3 ways to use up extra buttermilk

I’ve never understood why buttermilk is sold in litre cartons instead, of, say, 500 mL or even 250 mL. Most recipes call for maybe a cup of it and you’re left with most of a carton sitting in the fridge until it goes bad or you finally find something to make with it.

We’ve had leftover buttermilk quite frequently these days and I’ve dug up a few recipes for using it up:

• Buttermilk granita
This is the most recent and it’s easy and fabulous. It’s a good counterpoint to sitting at your computer for several hours – getting up every 30 minutes to stir is a nice break. It’s also flexible, so you can make it relative to however much buttermilk you have. I made it plain, without the strawberries (although they look good), and served it with a chocolate balsamic sauce on top. I also used raw sugar because I was out of white and it was just as good – and I reduced to two tablespoons for 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk.

• Corn muffins
These are always a hit when I make them, and they’re equally good served with savoury (huevos rancheros?) or sweet (raspberry jam) ingredients. You can get away with 1/2 cup of whole-wheat flour.

• Blue cheese dressing
This is where the leftover buttermilk keeps coming from, and it’s a very good dressing. We’ve been tossing it over a mix of baby spinach, pepitas/pumpkinseeds and hardboiled eggs.

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Tasty whole wheat apple muffins

Plan B delivered this week: our delivery included three kinds of squash, potatoes, kale, spinach, lettuce and tons of apples. They’re fantastic fresh but we’re having friends over for brunch tomorrow so I made a batch of whole wheat apple muffins from Smitten Kitchen. They’re really good, and I love that they have chunks of apple instead of grated apple (easier to prep and more apple flavour in the muffins). She claims they keep well for several days so I hope that’s true – even with guests, 16 muffins is a lot!

We’re also going to try this puffed German apple pancake, and serve both with a cherry sauce from cherries I froze in the summer.

And speaking of local breakfasts, I had a great brunch at Calico Cafe this morning – butternut squash and pecan waffles with an apple compote and maple syrup. If you haven’t made your way there yet, I highly recommend it – this is the second great meal I’ve had there.

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