Extra ingredients, or help I have buttermilk.

[Biliboy]

I've been making a really good fresh ground whole wheat bread from a Mother Earth News recipe, and one of the ingredients is buttermilk or yoghurt. Now I have almost a full half gallon of buttermilk and can't use it all in the bread unless I make about 20 loaves.

What else can I use it for? I tried drinking it and it was like thin, unflavored yoghurt with a bit of vinegar. Not my idea of good.

Also, too many eggs from our four hens and I'm getting tired of quiche and scrambled eggs. Ideas?

[PAstrychef]

Buttermilk goes well in biscuits, lemon buttermilk cake, muffins, cold soups, pancakes and waffles and.....
For eggs; custards and ice cream, most baked goods, hard boiled and served with a curry sauce, added to fried rice or Pad Thai, cooked into a sabayon sauce for cake and berries...

[Biliboy]

I found a suggestion elsewhere to freeze buttermilk in an ice cube tray to make it last longer, so I'm doing that. I do like good biscuits, I'll have to try them with buttermilk. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll google them.

[Bakemaster]

Little bit of buttermilk beaten in with the eggs is great for omelettes. Helps them fluff up and imparts a nice subtle flavor.

All sorts of baked goods are improved by substituting buttermilk for regular milk or water. Cinnamon rolls... a dangerous thing to make but how can one resist?

Check out strata - not too dissimilar to quiche, but IMO you have more options to work with. Quiche has sort of a strictly defined form.

[PictureSarah]

Cinnamon rolls are indeed a great option. My favorite cinnamon roll recipe uses buttermilk. Someday, when I have a working oven again, and don't have gestational diabetes, I will make them once more!

[JudeMorrigan]

While my instant reaction is "make pancakes!", if you're looking for something a bit less bread-like, marinating chicken in buttermilk before frying is a popular option.

[Thesh]

I've heard of buttermilk being used in curries as well.

[Nath]

Google 'majjiga pulusu' if you like Indian food. It's a soupey dish that's usually poured on rice and eaten with spicy pickles as a final course in parts of south India. You can also drink it on its own. Most recipes use diluted yogurt, but you could probably make it with buttermilk. (In fact, this is what many Indians mean when they say 'buttermilk'.)

[Bakemaster]

Showed up on my Facebook feed today, must make this as soon as the stove is installed and operational:

http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe/but ... nd-coconut

[Angua]

I've just been sent birch syrup as a Christmas present.

Any ideas on what to do with it?

[podbaydoor]

The first recipe that comes up after a quick google is using it in a glaze for salmon, which sounds delicious and AWESOME.

http://www.alaskabirchsyrup.com/recipes.html

[Angua]

I could try it with chicken. That does look like a website of inspirations - thanks! I did google a bit, but was also wondering if anyone had any actual experience with it as well? Sometimes recipes from websites can be a bit hit and miss.

[poxic]

Closest I've had is maple syrup, which does make a nice glaze on salmon, and birch beer, which tastes the way birch trees smell. Birch syrup would be an interesting cross between the two.

[PAstrychef]

I sent three grades of maple-did someone else give you birch?7

[Angua]

Yeah - it was in the other package waiting for me.

I guess I am syrup queen this Christmas!!

[Zohar]

When we make anything with veggies, we wash them and keep any peels and cut parts in a ziplock bag, and when we need to we boil the contents for an hour to make pretty good vegetable stock. It's a great habit, it makes food more delicious later on, and we make more of the veggies we get¹.

So it's great in winter - we make soups, couscous sauce, stews, etc. In summer, we're not in the mood for soup as much. Any ideas on recipes that require stock that aren't scorching hot? We were thinking risottos maybe, though those don't heat up so great for the leftovers.

¹This doesn't work for all veggies - tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli - those never get in there. But onion, garlic, carrots, celery, any leftover or wilted herbs, sweet potato or potato peels, etc., all go in there (onion/garlic dry skins as well, though they darken the stock a lot).

[Moo]

Stock is always nice to boil things in instead of water? Like rice, pasta and cauliflower. Otherwise, risotto, sauces and cold soups are all I got...

[PAstrychef]

Cold soups are good. You can use it to cook grains for a grain salad. Leftover risotto is best made into ariancini, which is to say breaded and fried/baked.

[AngrySquirrel]

I made chipotle-hummus. Have left-over chipotle. Chipotle is delicious, but I don't know what to do with it.

[PAstrychef]

Add it to chili, or soup, or stews. Any dish where you want some smokey heat.

[AngrySquirrel]

Add it to chili, or soup, or stews. Any dish where you want some smokey heat.

I've been eating chili con carne for the last 3 weeks. But there's just SO MUCH chipotle.

Which is the opposite of a problem. But I'd like to eat something that doesn't have a stew-like qualities some time this year. I guess I could move on to grilling things in it.

[Zohar]

You could make it into sandwiches? Not a huge change, but at least a different form? Also over rice, or turn it into pasta sauce, or maybe even soup?

[AngrySquirrel]

You could make it into sandwiches? Not a huge change, but at least a different form? Also over rice, or turn it into pasta sauce, or maybe even soup?

How do you chipotle sandwiches? No wait, scratch that, I don't eat bread.

How do I turn it into pasta sauce?

[Zohar]

I dunno? Add more liquid, cream or something... There's a bunch of results for "chipotle pasta sauce"

[PAstrychef]

We get chipotle in adobo sauce in cans here in the US, and I often freeze what I don't use right away. It's a flavoring enhancer, so I can add it to loads of things. It goes well in taco filling, or a barbecue sauce, or buzzed into mayonnaise for sandwiches.

[ameretrifle]

So our landlords apparently came into possession of a gigantic fucking pumpkin, and offered (with some desperation) to share. We accepted this offer, and were gifted 1/4 of the pumpkin, cut into chunks.

