Heaven is a Biscuit

I love biscuits.  Love them.  I could eat a whole batch at one sitting, even without butter or jam or gravy.  I say I could, because believe it or not I do possess the restraint not to.

And I should probably clarify, I love good buttermilk biscuits.  Sure, I have been known to eat a fast food sausage biscuit or a chain restaurant puck covered with gravy.  If a menu has a biscuit on it, I find it hard to resist.  But my true passion is for good, down home, fresh made buttermilk biscuits.  Some people have grandmothers who make these, or live near a mom-and-pop country restaurant that produce hundreds of from-scratch, by-hand biscuits.  Someone forwarded a newspaper article to me recently about the wide variety of frozen biscuits available that are good enough that many Southern cooks have given up biscuit making altogether.  And I’ll admit, they are not all bad.

Here’s the thing though.   I make biscuits.  And I love doing it.  I think it may be because I have an image of myself as some one who can do things.  The truth is – not so much.  I can’t make fluffy white bread, or my own puff pastry, or good old-fashioned dinner rolls.  But I can make biscuits.  I like being someone who can do something that most people don’t bother with anymore.

Learning to make a good biscuit takes practice, and trial and error. Even the most experienced biscuit cook has a batch that just doesn’t work.  Maybe the weather was wrong, or the flour just wasn’t in the mood, or the cook didn’t have the right love to put into that batch.  So today I made a big batch of biscuits and carefully made notes about every step.  The recipe below may look long, but don’t be intimidated. I have tried to put in as much detail as I can to get the dough rolling.

So here are some starting tips:  I do truly recommend using soft Southern wheat flour, like White Lily (my choice) or Martha White.  I am sure you can order it online if you can’t track it down.  I use White Lily as my flour always, so I don’t have two types of all-purpose flour in the pantry. If you use regular all-purpose, you’ll still get biscuits, but if they don’t taste exactly right, that’s why.  I used to be a little afraid of shortening and made biscuits with all butter, but now I know that the shortening is really a must.  I use a combination because the boost in flavor the butter adds.  Both must be cold – right out of the fridge before you use it.  Same with the buttermilk.  I prefer cold whole buttermilk, but low-fat works as well.   Make sure you shake the bottle very well before measuring.

Buttermilk Biscuits

4 cups flour (all-purpose White Lily)

2 Tablespoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

¼ cup cold vegetable shortening

¼ cup cold unsalted butter

1 to 1 ½ cups cold well-shaken buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking pan (about 13” by 9” with 1-inch sides) with parchment paper or grease it well with shortening.

Measure out the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl that gives you lots of room to work.  Mix gently with a fork to combine and aerate the flour.

Cut the shortening and the butter into small cubes.  I cut the butter from the stick three times down the length, turn it over once, cut it three times down the length again, then across the short way.  I buy Crisco shortening in sticks as well and do the same. 

Separate the shortening and butter into cubes and sprinkle over the top of the flour mixture.  Use the fork to toss the cubes lightly in the flour to coat.  Then dip your clean fingers into some flour and mix everything together, squishing and rubbing the mixture together to combine the fats and the flour.  Don’t spend too long doing this, gentle handling is the key to a tender biscuit.  It’s okay if there are some lumps of butter or shortening left.  Many recipes describe the result of this process as looking like breadcrumbs or fine meal, and that’s okay.  I think it looks like lumpy flour.  When you pinch a bit of flour between your fingers, from anywhere in the bowl, it should stick together.

Measure out the shaken buttermilk, then pour about ¾ cup of it over the mixture.  Use the fork to fold the buttermilk into the dough, carefully incorporating the liquid.  Keep adding the buttermilk a bit at a time until you have a cohesive dough.  You may not need all the buttermilk.  Again, you don’t want to work the dough too much, but don’t leave much loose, dry flour in the bottom of the bowl.  You can use your hands to get that last bit of dry flour into the dough.

Lightly flour a work surface.  I find the counter top to be best; a board tends to slip around.  You do want to use a light hand to flour the surface, because too much will leave an unpleasant floury coating on the biscuits.  Sprinkling flour through a wire sieve is a great way to do this.

Turn the dough out onto the surface, and turn it over on itself once or twice to bring the dough together.  I do not say knead, because you don’t want to work the dough that hard.  Press the dough into a rectangle about ½ inch thick.  Just press it out lightly with your hands to an even thickness.  This method makes the top of the biscuits slightly textured, which looks very homemade, but if it bothers you, roll a lightly floured rolling pin lightly over the top.

Cut the biscuits with a round cutter or a thin rimmed glass, always cutting as close to the edge of the dough and as close together as possible to get as many biscuits as possible.  I get a good dozen in the first batch using a 2 ½ inch cutter from this recipe.  Just press the cutter down and pull back up; don’t twist or the sides won’t rise up as nice.

