Buttermilk

Getting a little more adventurous in the kitchen will inevitably lead to random ingredients left over. After making the delicious scones last weekend, I had a jug of buttermilk that was certainly going to curdle in the fridge so I set out to find ways to use the rest...

I already had my pork tenderloin and roasted veggies ready to cook last night when I stumbled across a recipe for dessert that I amazingly had all of the ingredients for! Smitten Kitchen has joined the ranks of my go-to recipe sites (I was pretty much a foodnetwork.com girl until recently) and since a few of my friends love her stuff, I gave this one a whirl.

Best Birthday Cake - Smitten Kitchen

I figured this would be yummy with a basic buttercream icing... Add some food coloring and you've turned a birthday cake into a pink Valentine cake!

Ok so I had almost all of the ingredients... My cake making skills pretty much start with a pre-made box normally, because.. well, why the hell not. So "cake flour" is not something I have on hand. Thankfully my other newly found site (Joythebaker.com) had a quick fix. Joy suggested subbing cornstarch with All Purpose Flour to lighten it up and make it suitable for your cake adventures.

Cake Flour- Joy the Baker

So I sifted and sifted to aerate my cake flour and soon enough all of my ingredients were good to go. I was a little concerned with how very thick the batter was, so I splashed a few extra tbsp of buttermilk, hoping it would help.

And while my completely homemade cake baked away, the monster and I took a little break.

Harrison's newest "thing" is to half roll over from his back. Normally to see the dog or something else interesting going on behind him. Nothing has really happened yet, but we are loving seeing his little chin/neck, haha.

 Well about 30 minutes later the cake was baked and later that afternoon, it was iced and ready. Annie stopped by with some really awesome Valentine's Day gifts for us, so we cut it and I sent her home with a fourth... Turns out I should have sent her home with WAY more than that, because this cake is very dense.

Not the best icing job, but that's ok. I like the flavor of the cake, but man is is a lot. Eric cut a large piece last night and even after I took a handful of bites, we threw out most of it. If you cut it razor thin, it may be better. I guess this is what buttermilk and 2 sticks of butter get ya...

No photos of my dinner creation from last night, but I did receive some beautiful roses from my husband.

I was left with 2 cups of buttermilk in the carton, so I found something to try for tonight!

Buttermilk Roast Chicken - Smitten Kitchen

Harrison and I went straight to the kitchen this morning to whip up the marinade and get the chicken thighs in the fridge. 

Raw chicken grosses the bejesus out of me. Normally when I cook chicken, I cannot eat it. I have even had issues with pre-cooked chicken (like those rotisserie ones that I use for chicken salad and such). Not sure where this strange aversion came from, but Eric normally cooks when it's chicken. This morning, in order to curb the disgust, I was barely finished with my 1st cup of coffee and I did not actually touch any of the raw chicken. But just typing this made me gag a little, so Eric may be eating a lot of roasted chicken thighs tonight.

The marinade looks promising... Buttermilk, garlic and paprika with a little salt, pepper and sugar. It is all mixed up and chilling the rest of the day. Thankfully I have some green beans and yummy Annie's Mac & Cheese to make too, so I will not be stuck eating cereal if this chicken mess pans out the way it normally does. 

Adventures in buttermilk to be continued...