Biscuits - Southern style
Holidays, to me, are an occasion for biscuits. Do not speak to me of store-bought mixes or those things in a cardboard cylinder. I'm talking homemade biscuits.
Generally speaking there are 2 kinds of biscuits: drop-style and rolled-and-cut. Both are good (when neither one of them are made from a store-bought mix or taken from a cardboard cylinder), but this particular recipe is for the good ol' fashioned Southern drop-style.
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour (sifted, made from winter wheat if you can find it)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1-1/4 cup milk (not buttermilk)
Before you start mixing, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Trust me. You want that oven hot.
In your mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. I like to do this with a whisk, which helps incorporate at least a little air. Cut in the shortening. I prefer a pastry blender, but you can do this with 2 knives or a fork or even your fingers. Pour in the milk. This is usually the moment where I walk away and get a cookie sheet, either Teflon or with baking parchment on it. (I prefer to use baking parchment even with a non-stick cookie sheet. It's extra insurance.) When I have the cookie sheet placed on the counter, I stir in the milk. Do not overbeat! Stir it in gently. Did I mention you shouldn't overbeat? This will be a wet dough, about the consistency of cottage cheese. Resist the urge to add more flour.
For shaping, I like to use a #20 (3 tablespoon) disher, but a large spoon will do. Drop the biscuits onto the cookie sheet, then bake for 8-10 minutes. These will generally be a very pale gold or off-white on the top and a golden brown on the bottom. Best of all, they are fluffy and delicate and delicious.
You probably won't have much luck breaking these in half and putting a sausage in between the halves, but they're great with a little butter on top or a little honey, or heck, just plain. Also good for mopping up sawmill gravy, or to go with steak and eggs.
Generally speaking there are 2 kinds of biscuits: drop-style and rolled-and-cut. Both are good (when neither one of them are made from a store-bought mix or taken from a cardboard cylinder), but this particular recipe is for the good ol' fashioned Southern drop-style.
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour (sifted, made from winter wheat if you can find it)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1-1/4 cup milk (not buttermilk)
Before you start mixing, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Trust me. You want that oven hot.
In your mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. I like to do this with a whisk, which helps incorporate at least a little air. Cut in the shortening. I prefer a pastry blender, but you can do this with 2 knives or a fork or even your fingers. Pour in the milk. This is usually the moment where I walk away and get a cookie sheet, either Teflon or with baking parchment on it. (I prefer to use baking parchment even with a non-stick cookie sheet. It's extra insurance.) When I have the cookie sheet placed on the counter, I stir in the milk. Do not overbeat! Stir it in gently. Did I mention you shouldn't overbeat? This will be a wet dough, about the consistency of cottage cheese. Resist the urge to add more flour.
For shaping, I like to use a #20 (3 tablespoon) disher, but a large spoon will do. Drop the biscuits onto the cookie sheet, then bake for 8-10 minutes. These will generally be a very pale gold or off-white on the top and a golden brown on the bottom. Best of all, they are fluffy and delicate and delicious.
You probably won't have much luck breaking these in half and putting a sausage in between the halves, but they're great with a little butter on top or a little honey, or heck, just plain. Also good for mopping up sawmill gravy, or to go with steak and eggs.