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If it's hot, make lassi (Indian buttermilk smoothie, basically). I don't have a recipe in front of me, but it's typically buttermilk, fruit (often mango, which is great), a little honey or, conversely, a dash of salt.

Again, no recipe in front of me, but Laurel's Kitchen has a recipe for Tennessee Corn Pone which is a layer of seasoned beans (I like pink beans w/onion, celery, cumin seed, and chipotle) topped with a layer of custardy buttermilk corn bread batter. Bake, and you have an awesome casserole dish that is very good cool or room temp.

Make ricotta cheese!!!!!!

Make biscuits, shortbread, cornbread...You can find something good! :)

Buttermilk Panna Cotta
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240370

That's why I buy powdered buttermilk. I can't use it up before it goes bad. Besides, I'd have to drive 30 miles from my small town to find a place that sells fresh buttermilk.

I second the cornbread suggestion.

You could make a sourdough starter...sometimes instead of buying buttermilk when a recipe calls for it I just make sour milk by adding some plain vinegar to milk and letting it curdle for about 15 minutes. It's usually a similar effect.

Somewhere I have a recipe for Buttermilk Pie - a very old Robert Carrier book I think - it was sort of lemony and wonderful.

I second the buttermilk panna cotta! It's silky, tangy and delicious. Serious Eats readers had lots of ideas back at the beginning of the year...

With the weather so hot (I am in Santa Barbara, hot too!) I would make a waldorf salad - this one is always good, I have made it several times and everyone loves it!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_18044,00.html

lemon-buttermilk sherbert

This is the best, I'm making it this weekend too (from the perfect scoop ---Lebovitz). Great with fresh berries.

Buttermilk is perfect for making smoothies. Break out that blender!

Fried chicken!

Yes. Ice cream. (2 cups sugar, juice of 6 large lemons, 1 quart low-fat buttermilk, 1/8 teaspoon salt)

Buttermilk biscuits.

Banana bread (see recipezaar #67256 for a five star recipe but it's too sweet with frosting).

When in doubt, put your ingredient into a search on recipezaar or allrecipes and then sort by ranking.

I have a great recipe for bran muffins that calls for buttermilk. The batter keeps well in the fridge so you can make it up in advance and just bake off a few each morning. I like to make the batter with out any fruit, then add the fruit as my whims dictate each morning. Berries and Almonds, Pineapple and coconut. I'll go dig up the recipe. Delicious despite being "bran."

Creme Fraiche!

Just buttermilk and Heavy Cream.

Once you've got the creme fraiche (ie- tomorrow) you can tweak into a delicious vanilla creme with some vanilla extract and a touch of sugar. With fresh berries (or frozen) in a Champagne Flute (or other tall, narrow glass) and you've got a fantastically delicious warm weather parfait.

Love it.

make up a bunch of waffles and stick them in the freezer for later!

homemade ranch dressing. i've never made it but i remember my mom making it when i was a kid.

http://threadtrace.wordpress.com

Just drink it! I love it.

Leftover buttermilk wouldn't be a dilemma for me. I grew up drinking it as a special treat, a habit I got from my father. I sprinkle a little celery salt on top for flavor. Yum!

Buttermilk "keeps" for a good while (or maybe I just don't notice when it goes bad?). I usually have some in the refrigerator. I use it for all kinds of baked goods and sometimes for ice cream. But sometimes I just pour a bit on top of oats (uncooked) and chopped fruit, and eat.

Buttermilk oat pancakes.

And Steenbok68, are you SURE it's the same buttermilk? When my son was little, I told him about his grandma drinking buttermilk and how much she loved it. He took a big old slug of the stuff and promptly opened his mouth and let it pour back out. According to my mother, the buttermilk she had as a kid was fresh stuff, as opposed to what we get in cartons - which has lots of additives and fillers.
Don't know if it's true, but she tasted today's buttermilk and said Yuck.

I made some buttermilk lemon cookies that were super delicious. I highly recommend them.

http://eatmakeread.com/2008/05/14/buttermilk-cookies/

I second "marys" on buttermilk shelf life. Buttermilk keeps for quite a long time, just make sure to keep it cold (back o' the fridge).
I love to use buttermilk instead of yogurt for tandoori chicken. Great on the grill. I think Mark Bittman just posted a recipe on Bitten. Ranch dressing is also great. But my all time fave... pancakes. Hand down. A must.

Cupcakes!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_138933,00.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_10107,00.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_36754,00.html

Here are some other recipes using buttermilk:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?user_recipe=false&action=searchResults&keywords=buttermilk&Submit.x=61&Submit.y=2&Submit=Submit&EXCLUDE_KEYS=&COURSES=&OCCASIONS=

Honestly, the only thing I've used it for was Red Velvet Cupcakes, or cake, whatever your wish may be ;)

I actually used the recipe that heather just posted. I did a lot of searching online for a good recipe, they turned out SO good (i more than doubled the cocoa powder though).

Cold Curried Buttermilk & Corn Soup (it is really fantastic, and perfect in hot weather!)