It took up 3 gallon freezer bags.

So. I've been lining up some recipes, but any suggestions, or guesses as to how much puree that will make, are welcome. (Hopefully the lack of rind won't be an issue. Nor freezing some of it. Well, too late now, only way forward is through.)

[Zohar]

That's a lot of pumpkin... You should make:
Soups
Pies
Puree and serve next to roasted veggies
Phyllo dough filled with puree with some sugar sprinkled on top
Quiches with goat cheese and herbs and maybe caramelized onions

[Moo]

Recipes for pumpkin "hummus" and curried pumpkin soup available on request.

[ameretrifle]

Recipes for pumpkin "hummus" and curried pumpkin soup available on request.

About one and a half of the 3 bags of pumpkin turned into about 2 liters of pumpkin puree.

We're also moving in a bit over 2 weeks.

I say this to mean, yes, please.

[Moo]

This isn't the recipe I used, that is at home in a book (how novel); you can try this? I don't know it tastes. My recipe contians ground pumpkin seeds too, which adds a nice texture and better simulates the chickpea skins in hummus
http://www.grassfedgirl.com/paleo-and-l ... us-recipe/

My curried pumpkin soup involves roasting the pumpkin with spices, if you've already pureed the pumpkin I would dry roast the spices instead.
Ingredients:
500g pumpkin
2 tbsp curry mix or garam masala of choice
1 cup coconut cream
1/2 - 1 cup chicken or veg stock - add half a cup and add more to achieve desired consistency
(or use 1.5 - 2 cups coconut milk instead of cream and stock and season to taste or add a stock cube)

Roast cubed pumpkin with oil and spices if necessary till soft
Blend everything together
Yum

[Zohar]

I found myself with too many apples, which isn't particularly surprising considering I went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and we've been getting them all the time in our CSA.

I already made (and froze) apple sauce, and I made an apple pie last week. I'm wondering what else I should make with them. Perhaps an apple crumble? I don't feel like another pie just now. Any creative suggestions? Most of them are golden delicious.

[Angua]

Coring them and baking them with yummy stuff inside is always good.

[PAstrychef]

Tart Tatain! Caramel, apples and puff pastry. There's a nice video from Sorted food on three things to do with apples that covers it.

[ameretrifle]

I hear "apple butter" is a thing. I've tossed apples into bran muffins (those publix muffins were delicious), and into cakes...

Here's a coffee cake recipe that's served me well. Takes 3 apples, maybe 4 if they're small. I'd often put more sugar and less butter in the topping. I'd also note to anyone making it that the batter is going to look like a pile of flour-dusted apple chunks and you're going to wonder what the hell you did wrong. Resist the urge to add water, that'll just make it take longer to cook. It turns into a cake, I promise.

I can also vouch for this apple cider cake, if you want something spice-cake-ier. Had to improvise the spice cake, though, never have seen a boxed spice cake mix in the wild. Make sure to peel the apples if you try it.

On more speculative lines, maybe apple cider? Looking at my bookmarks suggests maybe apple cupcakes or self-saucing pudding or wontons or ice cream or crisp; also a pork chop recipe, but if I recall correctly, that wouldn't work on like 2 or 3 different levels. (...i have a lot of recipe bookmarks)

[AngrySquirrel]

ALL THE MOTHERFUCKING APPLE CAKE!

And I do mean cake, not pie which is revolting. Cake. With cinnamon and pearl-sugar on top.

The Americans like to pretend apple cake is the same as apple pie. It is not. And apple cake is FAR superior to yucky pie.

[pogrmman]

ALL THE MOTHERFUCKING APPLE CAKE!

And I do mean cake, not pie which is revolting. Cake. With cinnamon and pearl-sugar on top.

The Americans like to pretend apple cake is the same as apple pie. It is not. And apple cake is FAR superior to yucky pie.

They are very different, but you're wrong as to which is better. While they're both good, apple pie is clearly superior. Apple cake just can't reach the majesty of a nice, gooey, cinnamony, sweet apple pie. The way the buttery, flaky crust contrasts with the gloopy filling and the tender apples is the best.

[AngrySquirrel]

ALL THE MOTHERFUCKING APPLE CAKE!

And I do mean cake, not pie which is revolting. Cake. With cinnamon and pearl-sugar on top.

The Americans like to pretend apple cake is the same as apple pie. It is not. And apple cake is FAR superior to yucky pie.

They are very different, but you're wrong as to which is better. While they're both good, apple pie is clearly superior. Apple cake just can't reach the majesty of a nice, gooey, cinnamony, sweet apple pie. The way the buttery, flaky crust contrasts with the gloopy filling and the tender apples is the best.

Why would you want anything to be flaky ever? That's just disguisting.

Also, I think you'll find I'm right. Always and forever.

[freezeblade]

Croissants.

Your move!

[pogrmman]

ALL THE MOTHERFUCKING APPLE CAKE!

And I do mean cake, not pie which is revolting. Cake. With cinnamon and pearl-sugar on top.

The Americans like to pretend apple cake is the same as apple pie. It is not. And apple cake is FAR superior to yucky pie.[/quote
They are very different, but you're wrong as to which is better. While they're both good, apple pie is clearly superior. Apple cake just can't reach the majesty of a nice, gooey, cinnamony, sweet apple pie. The way the buttery, flaky crust contrasts with the gloopy filling and the tender apples is the best.

Why would you want anything to be flaky ever? That's just disguisting.

Also, I think you'll find I'm right. Always and forever.

Not just croissants, but the flakiness acts as a fabulous contrast to the filling. Flaky foods are delicious and have a great texture. It's part of the reason pies are better than cakes.

[AngrySquirrel]

Croissants.

Your move!

Are horrible!