Buttermilk Pot Roast and Deluxe Corn Muffins

So this is what we had last night. I have had a roast in the freezer from the farm for I don't know how long, so when I saw this recipe I thought it would be a good time to use it up. This is from a Taste of Home Magazine (Dec/Jan '09). My mil moved to FL and had the address for them changed to my house. But I have to save them for her, so I can't write in them and cut them up like I do with my Simple & Delicious ones. The muffin recipe was right next to the pot roast recipe, that's why 2 recipes in one night.

Buttermilk Pot Roast
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 boneless beef chuck roast, about 3 1/2 pounds (ours was actually a rump roast)
4 1/2 tsp onion soup mix
1/4 tsp pepper
8 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
8 medium carrots, halved (I just bought those baby carrots that are ready to eat and dumped a bunch in)
8 small onions, cut into wedges
1 cup buttermilk

Spread mustard over roast; place in a dutch oven. Sprinkle with soup mix and pepper. Arrange vegetables around roast; pour buttermilk over the top. Cover and bake @ 350 for 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Transfer meat and vegetables to serving platter and keep warm. Skim fat from drippings; bring to a boil. Cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup (like you can tell that by looking but whatever); serve with beef and vegetables.

So this pot roast had a tang I didn't really care for. I think it must have been the buttermilk. I think buttermilk is kind of like sour milk. Hold on I'm going to google it.......yep. Straight from a Taste of Home website, it says you can substitute vinegar or lemon juice with milk if you don't have buttermilk, and I already know that makes sour milk, because in my mom's pancake recipe it calls for "sour milk" and that's what you do to make it. So anyway it gave the roast a tang that tasted off to me. The vegetables had a similar taste. It wasn't bad, really, just like an undertaste that was like "hmmmm, is the meat bad? I mean I've had it in the freezer for awhile but it's cold down there..." etc. Then I remembered that buttermilk is sour milk. So I don't know. I'm not keeping this recipe. Whose idea was it ever to cook with sour milk to begin with? Probably a frugal housewife ages ago was like "well I'm not wasting this milk even if it has gone sour" and now it appears in a bunch of recipes.

Deluxe Corn Muffins
1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (does TOH own stock in it?)
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup whole kernel corn
Honey butter:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 to 3 tbsp honey

In a large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in corn. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake @ 400 for 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack. In a small bowl, beat butter and honey until blended. Serve with muffins.

The kids were excited about muffins, because they love carbs (like me). Sam ate his, and with his mouth still full of his first bite, said "you didn't tell me it had real corn in it!" I said, they are CORN muffins. But Steve was taken aback as well. It did seem a bit weird, having kernels of corn stuck to your teeth while you're eating a normally delightful muffin. Nathan was happy to peel the muffin paper off of his, but that's as far as he got. Emma did eat hers. I had 2. But I think I will not keep this recipe because the corn was a bit off-putting. But the honey butter was sooo good! That's why I had the 2nd muffin, because I liked the honey butter so well. So that little part I will keep (as if I can't remember butter + honey, but I will forget the proportions so I'll have to put it in my book. Probaby in the appetizer section, I guess).