Five Uses for Leftover Buttermilk

[ PART TWO ]

Sound familiar? You need a small amount of buttermilk for some recipe you're making, but it's tough if not impossible to find small containers of buttermilk at the grocery store. Usually a quart is the smallest they have, and even then, you might as well buy the half gallon for only a few cents more. So most of a carton sits in your fridge, untouched until it's too old to be useful, then heads straight down the drain. Food waste... we hate it!

Fortunately, there's several easy and tasty things you can do with that leftover buttermilk, and Foodie is delighted to run them down for you. Our series continues...

3. FRIED CHICKEN

Who doesn't like fried chicken? Sure, it's easy enough to pick up takeout, but for an extra special treat, make it yourself sometime. An overnight soak in buttermilk makes sure the pieces stay juicy and flavorful.

PRETZEL & CORNFLAKE CRUSTED FRIED CHICKEN

Cut up a fryer into 8 or 10 pieces (Leave breasts whole or cut them in half so they'll cook faster). Place in a large ziplock bag and coat with:

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Massage to combine, then allow to soak overnight, agitating occasionally to ensure even penetration. Remove to a colander in the sink and allow to drain. Place a large, heavy skillet over low heat and add:

• 1 stick (8 tbs) shortening
• 1/2 cup canola oil

Combine in a small bowl:

• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  

In a food processor or grinder, pulse to a medium crumb:

• 1 1/2 cup crushed cornflakes
• 1/2 cup crushed pretzels

Combine with:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

When the chicken is well drained, sprinkle on the spice mixture and toss to distribute evenly. Place the flour mixture into a shallow pan and add the well drained and seasoned chicken pieces one at a time and coat thoroughly with the mixture, pressing it in to adhere but shaking off excess. Place on a plate or a pan and let rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the coating to firm up.

Raise the heat on your pan and monitor the temperature with a thermometer. Add the chicken to the pan after the fat passes 300° starting with the largest pieces, ending with the smaller ones. Place them in the pan skin side down. The oil will cool down as you add the chicken. Ideally the chicken will fry at about 275–300°. This should insure that it cooks through by the time the skin becomes crispy and golden brown. It should take about 10 minutes for the internal temperature to reach 160-165°.

You could really fry in any sort of oil you like... canola, peanut or vegetable oil, (not olive!) or even lard. We like shortening because it tends to obscure most of that "fried" food smell that can linger in your kitchen.

Remove the chicken from the oil as it reaches temperature and drain on a wire rack over a sheet pan rather than on paper towels or bags. This will preserve the crispiness of the crust. Enjoy warm or cold...

Five Uses for Leftover Buttermilk

[ PART ONE ]

Sound familiar? You need a small amount of buttermilk for some recipe you're making, but it's tough if not impossible to find small containers of buttermilk at the grocery store. Usually a quart is the smallest they have, and even then, the half gallon is only a few cents more. So most of a carton sits in your fridge, untouched until it's too old to be useful, then heads straight down the drain. Food waste... we hate it!

Fortunately, there's several easy and tasty things you can do with that leftover buttermilk, andFoodie is delighted to run them down for you. We'll start with perhaps the simplest...

1. & 2. HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSINGS

Ranch Dressing

Among us food nerds, Ranch Dressing is a controversial topic. Some people love it; among those folks a few have an unfortunate tendency to drown far too many foodstuffs with far too much of it. Others can't stand it; we have a chef friend who refers to ranch as 'fat white girl gravy', and longs for the day when she can open her own restaurant where the substance will be banned. Our personal views are far less extreme: we're not huge fans of it, but we don't hate it. Okay, we admit we might get a little offended if you offer it to us alongside buffalo wings, and it's pretty unlikely we'll ever be elected mayor of Hidden Valley, but we do find occasional uses for it. Probably our favorite is simply alongside crudité.

But if you're going to have ranch, why not make it yourself? Our Foodie version certainly tastes noticeably better than bottled versions we've tried.

FOODIE RANCH DRESSING

• 1/2 clove of garlic (or 1 small clove)
• large pinch of coarse kosher salt

Smash together against board with side of chef's knife until a paste is formed. Transfer to a jar with a tight lid, or to a bowl and whisk in ingredients. Add:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3 tbs sour cream (Light or fat free is fine if you prefer.)
• 1 tsp mayonnaise (Again, light or fat free is fine if you prefer.)
• Juice of half a small lime
• 1 tsp of finely chopped fresh parsley
• scant 1/2 tsp of finely chopped fresh chives
• 1 tsp grated parmesan (We usually prefer the real thing but in this case canned works fine.)
• 1 tsp sugar
• season to taste with salt and pepper (It's true that you start with salt and garlic, but we've found that this still needs a good pinch of salt at the end to taste properly seasoned.)

Shake vigorously for several moments until well combined. Can be used immediately, but tastes better if covered and refrigerated for at least an hour. Using dried herbs is not recommended, but if you feel you must, cut the amounts in half.

Blue Cheese Dressing

Is it blue or bleu? You could argue that it depends on whether you use a domestic or imported cheese, but we'd counter that either is fine, depending on how fancy you're feeling. Similar to ranch, but more popular in our kitchen, blue cheese dressing lends itself to a number of uses. It's essential with buffalo chicken wings, great for dunking pizza crusts, and enjoyable atop a fresh green salad (though it can be a bit heavy; when using bottled versions we tend to use a small amount and then splash the salad with seasoned rice wine vinegar for a lighter, vinaigrette type of feeling). Here's our favorite personal version:

FOODIE BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

This can be quickly made in a food processor, but can easily be made by hand. The key is to make sure the garlic is completely mashed to a paste before adding the other ingredients. A wire whisk and a little elbow grease will quickly homogenize everything after you add the cheese.

• 1 clove of garlic (or 2 small cloves)
• large pinch of coarse kosher salt

Smash together against board with side of chef's knife until a paste is formed, then transfer to a bowl or processor. Add:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbs sour cream
• 2 tbs mayonnaise
• juice of half a lemon (or substitute lime)
• 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• pinch of black pepper

Pulse to combine thoroughly, or beat until smooth. Crumble in:

• 1/3 cup blue cheese (or more, depending on taste)

Pulse to combine, or mix until cheese chunks are evenly distributed and about pea-sized at largest. Best after chilling for at least an hour.

[ NEXT: FRIED CHICKEN ]