Buttermilk Biscuits

Turns out you only use 1 cup of buttermilk in a pound cake, so I had some leftover.

As I'd just finished making a potpie and was lamenting that I didn't have more pie dough to consume, a friend suggested buttermilk biscuits.

I am now in awe of how easy biscuits are to make. Also, how much better they from scratch as opposed to bisquick (not that I'm getting rid of my box of bisquick. At least not til I figure out how to make shortbread from scratch too...)


Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board (
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons salted butter, very cold
3/4 cup buttermilk (approx)


Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 450. Flour your work surface you plan to roll these things out on. (I suggest something hard, my first attempt on a cloth did not work well)

2. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, soda, powder) into a bowl and mix.

3. Cut your butter into small chunks, then cut it into the flour until it looks mealy (aka, like you're making a pie dough).

4. Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined. If it looks too wet/sticky, add more flour. Too dry, add more buttermilk. I had to add more buttermilk to mine...it depends on where you are and your kitchen.

5. Turn your dough onto your floured work surface and gently push/pat the dough until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Then use a round cutter (or glass) to cut out the biscuits.

6. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.

And my unofficial next step: Brush with butter and shove in face.

Buttermilk Pound Cake

The other day I bought a container of buttermilk thinking I needed it for a recipe, turns out I needed half-n-half which I already had. So there I was, sitting with a container of buttermilk wondering what to do you. You see, I'd never cooked with buttermilk before so I wasn't sure how I should handle it.

Luckily, I'd heard about this thing called the internet and decided to go and check it out. To my surprise, there were lots of recipes calling for buttermilk on this newfangled invention. So I decided to try a modified version of this one: http://17andbaking.com/2010/04/28/buttermilk-pound-cake/

I say modified because well, I ran out of a few things...like flour. Plus I don't own a sifter. I should get one...oh, and I only had salted butter.


1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) room temperature unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pan
1/2 teaspon salt (omit if you're using salted butter...)
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cultured buttermilk (see above to make your own)
Juice of 1 lemon, strained


Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300, butter and flour your bundt pan.

2. Mix the flour and baking soda. And salt if you're using unsalted butter...

3. Cream the butter and add in the sugar. Beat in each egg individually, then add the vanilla.

4. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/3 of the buttermilk. Repeat til all mixed.

5. Stir in the lemon.

Pour it into your prepped bundt pan and pop it into the oven for a nice 75ish minutes (or until the knife comes out with nothing sticking to it.) Let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes then remove and let it cool on a rack. Cover for a day and then chow down to your heart's content.

Then wait a day and conume