Tag Archives: buttermilk recipes

Cold Cucumber and Buttermilk Soup

Cool and refreshing, this simple cold soup uses only four ingredients. Don’t let the simplicity deceive your perception of this recipe, the taste is delicious!  This is definitely one of my favorite soups to enjoy over and over again this summer. I use whatever cucumbers I have around and it’s especially a good way to use cucumbers that are a few days old and not at peak.

From by the bay, wishing you cool and refreshing food memories!

Maryann

 

Cold Cucumber and Buttermilk Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 pound cucumbers, peeled, halved and seeded
  • 2 teaspoons jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cups buttermilk ( whole if available)
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • optional: diced cucumber to garnish and coarse sea salt such as Maldon

Directions

Coarsely chop the cucumbers. Place cucumber along with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Place in a container and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before serving.  To serve, garnish with diced cucumber and a little coarse sea salt.

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Mint

Zucchini – one of the favorite staples of the summer harvest is showing up in farmer’s markets and grocery stores. If you are lucky like me it shows up at your door courtesy of a generous neighbor with a fabulous vegetable garden. No matter how you get that zucchini into your kitchen you must try this recipe for chilled zucchini soup. Super simple to make this is a refreshing treat to enjoy for lunch or dinner. Try drinking this cup of summer freshness!

From by the bay, wishing you chill food memories!

Maryann

 

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Mint

Serves 6

  • 4-5 medium zucchini sliced in rounds approximately 2 pounds
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, chopped
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, plus extra for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ cup fresh mint chopped
  • 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • additional coarse sea salt to finishing

Directions

In a large pot heat olive oil and sauté the white onion until softened about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini, salt and pepper stirring occasionally until the zucchini is softened, about 5 more minutes. Add the broth to the pot, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Using a food processor puree the zucchini mixture along with the parmesan cheese, pine nuts, mint and lemon juice. Pour into a bowl adding the buttermilk and blend. Cover and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least 3 hours. Adjust seasoning with coarse sea salt. Serve chilled and garnish with toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

Buttermilk Pudding with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

A sure way to welcome the bounty of spring is using the early rhubarb and strawberries in a delicious compote flavored with rich vanilla. This compote is the perfect topping for breakfast on top of pancakes, french toast or Greek yogurt or use the compote to complete desserts such as cake , ice cream or pudding.  I find the best match to this compote is this old fashion buttermilk pudding. The buttermilk pudding is slightly tart, creamy, smooth and rich. It’s the perfect balance to the tart and sweet compote.  You can also enjoy this pudding on its own or just topped with fresh berries.

From by the bay, wishing you creamy buttermilk food memories!

Maryann

 

blog buttermilk pudding

Buttermilk Pudding with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Serves 4 to 6

Serve the buttermilk pudding and top with the Strawberry Rhubarb Compote.  Recipes follow.

blog buttermilk pudding 2

Buttermilk Pudding

Ingredients
1 1/4-ounce envelope unflavored gelatin

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

canola oil for the ramekins
Directions
Combine the gelatin with 1/4 cup water in a small bowl or measuring cup and let stand for 3 minutes. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup of the cream and the sugar. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in the gelatin.
In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, vanilla, and the remaining cream. Stir in the warm cream mixture.
Lightly oil six 6-ounce ramekins. Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins. Refrigerate, covered, 3 hours or overnight. To serve, run a knife around the edge of each ramekin and invert onto plates.
Darienne Sutton
August 2007 in Real Simple

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

 Ingredients

1 ¼ cups juice and/or water
½ cup  sugar
1/4 cup  agave nectar
1-pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/4 –inch wide pieces
1 pound (450 g) strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 teaspoon vanilla and optional 1 teaspoon framboise

Directions
In a large, nonreactive saucepan, heat the water, juice, ginger, sugar, and agave. When all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is simmering, add the rhubarb and let the rhubarb cook in the simmering syrup until it’s just softened, which may take as little as 5 minutes, depending on the rhubarb. Add the strawberries and  simmer another five minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and  the framboise, if using. Cool and refrigerate until ready to use. Serve warm or room temperature.

 

 

 

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

I would read about making my own ricotta cheese and think who needs to do that but then day I forgot to buy ricotta for a recipe I was making.  I was not in the mood to go back out to the store that day.  So with a quick visit to the internet I found a recipe using just milk , vinegar and salt, ingredients I always have at home, thankfully!  I could not believe how easy  it was to make and it tasted so good. Over time I’ve experimented with many versions and they all work. I think the recipe to use actually depends on how you are using the ricotta. If the ricotta is one of the star ingredients of your dish you might choose the richest version of ricotta using heavy cream, but it you are mixing it into something else like a salad or into a pasta you might choose the all milk or buttermilk version.  I’ve enjoyed all of these ricotta cheeses and I must say I regularly choose DIY over buying now that I know how easy it is.

