Dishing It Up!

by Victoria Mattson

Victoria Mattson is a local cook, confectionaire and writer. She offers healthy and nutritious recipes and food tips in each issue of North County Outlook. Phone (360) 658-9903 or e-mail victoria@northcountyoutlook.com.

A good friend came over to teach me how to make a traditional dish from her homeland. One of the required ingredients was buttermilk. I don't stock buttermilk in my fridge, nor do I have any need for leftover. So I asked if we could just substitute milk and vinegar, a commonly known equivalent. The short answer was no.

So afterwards I read up on buttermilk and experimented with recipes that could easily be made with the leftover buttermilk and whatever I had in my pantry.

Originally, buttermilk was the liquid that was left behind after churning the butter out of cream. Today cultured buttermilk is made by adding lactic acid to pasteurized and homogenized (usually low fat) milk. Buttermilk has the consistency of light cream and tastes tart, similar to plain yogurt. The action of lactic acid causes its tartness and its thickened nature.

The primary nutritional benefit of buttermilk is the presence of the lactic acid bacteria, which has a positive digestive effect, similar to that found with yogurt. It is lower in fat and calories than whole milk. It is also high in potassium, vitamin B12, calcium, and riboflavin and is a good source of phosphorus.

The positive digestive effects along with a "mysterious flavoring" are the long answers about why we could not substitute for buttermilk. Turns out, there are many wonderful cakes, muffins and breads made with buttermilk. Pairing ingredients found in my pantry with the leftover buttermilk was easy and resulted in this delicious pancake recipe.



Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes



1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 to 1/2 cup low fat milk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil



In a large bowl, combine the flours, cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, 1/4 cup milk and vegetable oil. Blend the two mixtures together. Add up to 1/4 cup milk if thinner batter is desired. Bake on a greased griddle until the edges are golden and bubbles rise to the surface.

Freeze left-over pancakes flat to quickly re-heat in the microwave from frozen.



Victoria is sharing a kitchen with Pacific Rim Supper Club providing Let's Dish! ready-to-cook meals for pick-up or delivery. Phone 360-658-9903 or visit www.letsdish.com.