Buttermilk – FoodWatcher

Blackberry Red Wine Chocolate Cake

This boozy twist on a classic chocolate layer cake is made with red wine for a rich and robust chocolate cake with unique fruity undertones and an incredible depth of flavor unlike any other chocolate cake you’ve had before. Three layers of moist, deeply chocolate cake, with blackberry preserves and a fluffy vanilla bean buttercream […]

The post Blackberry Red Wine Chocolate Cake first appeared on Love and Olive Oil.

Three layers of moist, deeply chocolate cake, with blackberry preserves and a fluffy vanilla bean buttercream in between, and a drizzle of dark chocolate glaze for a dramatic effect that’s as easy as it is impressive. Top it with some gold-brushed blackberries for some serious flair!

Blackberry Red Wine Chocolate Cake with shiny chocolate glaze dripping down the sides, with gold-dusted blackberries as decoration.

Taylor recently celebrated a milestone birthday, and it felt appropriate to re-make one of our all-time favorite cake recipes (and yours too!) This cake was first made back in 2012, 11 years ago to the day actually (scroll down to the bottom to see the original photos if you’re looking for a laugh). Since then it’s been made and loved by countless readers and fans, for birthdays and celebrations and non-celebrations alike.

Why is it so beloved? Other than being gosh darn delicious, and easy to boot, I suspect the glamor of red wine adds to the mystique of this recipe. It just sounds fancy, doesn’t it? At its most basic it is a classic chocolate layer cake, yes, but the red wine brings out the fruity notes of the chocolate, adding a unique depth of flavor that makes for a truly unforgettable cake. Add to that a layer of blackberry preserves, a fluffy vanilla bean buttercream, and a drizzle of dark chocolate glaze… what you end up with is simply perfection (frankly there’s no other way to put it).

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Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

This Chicken and Biscuit Casserole is cozy, comforting, super versatile, and delicious enough to become a family favorite dinner.

The post Chicken and Biscuit Casserole appeared first on Budget Bytes.

This recipe for Chicken and Biscuit Casserole is a spin on one I’ve been making for friends and family since I had my first kitchen in college. Back in those days—we called it “Sexy Casserole,” because it’s the perfect balance between a vegetable-heavy meal and an indulgent splurge. I’m still making this casserole today because it is endlessly versatile—a true “everything but the kitchen sink” kind of meal—and always satisfying.

Overhead view of cooked chicken and biscuit casserole with a serving spoon

**Can I substitute…everything?**

Yes, you can substitute just about every ingredient in this recipe! That’s why this casserole is an absolute stunner! It can be made at the drop of a hat with whatever you happen to have on hand. For instance:

Ground chicken: Sub it for ground turkey, pork or beef.
Vegetables: Use whatever you have in the crisper or freezer. (You just want about 4 cups of chopped vegetables, total.)
Seasonings: You can use any of your favorite herbs, spices, or seasoning blends.
Cheese: Try parmesan or pecorino, white cheddar, asiago – or even without cheese!

Do I have to make the biscuits from scratch?

Nope! You don’t have to make the biscuits from scratch! You can buy a boxed mix and add the cheese to the dry ingredients before following the package instructions for suggested bake times and temperatures. Or, make it even easier, and top it with canned biscuits straight from the tube!

Do I really need to use buttermilk?

Nope! Buttermilk isn’t necessary. Any dairy products like heavy cream, half & half, or whole milk will work, too! You can also make a wonderful buttermilk substitute by stirring ¼ tsp lemon juice into ½ cup of milk or cream and let it sit for 1-2 minutes. (And like magic, you have buttermilk!)

If you don’t want to buy buttermilk just for this recipe, you can use the leftovers to make Soda Bread or Blueberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake. Or freeze the leftover buttermilk to use later!

Can I make chicken and biscuit casserole in one pot or pan?

Absolutely! This casserole can be baked right in the same skillet you used on the stovetop–IF that skillet is oven-safe at high temperatures. (No plastic handles, people!) Cast iron or stainless steel skillets are both great options.

