Posts Tagged ‘Butter’

• Love That Taste of Buttermilk

  Date: 07.14.2010 | Category: Real Food | Response: 0

  Do you ever wonder about buttermilk? Most people know that buttermilk is–at least it used to be–the liquid leftover from churning butter. The solid butter got all the fat, leaving the liquid buttermilk nearly fat-free. But what’s the story behind buttermilk’s sour tang?

  In the early 1930s, American farmers were literally in the dark. Nine out of ten farms had no electricity. By the time fresh cream arrived at the dairy for processing, it had fermented or soured, giving the buttermilk and the butter a distinctive tang. The Rural Electricity Administration brought power to the countryside and by the time of WWII, nine out of ten American farms were electrified. The cream could be quickly chilled so it didn’t sour before being churned into butter. “Sweet cream” butter rapidly became the preferred butter style. But the taste for tangy, sour buttermilk lived on.

  The buttermilk we use and love today is a cultured product, made by fermenting milk so that the milk sugars turn into lactic acid, causing the milk proteins to become solid, as they are no longer soluble in more acidic conditions. Buttermilk can last longer than regular milk because the acidic conditions keep harmful bacteria from thriving, which means it’s easy to keep a quart on hand in the fridge for baking and cooking needs.

  Buttermilk has lots of applications in today’s kitchens. It’s the base of lovely, low-fat salad dressings. It adds tang and purpose to pancake batter. Most cornbread recipes are better for it. The acid in buttermilk makes it an effective and flavorful marinade especially for chicken. Frying fish? Dip the fillets in buttermilk before coating in breadcrumbs or cornmeal. The list goes on and on.

  We have two summer favorites for you today. We’d love to hear your favorite things to do with buttermilk.  

  Corn-off-the-Cob Salad with Buttermilk-Herb Dressing
  from the FarmPlate Kitchen

  Mazza’s in Colchester (both Sam and Paul) have fresh Vermont sweet corn this week.

  4 ears fresh-picked sweet corn, shucked
  ½ cup Monument Farms buttermilk
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  Juice of 1 lemon
  2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
  2 tablespoons sliced fresh basil
  1 clove garlic, minced
  Salt and pepper
  1 red or green bell pepper, diced

  Cut the kernels from the corncobs with a serrated knife. Bring a pan of water to a full boil, add the kernels and immediately pour into a strainer set in the sink. Rinse with cold water.

  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, lemon juice, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the blanched corn and diced pepper. Stir to blend. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

  Serves 4

  Lemon Buttermilk Pie
  from the FarmPlate Kitchen
  

  This old-fashioned southern dessert is ever-so-good on its own and even better when served with fresh-picked raspberries or blueberries.

  1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell (try a frozen one from Vermont Mystic Pie Company)
  4 large eggs
  ¾ cup sugar
  2 tablespoons flour
  1½ cups Monument Farms buttermilk
  4 tablespoons butter, preferably Vermont Creamery cultured butter, melted
  Grated zest of 1 lemon
  3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  1 tablespoon lemon vodka such as Green Mountain Organic Lemon Vodka or Absolut Citron, or pure vanilla extract

  Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line the pie shell with a piece of parchment paper and add a handful of dried beans. Blind bake the pie shell for 10 minutes only. Remove from the oven and let cool while you mix the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.

  In a large mixing bowl, whisk or beat the eggs and sugar until light and lemon-colored. Beat in the flour, followed by the buttermilk, melted butter, lemon zest and juice, and vodka or vanilla. Pour into the half-baked pie shell.

  Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes then chill before serving.

  Serves 6 to 8

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• Pretty in Pink Raspberry Cupcakes

  Date: 07.07.2010 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from the FarmPlate Kitchen

  Back in 1986, Pretty in Pink star Molly Ringwald revealed to fans that her favorite pig-out food was raspberries. We hope that hasn’t changed—and these easy cupcakes are the perfect nosh to enjoy while watching the John Hughes’ film classic.

  We use Charlotte’s Nitty Gritty cornmeal here. It’s well worth making the effort to seek it out. The corn is grown and ground in the Champlain Valley, and the flavor is round and almost sweet. You can buy cornmeal and cornbread mix directly from the producer online or at the Waitsfield Farmers Market on Saturdays. You can also find it at select area food stores.

  1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  ¾ cup sugar
  Grated zest of ½ lemon
  ¾ cup cornmeal, preferably from Nitty Gritty Grain Company
  2 large eggs, beaten
  1 cup King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1/8 teaspoon salt
  ¼ cup milk or cream
  1 cup red raspberries (blueberries or blackberries work well too)

  Icing
  Several imperfect raspberries
  1 tablespoon lemon juice
  1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  1 teaspoon unsalted butter

  Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12-muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat in the cornmeal, followed by the eggs.

  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat this into butter mixture, followed by the milk or cream. Very gently fold in the raspberries.

  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool.

  To ice the cooled cupcakes, place a few raspberries in a bowl and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Mash the berries with a fork to tint the juice pinkish. In a separate small mixing bowl, work together the confectioners’ sugar and butter with a fork. Strain enough of the raspberry-lemon liquid into the bowl to make a thick but fluid icing.

  Peel the paper liners from the cupcakes. Dunk the top of each cupcake into the icing then quickly invert and place on a serving platter. Set aside for a few minutes before serving.

