...whatever. I'll admit that I may have jammed some chocolate chunks into a few dough balls just to see what would happen. Ah-May-Ziiing! Be sure to eat them warm with extra butter (and Blood Orange Marmalade, if you have it).



Buttermilk Biscuits
(Adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup plain cake flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 45o°F.

2. Whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few larger lumps (see photo below).

3. Stir the buttermilk into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until the mixture forms a soft, slightly sticky ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form into a rough ball. Be careful not to overmix. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into quarters, and then cut each quarter into thirds. Gently shape each piece into a rough ball and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

4. Bake until the biscuits are light brown, about 12 minutes. Serve immediately. Makes 12 biscuits.

*Note: You can use 2 cups of all-purpose flour in place of the cake flour/all-purpose combo, just increase the buttermilk by two tablespoons.

Super Fans

OK peeps. I now have a bunch of buttermilk lurking in my fridge. That raspberry cake didn't use enough of the carton. It should really be sold in smaller sizes like heavy cream.

I also still have a packet of rapid rise yeast hanging around. Yes, I could throw it away and feel no guilt. It's not like it's a meal. But since I am trying to educate myself, I decided to find a recipe that uses both buttermilk AND yeast. It's like the next step in bread making. The pull-aparts were first grade and this new recipe is like 7th grade. I'm in junior high, yo! So that apparently means I'll be using a bunch of annoying phrases...Know what I mean?

It's still not a complicated recipe but it does take quite a bit more time, extra concentration, and a few more steps, so you'll need to have a bit of spare time on your hands. Fortunately for you, I have documented the exact steps in the event that you actually try to make the rolls and need a point of reference. Just do it!




Buttermilk Fantails
(From Gourmet)

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
1/4 cup warm water (105–115°F)
1 tablespoon mild honey or sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk


1. Butter the muffin cups with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.

2. Stir together the yeast, warm water, and honey in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

3. Mix the flour, salt, buttermilk, and 6 tablespoons melted butter into the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a soft dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead, dusting the surface and your hands with just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, until the dough is elastic and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Form the dough into a ball.

4. Put the dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a draft- free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (see photo below).

5. Punch down the dough (do not knead - see photo below), then halve. Roll out half of the dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch square (about 1/8 inch thick; keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap). Brush the dough with 1/2 tablespoon butter and cut into 6 equal strips (see photo below). Stack the strips, buttered sides up, and cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces (see photo below). Turn each piece on a side and put into a muffin cup (see photo below). Make more rolls with the remaining dough in the same manner. Separate the outer layers of each roll to fan outward. Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and the dough fills the cups, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

6. Preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle. Bake the rolls until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush the tops with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then transfer the rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.



Note: The rolls are best the day they're made but can be frozen (cool completely, then wrap well) 1 month. Thaw, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.