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=5caf3f5547b64110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=buttermilk%20pie&rsc=header_7

Otherwise, Buttermilk pie! (the recipe I use is from Martha Stewart Pies & Tarts, and does not have a cookie/graham crust, but this is pretty similar)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/buttermilk-pie?autonomy_kw=buttermilk%20pie&rsc=image_2

Or, if it's really hot, Nectarine Ginger Buttermilk Ice cream

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/nectarine-ginger-buttermilk-ice-cream?autonomy_kw=buttermilk%20pie&rsc=header_24

Devil's food cake! Though if it's too hot to bake, I second the suggestion to use it in a marinade for tandoori chicken that you can grill outside.

My suggestion is coleslaw. I have made this recipe from Food Network a few times and it is really yummy.

1 medium jicama, sliced into thin strips (about 3 cups)
1/4 head red cabbage, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
1 red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt and pepper


In a large bowl, toss together the jicama, cabbage, onion, and cilantro. In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to combine.

Make cheese. It will use a lot of the leftover buttermilk.

Heat half a gallon of regular milk (it can be whatever percent fat you want, but nonfat is not the greatest) until is just begins to boil. Make sure you watch it carefully and stir once in awhile so that it doesn't scorch. Remove the milk from the heat and add 1 quart (4 cups) of buttermilk while stirring. After awhile you will notice the curds and whey separate (it will look like cooked egg whites floating in a yellowish liquid). Add salt to taste. Drain the mixture through a sieve lined with 4 layers of cheesecloth. Once the bulk of the liquid has drained, gather the ends of the cheesecloth and twist to force the solids into a ball. Run under cold water while massaging and squeezing the ball of cheese to extract the liquid (be careful as the liquid coming off may be quite hot despite the cold water). Tie up the top of the cheesecloth and suspend the bundle from the handle of a spoon over a bowl for an hour or two to allow the rest of the liquid to drain off. The resulting "farmer's cheese" is like paneer cheese. I cut it into cubes to make saag paneer, or we crumble in into salads, and use it to bulk up pasta dishes.

Recipe = an off the top of my head rendition of Mark Bittman's fresh cheese recipe in "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"

bleu cheese dressing....

mayonaisse, blue cheese, buttermilk salt and pepper...
it's great and tastes so fresh....
about 1c mayo 1/2 buttermilk, lots blue cheese....

mmmm veggies
mmmm salad
mmmm wings...
whatever you love blue cheese for

This basic buttermilk dressing from Food and Wine mag is a huge favorite in our home, particularly with crumbled blue cheese mixed in:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/buttermilk-dressing

We generally have buttermilk left over from batches of fried chicken and/or biscuits, so those are other (obvious) suggestions. And I recently made some tasty pancakes using this recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/109480

I'm not a fan of sweets so these were perfect for my palate, and easy to assemble.

Irish Soda Bread

yes, irish soda bread........

however, for the perfect facial:

buttermilk plus baby oatmeal from the box (just because it's easier than whirling oats in your blender 'til it's finely ground) plus a squeeze of honey........you want a paste-like consistency. apply to your face.......leave for 10-15 minutes. it can be saved, covered, in the fridge.

you can also heat it for 5 seconds in the microwave, if so desired.

My vote's on Koldskål - a Danish summer favorite.

It's a cold soup that's eaten as a dessert or instead of proper dinner when the weater's warm. I'm lazy and buy it but if you have left-over buttermilk you can make it yourself.

You'll need egg yolks, vanilla sugar and regular sugar as well as buttermilk. Lots of people add a little lemon as well. There are versions without egg as well.

For 1 L. buttermilk you'll need at least two egg yolks, one tsp vanilla sugar and 3 tbsp regular granulated sugar.

Mix the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla sugar. When it's frothy add the buttermilk. Let it chill for at least an hour. Serve it with kammerjunkere - small hard vanilla bisquiets - or fresh strawberries.

make ricotta cheese (see today's post on dcfoodies.com)

yay - ta from SB! me, too :) we can have a mini-AT here now.

I second the lassi suggestion. You can whiz the b-milk in a blender with a few ice cubees and a spoonful of sugar. it's so refreshing! tastes like yogurt/kefir. add strawberries or mango if you like. mango is classic indian. the persian version is to add mint, ice, and sugar or salt. persian name is droog/dugh. something like that.

also b-milk keeps forever! if i want to make pancakes - muffins - any quick bread- i just use it in place of milk in the recipe.

also if you just have a cold glass - it's so tasty especially if you got the good stuff - not the weird stuff with yellow chunks in it but the smooth, yogurty kind like from TJs or a persian market.

oh yeah - marinating meat or chicken with cumin and coriander ... saw that on two fat ladies a long time ago.

Buttermilk panckes, add to mashed potatoes for some tang, biscuits, ranch dressing.

Currant buttermilk scones:
10 minutes prep, 20 minutes bake and you'll have just great together breakfast or tea time snack.

-2.5 c. all-purpose flour
-3 Tbsp. sugar
-1tbs. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
-6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
-3/4 c. dried currants
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
-1 c. buttermilk



A.
Preheat oven to 425°F.

B.
Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt).

C.
"Cut" (using pastry cutter or fork & knife) butter into dry ingredients, and add currants.

D.
Lightly mix wet ingredients (buttermilk & eggs) together

E.
Pour wet ingredient into dry ingredients egg and 3/4 cup buttermilk to form soft dough.

F.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Pat dough 3/4 inch thick. With 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible, gathering scraps together to use up all the dough.

G.
Bake scones 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown and cooked through.

Optional:
Brush scone tops with some more buttermilk/heavy whipping cream and sprinkle with some sugar before baking.