  Makes 12 cupcakes

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• A Very Vermont Valentine

  Date: 02.05.2010 | Category: Producer Beat | Response: 0

  What do Vermont localvores give their chocolate-loving sweethearts for Valentine’s Day since the nearest cacao plantation is on the island of Jamaica, not in the southern Vermont town of Jamaica?

  

  Truffles. Chocolate truffles. From Lake Champlain Chocolates, of course.

  Most people don’t think of chocolate as a local product, but Burlington’s Lake Champlain Chocolates is working hard to change that. The company uses as many local products as possible, from butter and cream to honey to maple syrup. Because it’s not just chocolate that makes their chocolate truffles so rich, so creamy, so irresistible. The secret is in the prize-winning butter, Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery’s cultured butter to be exact.

  “We carefully select all of the ingredients that go into our chocolates and the butter we use is no exception,” says David Bolton, director of LCC’s product development.” Vermont Butter & Cheese makes a European-style cultured butter, churned from crème fraîche that gives our truffles a fuller, richer flavor.” The butter recently placed first in the country for Best Cultured Butter by the American Cheese Society. The butter is churned from cream from the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery near the Canadian border.

  With a commitment to sustainable agriculture and to creating products of the highest quality, the Lake Champlain Chocolates and Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery partnership is a natural fit. The two companies both began in the early 1980s, back when premium chocolates and cheeses came from Europe, not from a couple of northern Vermont start-ups. Both companies persevered, and now 25 years later, they are doing business together and thriving.

  Lake Champlain Chocolates are sold at the factory store on Pine Street in Burlington, as well as at City Market, Cheese Outlet Fresh Market, Healthy Living, Dakin Farm and many other local retailers. Nationwide, Lake Champlain Chocolates are sold at Whole Foods Markets, Dean & Deluca, Balducci’s and other fine foods stores.

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• Christmas Cutouts

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Emily Morgan

  This recipe is so simple, but I’ve never had these cookies come out tasting quite as good as when my Gram makes them. Growing up, it was a tradition for me to help her make a batch every year. I recommend eating the dough—it’s delicious! If you have enough dough left to bake, the cookies are best served with a glass of milk for dunking!

  Double-strength vanilla extract from Penzeys Spices is perfect here.

  2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
  ½ cup sugar
  1 egg
  ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  2½ cups flour

  Cream the butter. Gradually beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the flour. Chill the dough for at least an hour or overnight.

  Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

  Roll out the dough ¼ inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and arrange on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely then frost festively!

  Makes about 4 dozen cookies

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• Chewy Sugar Cookies

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Sarah McClain

  I absolutely love good ’ol sugar cookies. For the last three years, my almost 5-year-old niece, Iris, and I have been making sugar cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa. We tie our aprons and get to work. My poor sister—by the end of each cookie session, her kitchen is covered with a fine layer of flour. I bounce around with which recipe to use each year, but my most recent favorite is this one, courtesy of Linda McClure, from the Food Network’s Sweet Dreams episode “Cookie Jar.”

  King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Catalogue has a wide selection of colored sugars and holiday sprinkles to decorate cookies.

  2¾ cups flour
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  ½ teaspoon baking powder
  1 cup butter, at room temperature
  1½ cups sugar
  1 egg
  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  3 to 4 tablespoons buttermilk
  Colored sugar or sprinkles for decorating

  Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

  In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Add enough of the buttermilk to moisten the dough and make it soft but not wet.

  Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. With a brush or your fingers, moisten the top of each cookie with the remaining buttermilk and slightly flatten the tops. Sprinkle with the colored sugar or sprinkles. Bake until slightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes before removing to a rack to let cool completely.

  Makes about 4 dozen cookies

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• Pecan Puffs

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Kim Werner

  This recipe—passed down from my grandmother Muriel—is now a Werner family tradition. They are a cinch to make, which is lucky since these bite-sized morsels are much too easy to pop into your mouth, so they disappear quickly!

  2 cups pecans
  2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
  ¼ cup sugar
  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  2 cups cake flour
  ½ cup confectioners’ sugar

  Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Grease 2 baking sheets.

  Pulse the pecans in a blender or food processor until coarsely ground. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in the flour and ground pecans.

  Roll the dough into small balls and arrange on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 45 minutes. Roll in the confectioners’ sugar while hot. Transfer to a rack to cool completely then roll again in the sugar.

  Makes about 3 dozen cookies

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• Cranberry-Walnut Quick Bread

  Date: 11.27.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Mary’s Restaurant in Bristol, Vermont

  Chef Doug prepared this for the 2008 Feast of the Farms Harvest Celebration, held each September at the Inn at Baldwin Creek. He served it with slices of Vermont Butter & Cheese’s Coupole — a dense, aged goat cheese — but any creamy goat cheese would be delicious. Pair this with “Howl,” Magic Hat’s Black-as-Night Winter Lager, for a perfect start to a blustery evening.

  2 cups all-purpose flour
  1½ teaspoons baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  ½ teaspoon baking soda
  2 large eggs
  1 cup buttermilk
  2/3 cup brown sugar
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
  2 cups chopped cranberries
  ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, plus more for topping

  Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a large loaf pan.

  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, butter, oil and vanilla.

  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the orange zest, cranberries and walnuts; do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Top with additional walnuts, if desired.

  Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

  Makes one loaf

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