From by the bay wishing you DIY food memories!

Maryann

blog ricotta 3

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients

  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions

Line a sieve with a dampened cheesecloth and place over a bowl to strain the cheese. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, stirring occasionally. The mixture will start to separate in curds ( the thick part that is the cheese) and whey ( the thin liquid you drain off). Once that happens, pour into the sieve, catching the ricotta into the cheesecloth lined sieve. Let stand for 20 to 25 minutes letting the liquid drain off. Let drain depending how thick and moist you want. the longer it drains the thicker and drier the ricotta. Once drained, take the cheese out of the cheesecloth and store in a container in the refrigerator until ready to use. This will stay 3 to 4 days.

Variations – all good and I’ve made and enjoyed each one depending on the ingredients on hand. 

  • Use only whole milk for a slightly less creamy version, this is great if you don’t have any heavy cream.
  • Replace the heavy cream with buttermilk, don’t use any vinegar for a drier textured ricotta, good for cooking

blog ricotta 2

 

Iceberg Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

It’s interesting to sometimes look back on how your food tastes develop over the year. I grew up eating iceberg lettuce – it was on everything and it was a garnish on many a plate I ate in restaurants. As I grew up and discovered all the other lettuces available, it was easy to toss iceberg lettuce to the side and never touch it again. I recently rediscovered this misunderstood lettuce. There is nothing like a cold crisp iceberg lettuce salad on a warm day topped especially topped with this creamy blue cheese dressing and shards of crumbled bacon tossed on top. I like this buttermilk and greek yogurt dressing, both are low fat so its lighter in calories but not light on flavor. I try to use a good quality blue cheese and bacon for the recipe. I used for my dressing Jasper Hill Farms Bayley Hazen Blue and nice thick Berkshire bacon. If your food journey has taken you away from iceberg lettuce, give it another try!
From by the bay wishing you crisp food memories.
Maryann
blog buttermilk dressing

Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Directions
In a medium size bowl add all dressings ingredients, except the blue cheese and whisk together until smooth. Next fold in the crumbled blue cheese.  Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Serve with lettuce, tomatoes or use as a dressing on cold sliced roast beef or top a grilled hamburger.
Iceberg Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 recipe Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing
1 head medium iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 wedges
4 slices thick bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons chives, minced
To assemble the salad place each wedge of iceberg on a plate, top with buttermilk blue cheese dressing. Sprinkle the top of each wedge with crumbled bacon and chives. Serve immediately.

Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

blog bowl of blackberries

I grew up in New York City. My back yard was the hard gray pavement. Most of my childhood games were played on the sidewalk, games such as hopscotch, jump rope and stick ball. Every summer though my family would go on vacation and we would spend two glorious weeks away from the city. We would drive up to the Adirondack Mountains and stay at a cabin on Loon Lake. Much like Dorothy, my world went from Black and White to Technicolor. The cabin was in a wooded area just a short walk from the lake. The surrounding woods were filled with little paths to other cabins. Every afternoon I would take a long walks along the paths.  The woods were filled with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. I would fill my pail each afternoon and return to the cabin. Many days I would return from my walk and my sisters and I would just eat the berries straight from the pail, too impatient to make them into a dessert. But on those few days that we controlled our impulses to eat those berries immediately we would stand at mom’s side and make a dessert.  We kept our desserts pretty simple: pies, cobblers and crisps. The blackberries almost never lasted until the morning so I bought enough recently so that I could make this delicious coffee cake, it’s moist and slightly sweet bursting with blackberries. Even better is how easy it is to make. Picking and cooking with blackberries were some of the happiest and most delicious moments of my life.

From by the bay wishing you delicious blackberry memories!
Maryann

blog blackberry coffee cake

Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
5 ounces fresh blackberries
For crumb topping
1/3 cup all purpose white flour
3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces ( 1/2 stick)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a non stick 8″ square baking pan and cover bottom with a square piece of parchment paper. In a small bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix. In a medium size bowl add the oil, sugar and egg. Beat using a spoon until well combined. Slowly add the flour and buttermilk alternately, blending well after each addition. Turn batter into the greased pan. Top with the blackberries. In another bowl add the ingredients for the crumb topping and mix well using your fingers until butter is incorporated and texture is crumbly like sand. Sprinkle evenly on top of the batter. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. When cake comes out of the oven let cool 5 minutes and then loosen the sides with a knife . Let cool another 5 minutes and turn onto a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper and let cool another 10 minutes. Place on a serving plate . This is great to serve warm or at room temperature.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries and Lime Butter

Pancakes make people happy! That was the motto of the Royal Canadian Pancake House, which existed for an all too brief time in Manhattan in the 1990’s. But their clever motto still rings true today. I would be hard pressed to find someone in my world who doesn’t love pancakes. My sister Nancy is on top of the “Pancakes make people happy” list! Now she would never refuse a pancake but she certainly is selective in picking a favorite. These buttermilk pancakes won Nancy’s approval, they are light and fluffy from the buttermilk. I added some lime butter to compliment the fresh strawberries. You’ll want to try this recipe this weekend! Enjoy!