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

This Chicken and Biscuit Casserole is cozy, comforting, super versatile, and delicious enough to become a family favorite dinner.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Southern

Total Cost $8.75 recipe / $1.46 serving

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings

Calories 391kcal

Author Marion – Budget Bytes

Ingredients

Casserole Base

4 Tbsp salted butter, divided $0.60
1 lb. ground chicken $4.49
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes $0.05
1 tsp rubbed sage $0.10
1/4 tsp salt $0.02
1/4 tsp black pepper $0.02
1 yellow onion, diced $0.37
2 cloves garlic, minced $0.16
3 carrots, sliced $0.19
3 stalks celery, sliced $0.48
1 cup frozen corn $0.47
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour $0.02
1 1/2 cups chicken broth* $0.18

Biscuit Topping

3 Tbsp salted butter, divided $0.45
1/2 cup buttermilk $0.32
2/3 cup all-purpose flour $0.12
1 tsp baking powder $0.04
1/2 tsp salt $0.02
1/2 tsp granulated sugar $0.01
1/4 tsp black pepper $0.02
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese $0.62

Instructions

Casserole Base

Dice the onion, carrots, and celery. Mince the garlic, and set the vegetables aside.
Add 1 Tbsp of butter to a deep-sided skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the ground chicken to the skillet and season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and sage.
Let the chicken cook, stirring only occasionally to allow time for the chicken to brown. Once fully cooked, remove the chicken from the skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving the extra fat in the pan. If no fat remains, add an additional 1 Tbsp of butter.
After removing the chicken from the skillet, add the diced onion to the skillet. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add chopped carrots, celery, corn, garlic, red pepper flakes, rubbed sage, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables for about 5 minutes until the carrots are slightly soft.
Break the chicken into smaller pieces and add back to the skillet and stir to combine.
Add 2 Tbsp of butter and 2 Tbsp of flour to the skillet. Stir and cook this mixture for about 2 minutes, continuing to stir until the butter has melted and the flour is coating the vegetables.
Stir in the chicken broth, making sure to dissolve all of the flour and browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Bring the broth to a simmer, at which point the broth will thicken slightly. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Remove the skillet from heat and transfer the mixture to a casserole dish. Set aside.

Biscuit Topping

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Add the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Sprinkle grated cheese into dry ingredients and toss to coat.
Melt 2 Tbsp of butter and stir it into the buttermilk. (It’s okay if the mixture curdles.) Fold the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Drop dollops of the biscuit mixture evenly around the top of the casserole.
Cut 1 Tbsp of chilled butter into very small pieces and sprinkle over the biscuits.
Bake the casserole for about 25 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*We use Better Than Bouillon to make our broth. If using a low-sodium broth you may need to add more salt to the casserole base for taste.

Nutrition

Close up image of baked chicken and biscuit casserole

How to Make Chicken and biscuit casserole – Step by Step Photos

Overhead view of ground chicken browning in a deep-sided skillet.

Add 1 Tbsp of butter to a skillet and melt over medium heat. Add 1 lb. of ground chicken to the skillet and season it with 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. rubbed sage, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until brown. Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving the extra fat behind.

Overhead of diced onion, minced garlic, sliced carrots, celery and frozen uncooked in a skillet. — If there is no extra fat left once you remove the chicken from the skillet, melt an additional 1 Tbsp of butter in the skillet. Add the diced yellow onions to the skillet and saute until they are translucent (2-3 minutes). Add 3 sliced carrots, 3 sliced celery stalks, 1 cup of frozen corn, and 2 minced garlic cloves, and season with another pinch of salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables until the carrots are slightly soft (about 5 minutes).

Overhead view of cooking chicken and biscuit casserole base with butter and flour on top.

Break the ground chicken into smaller pieces, add back to the skillet, and stir to combine. Add 2 Tbsp of butter and 2 Tbsp of flour to the skillet and stir. Continue to stir and cook until all the butter has melted and the flour coats the vegetables (about 2 minutes).

Overhead view of cook pouring chicken broth into chicken and biscuit casserole base cooking in a skillet.

Stir in 1½ cups of chicken broth, making sure to dissolve all of the flour and browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.

Overhead view of the finished chicken and biscuit casserole base with a serving spoon to show that the broth reduced but is still slightly soupy.

Bring the broth up to a simmer so it has a chance to thicken slightly (about 10 minutes). It will still be slightly soupy! Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Overhead view of dry ingredients to make cheddar biscuits with cheese coated in the flour. — Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a medium bowl, combine 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp granulated sugar, and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Whisk to combine. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup grated cheese and toss to coat.

