In the kitchen with Vera: Buttermilk and Molasses

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

Time: 1.5 hours, plus overnight marinating

Yield: 1 whole chicken

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken (4 lb.)
2 cups buttermilk
¼ cup, plus 2 tablespoons, vegetable oil, divided
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon molasses

DIRECTIONS

1. Butterfly the chicken by placing breast side down and using heavy duty kitchen shears to cut along both sides of backbone. Discard backbone, turn chicken over and open it like a book. Press gently to flatten.
2. Place chicken in a large freezer bag. Add buttermilk, ¼ cup oil, garlic, peppercorns, salt, rosemary, and molasses. Seal bag securely and refrigerate overnight, or up to two days.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
4. Remove chicken from marinade and place on a rack with a paper towel underneath, so excess liquid can drip off.
5. Line a roasting pan with foil and place the rack with the chicken in the pan. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
6. Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 325°F. Continue roasting until well browned and juices run clear when chicken is pierced where leg joins thigh, approximately 15-20 minutes.
7. Place chicken on a carving board and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into serving pieces.
8. Drizzle with pan juices over the chicken before serving.

Gingerbread Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls w/Browned Butter Frosting

Prep: 30 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

4 ½ teaspoons dry active yeast, 2 packets

½ cup warm water

1 ½ cups buttermilk, luke warm

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 egg, room temperature

4 to 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon fine salt

Filling:

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons molasses

Frosting:

6 tablespoons salted butter

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup toasted pecans, for garnish

Dough:

1. Pour yeast packets into warm water in a small bowl and stir. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, combine buttermilk and baking soda. To get the buttermilklukewarm, place in the microwave in 15-20 second intervals, stirring in between, untilwarm to the touch but not hot. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, and egg, whisking until eggis well beaten. Pour buttermilk mixture into this bowl and combine. Add yeast mixture and stirto combine.
4. In another bowl, combine 4 cups of flour and salt, then pour into the wet ingredients. Mix well using a wooden spoon. The mixture could be quite wet at this point. Add an additional ½ cup flour, as needed, to form a shaggy dough.
5. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently about 20 times, adding additional flour at about 1-2 tablespoons at a time, if it is overly sticky. The dough should be slightly sticky, soft, and elastic once you’ve finished kneading.
6. Shape the dough somewhat into a ball and transfer to a bowl, covered with a tea towel, for 15-30 minutes until it’s slightly risen.
7. When the dough has finished rising, punch it down and transfer onto a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a large rectangle around 14×20 inches, with a long edge toward you.
8. Line a 9×13 with parchment paper and prepare the filling.

Filling

1. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
2. In a separate small bowl, mix together the butter and molasses.
3. When the dough has finished rising (dough step 7), spread the molasses butter evenly over the dough.
4. Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the molasses butter and lightly push into the butter. Begin rolling the dough into a log by starting at the long edge and rolling up in an even, tight row. Continue rolling, keeping the log somewhat tight until it is in a full log.
5. Use a serrated knife to slice into 1.5-inch pieces. Discard the small edges.
6. Transfer sliced rolls to the prepared baking pan, placing them cut side up and leaving some room between each roll for them to rise. Cover the pan with a tea towel and let the rolls rise in a warm environment for about 1 hour until they’ve doubled in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 °F and after the dough has risen, bake for 17-20 minutes until the edges and tops are just slightly golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before frosting.

Frosting

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the butter is lightly browned, and smells toasted. Immediately remove from heat and let cool.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the cooled browned butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth. If the frosting is too thick for your liking, add milk until it reaches desired consistency.
3. Spread the frosting over warm rolls and top with toasted pecans!

Buttermilk and White Pepper Pie with Molasses

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 45-55 min

INGREDIENTS

1 9-inch refrigerated pie crust
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour

1 cup buttermilk, divided (½ cup, ½ cup)

3 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon white pepper

¼ cup salted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
2. Grease a 9-inch pie pan and lay your pie crust inside. Prick the bottoms and sides of the crust so the crust does not slip down. Crimp the edges.
3. In a bowl, whisk sugar, flour, and half of the buttermilk.
4. Add eggs, molasses, and remaining buttermilk, and whisk again.
5. Add vanilla, allspice, pepper, and melted butter, whisking a final time.
6. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and place in a preheated oven.
7. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Remove the pie from the oven.
9. Cover the crust with foil to prevent it from burning, then reduce the heat to 350° F and bake an additional 35-45 minutes until the pie is fully set.