King Arthur Baking: Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake

What do you do with a big bottle of buttermilk that is rapidly moving towards expiration?  You google for recipes with desperation, that's what.  Luckily King Arthur saved my butt and had this gem of a cake posted.  It seems super simple, but it was so darn delicious, I may have even eaten it for breakfast.  If you've got some buttermilk to use up, you could do much worse.

Note: I used buttermilk in the topping also.

Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake

From King Arthur Baking

Cake
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

Topping

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup whole milk
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
⅔ to 1 cup pecans, diced

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch cake pan.

Beat the butter and brown sugar together till smooth.  Add the eggs, beating till smooth.  Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract.  Add the baking soda, salt, and flour to the wet ingredients, beating until thoroughly combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top feels set. The cake will be golden brown and just beginning to pull away from the edges of the pan. Towards the end of the baking time, prepare the topping.

Stir the butter and the sugar together. Add the milk, salt, and pecans. The glaze will be thick but pourable.

Top the baked cake with the topping and gently spread it in an even layer across the entire surface. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven. The topping will look very runny. You can eat the cake hot, with the glaze still gooey; or let the cake sit at room temperature for a few hours, by which time the glaze will have set.

Andy (soundsyum_): Korean Pork Belly Bowl

I don't know about you, but it seems hard to find a good, meaty piece of pork belly.  Most of the slabs I see in the butcher case are 75% fat.  Now, I'm all about some bacon fat, but I definitely don't want to feel like I'm just chewing rubber.  Luckily I was able to find a piece with a better meat to fat ratio, which meant it immediately needed to be the star of the show.  I saw this little number on Instagram and knew it needed to be in my mouth.  A super fast and tasty dinner.

Korean Pork Belly Bowl

Adapted from Andy (soundsyum_) on Instagram

1 pound pork belly, sliced thickly and then cut into 2-inch squares
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons gochujang
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Cooked white sushi rice
Furikake

Mix together the garlic, honey, gochujang, soy sauce and sesame oil. Put half of the sauce into a bowl with the pork belly, and stir until all pieces of pork belly are coated. Set aside the other half of the sauce to use as a topping, if desired.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and when hot, add peanut oil. Add pork belly slices, without crowding the pan, and cook until browned lightly on both sides. Don't let it burn! Set aside cooked pieces in a warm place until all pork belly is done.

In a serving bowl, add white rice, then lay pork belly slices over the top. Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with furikake. You can also make musubi, substituting the pork belly for the usual Spam.

Makes 4 servings

Kitchen Konfidence: Warm Corn Salad with Bacon and Ramps

Moving on to another delicious ramp recipe - figured I'd throw them in with some other beautiful produce coming out of the summer fields.  The first beautiful corn and some multi-color cherry tomatoes.  The whole thing was so bright and fresh.  I would definitely make this again next season.

Warm Corn Salad with Bacon and Ramps
From Kitchen Konfidence blog

4 thick-cut slices bacon, chopped
4 ears corn, husks and silks removed
4 ramps, root ends trimmed, white and green parts separated
Kosher salt
¾ cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh lime juice, optional

Add bacon to a large pan and cook over medium heat until just crispy, about 12 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. While the bacon is cooking, cut the corn off the cob into a large bowl. Also, slice the white part of the ramps and chop up the greens; you should have a scant ½ cup chopped greens.

Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan. Return pan to medium-high heat, then add the corn, the white bulb part of the sliced ramps, and a few pinches of salt. Cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until the corn starts to turn golden brown (about 8 minutes total). Try not to move the corn around too much; let it cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, then stir.

Take the pan off the heat, then stir in chopped green leafy part of the ramps, tomatoes, reserved bacon, and chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with lime juice, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings

Bon Appétit: Ramp and Buttermilk Biscuits with Cracked Coriander

This posting shouldn't be a surprise, since I grab a bag full of ramps every time I see them pop up in the late spring/early summer.  They only show up for maybe one week, but I probably buy most of the stock.  And every year I try something new.  This time I wanted to make something southern-ish with my precious bag of goodies, and these biscuits did not disappoint.  I froze the extras just so I could continue to savor them over the next couple of weeks.

Note: I had to use about double the coriander (1 teaspoon) to get enough to even see it on the tops of the biscuits.

Ramp and Buttermilk Biscuits with Cracked Coriander
From Bon Appétit

¾ cup chilled buttermilk
¾ cup thinly sliced trimmed ramps (bulbs, stems, and green tops)
1½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
½ teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Mix buttermilk and ramps in small bowl. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in processor. Add chilled butter to processor; using on/off turns, cut in butter until fine meal forms. Transfer flour mixture to medium bowl. Add buttermilk mixture; stir until dough forms.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and press out to 7-inch round, about ½-inch thick. Using 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds. Gather dough scraps; press out to ½-inch thickness and cut out additional rounds. Transfer dough rounds to baking sheet. Brush biscuit tops with some of egg glaze. Sprinkle with cracked coriander seeds. Bake biscuits until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 12 biscuits