Overhead shot of cook pouring melted butter into a glass measuring cup containing some buttermilk.

Melt 2 Tbsp of butter and stir it into a 1/2 cup of buttermilk. (It’s okay if the mixture curdles.)

Cook pours mixed buttermilk and melted butter into a while bowl with dry ingredients to make cheddar biscuits.

Fold the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients.

Overhead view of raw cheddar drop biscuit dough with a red spatula.

Stir until just combined, taking care not to overwork the mixture.

Overhead view of cooked chicken and biscuit casserole base in a white casserole dish with uncooked cheddar biscuits dropped on top. There are tiny pieces of butter on top of each biscuit. — Drop dollops of biscuit mixture evenly around the top of the casserole. Cut 1 tablespoon of chilled butter into very small pieces and on top of the biscuits.

Overhead view of baked chicken and biscuit casserole in a white casserole dish that's ready to be served. — Bake the casserole for about 25 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Side view of cooked chicken and biscuit casserole in a white casserole dish. — “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit” — that looks delicious!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Perfect Fall Breakfast We love making pancakes, waffles, and French toast for breakfast every weekend. It is one of our favorite family traditions. During the fall months, I like to switch things up and make our favorite Pumpkin Pancakes. The pancakes …

Easy Soda Bread

This easy soda bread recipe is budget-friendly and endlessly adaptable. It’s also a stone-cold stunner. It got props from Gordon Ramsay!

The post Easy Soda Bread appeared first on Budget Bytes.

When I couldn’t afford a $4 loaf of bread on my $10-a-day food budget, I turned to soda bread. I would make a loaf every morning, slice it, and top it with scrambled eggs, mashed avocado, or butter. I’d serve it as a partner in crime with simple salads and soups. I even used it on an episode of MasterChef (I competed on Season 3), and Gordon Ramsay loved it. This recipe is very easy to put together and incredibly budget-friendly. Get ready to put this one in heavy rotation!

What’s Special About Soda Bread?

Soda bread is a quick bread with a hard outer crust and a dense, tight crumb. Quick breads are leavened with baking powder or soda instead of yeast. So, if you’ve had a muffin, cornbread, biscuits, or banana bread, you’ve had quick bread. Soda bread is leavened with baking soda, which gives it its namesake.

What You Need

You need just 4 ingredients to make soda bread: flour, baking soda, a little salt, and buttermilk. The baking soda reacts with the acidity of the buttermilk, creating tiny bubbles in the dough, giving soda bread its signature texture. You don’t even need to knead it. It’s so easy that I could make it with a two-year-old at my knees screaming for Yo Gabba Gabba. (If you are currently sharing space with a two-year-old, my thoughts and prayers are with you. #neveragain)

Why Don’t You Need To Knead It?

You knead bread to develop gluten strands, rubberband-like proteins that help bread rise. They create a net that traps all of the gas developed by bread made with yeast. Because soda bread is not yeasted bread, kneading it just makes it dense and hard. To develop its trademark soft crumb, you touch the dough as little as possible while shaping it.

Where Does This Recipe Come From?

Many cultures worldwide make some form of soda bread, and it is thought to have been created by Native Americans. However, the most commonly known recipe is for Irish soda bread. It became a popular recipe in Ireland during the famine when bread had to be made from cheap ingredients: soft wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and sour milk.

What Else Can I Add To Soda Bread?

Traditionally, Irish soda bread is just four ingredients. But Irish Americans add currants or caraway seeds to the dough. You can also add a few teaspoons of citrus zest or your favorite fresh herbs. For a fun twist, try it with Everything Bagel seasoning. It’s truly a blank canvas, so don’t be scared to experiment with your favorite flavors.

What To Serve With Soda Bread

Soda bread is perfect for sopping up that last bit of sauce or stew. For a perfect pairing, check out these recipes.

Easy Soda Bread

This Easy Soda Bread recipe is budget-friendly, and endlessly adaptable. It's also a stone-cold stunner. It got props from Gordon Ramsay!

Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Irish

Total Cost $0.66 recipe / $0.08 serving

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings slices

Calories 132kcal

Author Monti – Budget Bytes