Place the biscuits very close together on the prepared pan, just touching each other. This helps them rise while cooking.

Now the big debate: to re-roll or not re-roll.  There will be some leftover dough.  Some people say that this dough is not worth using again, but I disagree.  Gently press the remaining dough together and press out into a ½ inch thickness and cut – you’ll get maybe three more.  Place them on the pan with the rest of the biscuits.  The first-roll dozen are the company biscuits, the last ones just for you, so remember which are which.  Any leftover scraps can be cooked separately, or rolled in cinnamon-sugar and baked off, or frankly just eaten raw.

Bake the biscuits in the hot oven for 8 – 9 minutes, rotating the pan about 6 minutes through.  Watch the biscuits carefully so they do not over-brown. These may not get too brown on top, but will be nice and soft inside.  If you want a brown top, turn the broiler on a few minutes, watching all the time with the door open until lightly golden. Take the biscuits out of the oven, then brush the tops with melted butter (about 2 Tablespoons should do it). 

Leave the biscuits to cool slightly and then eat ‘em up.  They will keep a day or so tightly wrapped, but are better toasted when not eaten fresh.

Makes 12 – 15 biscuits

Serve your fresh, hot biscuits with Tomato Gravy or Sausage Gravy.

I love clementines.  They are the perfect, bright refreshing little sunshine snack.  They are so portable, you can just carry one around all day until you need a pick-me-up.  But I also find clementines annoying, largely because around here they are sold almost exclusively in five to seven pound bags.  I cannot eat five pounds of clementines before they start to shrivel and loose their juice.  So I am sometimes reluctant to buy them, because I know I will end up with uneaten fruit sitting forlornly on my counter.

This lovely bread is one of my excess clementine solutions.  It’s incredibly easy to whip up in the food processor and results in a sweet, citrus-y treat perfect for breakfast, tea or a great snack.  This recipe started its life as away to use tangerines, but I have found this clementine incarnation the most practical.

Sticky Clementine Quick Bread

This moist sticky bread will stay delicious for three days wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.  It can also be frozen for up to a month.  Try making it in smaller loaf pans, even individual sizes, and share with your friends.

For the Quick Bread:

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon clementine zest, from two to four clementines, depending on size

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons self-rising flour

Pinch of salt

4 Tablespoons milk

For the Glaze:

4 Tablespoons clementine juice, from two to four clementines, depending on size

½ cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a standard 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with non-stick spray.

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  The butter must be soft and at room temperature.  If needed, microwave on half power in 15 second intervals until soft. Blend until the ingredients are just combined and smooth, about 1 – 2 minutes.  Do not over process.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, then tap the pans on the counter to spread out the batter.  Bake until golden and cooked through, about 15 – 20 minutes.  A tester inserted in each loaf should come out clean.

While the loaves are cooking, whisk together the juice from the clementines and the confectioner’s sugar until smooth.

When the loaf is cooked, run a knife around the edges of the loaf to loosen from the pan. Poke the top of the loaf several times with the skewer.  Drizzle the glaze over the loaf.  Do this slowly so the glaze absorbs into the loaves.  When the glaze is absorbed remove the loaf to a rack or a piece of waxed paper to finish cooling.

Let the loaf cool completely before serving.

Makes one loaf

I tend to think the best recipes, and the best dishes, are those shared among friends.  Those with tips and hints and “I always do it this way…” caveats.  My friend Holly served this bread at a recent Book Club meeting, and everyone begged for the recipe (and for her flank steak recipe as well).  She was kind enough to share not only the recipe, but also its wonderful history. 

From Holly…

I couldn’t give you the bread recipe without the story behind it.  The history of the bread recipe follows…

A dear woman, known as Muddy to her ten grandchildren (and their friends) made this bread for years and years.  At every year at Christmastime she would make scores (yes, scores plural!) of loaves and distribute them around Little Rock to all of her friends and family.

The first time I was lucky enough to taste this bread I was seven years old.  Muddy had come to our school to talk about her travels to some exotic locale and I went home with my best friend who happened to be Muddy’s granddaughter.  Muddy took us to her house where there was freshly baked bread sitting on the counter and more loaves rising.  We feasted on homemade bread and chocolate that afternoon and Muddy sent a loaf home with me.  I have been eating this bread ever since, and I think of Muddy every time I eat it.

Muddy passed away about ten years ago.  However, I am happy to report that my best friend’s mother is now known as “Muddy” to all of her grandchildren (8 at last count) and continues to bake this bread for friends and family all over Little Rock.

The recipe attached appeared in a Little Rock cookbook sometime in the late 70s or early 80s.  I think Muddy actually baked by intuition, but this recipe is a good guide.  I used to actually knead the bread, but now I just attach the dough hook on my stand mixer.  It may not be as physically satisfying, but it is quicker and the bread tastes just as good. 

Enjoy this gift of love from Muddy!