From by the bay, wishing you the fluffiest food memories!

Maryann

blog pancakes

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries and Lime Butter
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
11/2cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
Fresh strawberries, sliced and confectionery sugar

Directions
In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix. To this add the buttermilk and egg yolks and combine- do not over mix. Batter will be a little lumpy. In another bowl add egg whites. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until it is in soft peaks. Fold egg whites with rubber spatula into the batter. Set aside for 20 minutes. Heat a griddle pan and spread 1/4 cup of batter for each cake, Cook two minutes on the first side and flip and cook another minute. Place on baking sheet and keep warm in oven until all cakes are made and ready to serve. Serve with sliced strawberries, confectionery sugar and lime butter.

Lime Butter

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest

Directions
To butter add lime juice and zest and combine well.  Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

blog blueberries
One of my favorite times of year is July! This was especially true when I was a kid. July was when my family would go on vacation. My absolute favorite vacation was visiting with my Aunt Julia and Uncle Tom in South Jersey so we could spend time with my cousins. We would have the best times playing, rough housing with the boys and taking day trips – which always included a trip to the Boardwalk and the Steel Pier. My Aunt’s house was surrounded by farms,  which was especially fun for us city kids from Queens. In July , blueberries would grow plentiful.  We would help the boys pick berries to bring back to my aunt and mom to use for cooking, that is if we hadn’t eaten them all , or worse yet had a food fight with them! I’m sharing here a few blueberry recipes to get you through a long summer day from morning until night.
Wishing you sweetest blueberry food memories!
Maryann
blog blueberry muffin

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12 muffins


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon lemon zest

4 tablespoons melted butter

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg

3/4 cup fresh blueberries


Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F. Take a 12 muffin pan and line with paper baking cups. Put  tin to the side. In a bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest. Add melted butter and stir. Add the egg to the buttermilk , mix and pour into the flour mixture and combine.Add blueberries and then fill each muffin liner about 3/4 filled. Place tin on baking sheet and bake  on the center rack for 20 to 25 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes then remove muffins to wire rack to cool. Serve warm or room temperature.

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Mint and Roasted Zucchini and Summer Squash Pizza

Walking into my favorite farm stand on the weekends always reminds me of my childhood when I walked along the side my grandmother to pick vegetables and foods to prepare for the next meal. The walk was always filled with a beautiful array of colors and shapes. With produce at it’s glorious peak right now I have the same experience at the local farm stand. This week, I was confronted with an abundance of zucchini and summer squashes in a riot of colors – from sunshine yellow to pale green. I gathered a wide of variety of  squash filling a basket , added some onions , mint and thyme and made my way back to the kitchen to try a few different recipes. I’m sharing here with you the best fruit of my labor.

From by the bay wishing you the sunniest of food memories!

Maryann

 

blog zuchini soup

 

 

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Mint

Serves 6

4-5 medium zucchini sliced in rounds approximately 2 pounds

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small white onion, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, plus extra for garnish

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup fresh mint chopped

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

additional coarse sea salt to finishing

Directions

In a large pot heat olive oil and sauté the white onion until softened about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini, salt and pepper stirring occasionally until the zucchini is softened, about 5 more minutes. Add the broth to the pot, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Using a food processor puree the zucchini mixture along with the parmesan cheese, pine nuts, mint and lemon juice. Pour into a bowl adding the buttermilk and blend. Cover and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least 3 hours. Adjust seasoning with coarse sea salt. Serve chilled and garnish with toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.


blog zucchini pizza

 

Roasted Zucchini and Summer Squash Pizza

Serves Six

 

1 small zucchini

1/2 small summer squash

1/2 medium vidalia onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

6 tablespoons ricotta

2 slices prosciutto

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

4 sprigs thyme 

pizza dough for one 14″ pizza ( home made or store bought)

additional coarse sea salt

semolina flour to roll pizza dough

Directions

Preheat over to 400F. On a lined baking sheet add zucchini and squash sliced into 1/4″ rounds. Next add the onions thinly sliced. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt an pepper. Place in oven to roast until vegetables begin to brown, approximately 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. When ready to made the pizza preheat oven to 500F. Divide the pizza dough into two portions. Spread some semolina flour on a clean surface to roll dough and also a little on top. Using a rolling pin,  roll each portion into a rectangle approximately 15″ by 5 ” . Bake each pizza in the center of a pizza pan. Divide the toppings on to each rectangle first the roasted squash and onions, then little bits of ricotta cheese, sprinkle with the parmesan cheese, thyme leaves removed from sprigs and finally tear the prosciutto into pieces and add to the top. Bake in the oven until crisp approximately 15 minutes. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and serve.