Safe to say I’ve baked A LOT in the last few months. Call it pandemic driven “cabin fever” or a desire to “taste a bit of home” through southern inspired cooking, the range in the parsonage has been in a constant state of pre-heating.
Today we jump right in, more recipe than theology. And what better why to do so than with biscuits.
I’ve been knocking out different takes of the lovable biscuit weekly. Of course these aren’t your Paul Hollywood biscuits, no cookies here. No what you get is something I’ve beginning to see as Blues-like. The old story goes that those that play the musical “Blues” only use about three chords, but play them distinctly differently. So goes the biscuit. Flour, lard, and a liquid and you got yourself something that will pass as a biscuit. But it’s how you bring those things together that makes all the difference.
This morning I used the guidance of southern food enthusiast and historian John Egerton. His book below is a combination of both of his mentioned passions.
This is the first time I have tried a recipe from this particular book, but not the first time I tried a go at making buttermilk biscuits. While there was some slight tweaks and adjustment on my end, I stayed pretty close to Egerton’s recommendations.
First, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
List of Ingredients straight from the book:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour, 3 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of baking soda,
6 Tbsp of shortening, 2/3 cups of buttermilk
I uses two cups of a very fine self rising-flour from the south, White Lily. I sifted it along with a bit of salt, tsp of baking powder, and 1/2 tsp of baking soda (if you prefer less of an after taste, go with cream of tartar instead of baking soda). You might be asking yourself, why the extra agents if you are already using self-rising flour…I take the Dolly Parton mantra, “the higher the biscuit, the closer to God you’ll get.” I then use a pastry cutter and mix in 6 Tbsp of some form of lard. This morning I went with a combination of solid bacon dripping and duck fat (Egerton suggests shortening). I blend those in real well before finally adding 2/3 cups of buttermilk.
Throw down some extra flour on your work surface and empty your bowl of biscuit dough on top. I like to add a little additional bit to the top of my dough and keep extra on standby for my cutter. I’m also a fan of the “pat” method instead of rolling. So pat your dough and then give it a good fold.
Do this 2 or 3 times before patting the dough out once more. You want to get the dough at your preferred thickness. I decided to go with about 1/2 an inch.
Grab whatever diameter cutter you’d like to use and dip it in some excess flour so that it wont stick. Egerton suggested a 2” cutter, but I went a bit larger, cause hey, who doesn’t like a bigger biscuit?!? You might be tempted to twist the cutter to break the dough away, but don’t. Just lightly “jiggle” it back and forth and the piece should break away just fine. Take your left over dough, shape/pat it again, and make as many as you can. These will look a bit different sense you’ve handled them more, but make great “taste testers.”
Take your cut biscuits and cook them either in a cast iron skillet or on a flat baking sheet. I like to use a baking sheet for butter milk biscuits as it changes the texture. I’m also a fan of parchment paper.
By now, your oven should be hot enough. Slide these in close to your middle rack and back for about 8-10 minutes. I like to rotate the baking sheet at the half way point to get as even of a bake as I can.
Let them cool just enough before giving them a taste. I suggest a good spreading of butter. Those in the VT area will most like reach for maple syrup. For the folks down south, might I suggest mixing a little bit of butter with sorghum syrup.
And all God’s people said?
Amen.