Powdered buttermilk… I think that’s just one of the greatest inventions. At least for me that is.
How many times have you bought a quart of buttermilk and used 1/2 cup on a recipe and the rest ended up down the drain because you didn’t use the rest? Well, with powdered buttermilk you don’t have that problem.
You use what you need and put the powdered buttermilk back in the fridge. All you need is powdered buttermilk and water… I love that!
So the next time you go shopping remember to get powdered buttermilk and keep it in your pantry. Don’t forget to refrigerate after opening it.
I used powdered buttermilk on this recipe…
Enjoy!
Blue Cheese Dressing
Recipe by Ellie Krieger
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup buttermilk (1 tablespoon powdered buttermilk + 1/4 cup water)
- 1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fold a full sheet of paper towel into quarters and put it into a small bowl. Spoon the yogurt onto the paper towel and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to drain and thicken. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and thickened yogurt into the mayonnaise until smooth. Add the vinegar and sugar and continue to whisk until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the blue cheese and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Yield: 3/4 cup
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
As printed in Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, January 1, 2006
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, lightly floured and cut into 1/8-inch slices) plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
Add shortening to flour mixture; break up chunks with fingertips until only small, pea-sized pieces remain. Working in batches, drop butter slices into flour mixture and toss to coat; pick up each slice of butter and press between floured fingertips into flat, nickel-sized pieces. Repeat until all butter is incorporated; toss to combine. Freeze mixture (in bowl) until chilled, about 15 minutes.
Spray 24-inch-square area of work surface with nonstick cooking spray; spread spray evenly across surface with kitchen towel or paper towel. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of extra flour across sprayed area; gently spread flour across work surface with palm to form thin, even coating. Add all but 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to flour mixture; stir briskly with fork until ball forms and no dry bits of flour are visible, adding remaining buttermilk as needed (dough will be sticky and shaggy but should clear sides of bowl). With rubber spatula, transfer dough onto center of prepared work surface, dust surface lightly with flour, and, with floured hands, bring dough together into cohesive ball.
Pat dough into approximate 10-inch square; roll into 18 by 14-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, dusting dough and rolling pin with flour as needed. Following illustrations below, using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, fold dough into thirds, brushing any excess flour from surface; lift short end of dough and fold in thirds again to form approximate 6 by 4-inch rectangle. Rotate dough 90 degrees, dusting work surface underneath with flour; roll and fold dough again, dusting with flour as needed.
Roll dough into 10-inch square about 1/2 inch thick; flip dough and cut nine 3-inch rounds with floured biscuit cutter, dipping cutter back into flour after each cut. Carefully invert and transfer rounds to un-greased baking sheet, spaced 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps into ball; roll and fold once or twice until scraps form smooth dough. Roll dough into 1/2-inch-thick round; cut three more 3-inch rounds and transfer to baking sheet. Discard excess dough.
Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake, without opening oven door, until tops are golden brown and crisp, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