“Muddy” Bread                                                                                  

2 ½ cups warm water

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 pakage dry yeast (2 packages may be used on a cold day)

½ cup sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

2 ½ Tablepoons melted fat (I use butter), plus more for brushing

6 cups unsifted flour

Stir into 2 ½ cups warm water, 2 Tablespoons sugar and yeast.  Let mixture set 5 to 15 minutes.  Add ½ cup sugar, salt, and melted fat.  Stir in flour, cup by cup until too thick to stir, then work in by hand.  Turn onto floured board or counter: add more flour if necessary and knead at least 10 minutes.  Place in a large greased bowl and brush top with melted butter.  Cover and let rise in warm place (76 to 85 degrees) to twice its bulk (about 1 ½ hours).

Divide into 2 equal portions gently.  DO NOT KNEAD. Mold into 2 individual loaves.  Place each into a greased loaf pan (9 ¼ x 5 ¼ x 2 ¾ ).  Be sure sides and bottoms of pans are well greased.  Brush entire surface with melted butter.  Cover pans with light cloth and let rise, rounding to the top of each pan (about 1 ½ hours).  Preheat oven to 375.  Place pans on center rack of oven, allowing air space between each pan.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, then lower temp to 275 and bake 15 to 20 minutes.  Test loaf for doneness by trying to slip one out of the pan easily.  If it doesn’t, return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove from oven. Brush each loaf on top with butter while still in the pan.  Lift loaves gently out of pan.  Let cool on rack.  For a softer crust, brush sides of loaves with butter while hot.  Leave loaves uncovered while cooling.

Makes 2 loaves

The Runaway Spoon’s Tips and Hints:  Following Holly’s advice, I use the stand mixer too.  First with the paddle attachment until the dough starts getting stiff (after about 4 cups of flour).  Then I switch to the dough hook, adding the flour until the dough is cohesive and pulls into a ball.  As a true believer in the everything is better with butter philosophy, I brush on melted butter everywhere Muddy suggests it.  And it is a real treat that this recipe makes two loaves.  I eat one as soon as I can, then cool the other one, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil and freeze it.

Perhaps the most over-looked, undervalued aspect of the Thanksgiving meal is the bread basket.  Now, I love a good dinner roll and I think that’s what ends up on the table most of the time. If you are lucky, you have a family member who specializes in good, old-fashioned Parker house or cloverleaf or fantan rolls and they provide them every year.  And make no mistake, there are in fact some mighty good frozen options out in the world.  But this year, why not give that lonely bread basket some love with some homemade biscuits, flavored just right for the holiday. 

Pumpkin Sage Biscuits

You can use any size biscuit cutter you prefer.  For a big meal like Thanksgiving, a small, maybe 1 ½ inch cutter might be right.  I have also used a pumpkin shape cutter for these.

2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling)

1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

10 -12 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

6 Tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small cubes

1/3 cup buttermilk, cold and well-shaken

¾ cups pumpkin puree (from a 15 ounce can)

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a 9 inch round pan with parchment paper or spray it with cooking spray.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda to combine.  Lightly stir in the chopped sage.  Drop the cubes of cold butter into the flour and with the paddle attachment, blend on low speed until the mixture looks like coarse meal, with a few pieces of butter still visible. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and pumpkin puree.  Add to the flour mixture and blend until the dough just comes together.  If the dough is too moist, add a bit more flour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a circle about ½ inch thick.  Using a floured biscuit cutter, stamp out biscuits and transfer to the prepared pan, placing the biscuits close together and close to the sides of the pan.  Gently reform the dough and pat out again, and then cut out more biscuits.

Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes; remove from the oven and brush with the melted butter.  Return to the oven for another 2 minutes and bake until risen and lightly golden.

These will keep in an airtight container for 2 days, or you can make the dough, pat it out, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate overnight.  Cut and bake the next day.

Makes 1 dozen 2-inch biscuits

Enjoying a warm loaf of freshly baked bread right out of the oven is truly one of life’s sweet pleasures.  But if time and patience are short, try this quickie. You will truly impress your family and friends, or just treat yourself, when you mix up this quick, cheesy loaf of fresh bread for dinner.

If you’d like, substitute your favorite flavor for the paprika, including fresh chopped herbs.

Super-Quick Smoky Cheddar Loaf

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoons smoked paprika

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

¾ cup whole plain yogurt

Coarse or sea salt to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking sheet.

Put the flour, baking soda, salt and paprika in a large bowl and mix together with a fork.  Toss in the cheddar cheese and mix to combine.  Add the yogurt and stir to combine.  With lightly floured hand, knead the dough a few times (you can just do this in the bowl, or turn out onto a lightly floured surface).

Form the dough into a small round and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.  Pat the dough into an 8-inch round and sprinkle the top with coarse or sea salt.

Bake the loaf for 15 – 20 minutes until lightly golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.