Paradise Found

I’ve always loved biscuits, even if they were from a Pillsbury paper tube that you cracked on the counter to make it open.  I really didn’t experience the true Southern buttermilk biscuit until I moved to the South.  It was on a Saturday morning and I was at the Tampa Yacht Club for breakfast with friends and after we each placed our order, back came the waiter with a basket of complimentary biscuits – and a little cup of strawberry butter.

They were small biscuits and I immediately grabbed for one – opened it, and spread on a little bit of the butter.  Oh my goodness – it was the most delicious treat.  I asked the waiter who made them and what the recipe was and the answer was that the same cook’s assistant had been making them for many, many years and he didn’t have a recipe!  And ever since then, I have been in search of the perfect buttermilk biscuit.

Biscuits are traditionally served at breakfast or with a dinner, but they can also be made very small as an hors d’oeuvre (or a pick-up as they are called in the South), served with a thin slice of Smithfield Ham and a spread of mustard butter.  Mustard butter is exactly what it sounds like – a mixture of mustard and butter.  Smithfield  Ham is very salty so you only need one thin piece and the mustard butter enhances the salty ham, and  all wrapped up in a biscuit – well, heaven.

The kind of biscuit I like is moist, buttery and flakey inside.  Biscuits need to be eaten immediately after they come out of the oven and they need to be of a normal biscuit cutter size:  not too big and not too small unless they are for pick-ups.

I’ve tried Publix biscuits – large and very dry bought room temp in a plastic box.  Definitely not for me although Publix has an excellent bakery.  I’ve tried them at any restaurant that might serve them (not many do), and I’ve even tried a McDonald’s Biscuit – no comment.  I really think the best are made by home cooks so I am giving it my best try.

A biscuit is made with flour and leavening agents, butter or lard, and liquid (buttermilk, water, milk). Very simple and few ingredients.

For the flour, some recipes call for self-rising which already has baking powder and baking soda mixed in, or  all-purpose flour adding  baking powder and baking soda.  The variations on the ratios vary with some recipes calling for 4 tablespoons of baking powder to 2 cups of flour (the most) down to 1 tablespoon of flour to 2 cups of flour (the least).  That is a very, very big variable!  The baking soda is a smaller ratio.  And what type of flour?  My number one flour is found primarily in the South – White Lily.  I first learned of it when I moved to Tampa over 10 years ago and have never changed except when I can’t find it in a store – then I move to King Arthur. Just remember that self-rising flour and all-purpose flour are two very different things and can’t be interchanged, unless your recipe calls for self-rising and you only have all-purpose.  You then need to add baking powder and baking soda – and if you are not sure of the ratios you could produce an unsuccessful dish.

My advice:  read the recipe before you start baking and make sure you have the right ingredients and use White Lily brand if you can find it.

For the butter, some recipes call for salted and some unsalted (and you add salt later).  Sticking with an American brand like Land O’Lakes or Challanger is a good bet; the European butters are too expensive and too high in butterfat for biscuits.  I don’t cook or bake with salted butter because I like to add the amount of salt to taste by myself.   To add salt to an unsalted butter ingredient, the ratio is ususally 1/4 teaspoon of butter for every stick (8 oz.) of butter.  Biscuite recipes call for butter cut into small pieces – one of the best ideas I found in recipes for biscuits is grating frozen butter on the large holes of a box grater.

My advice:  Freeze the butter (salted or unsalted – your choice) before you grate or chop and use a good brand.

For the liquid,  there is not a second thought for me – it is buttermilk.  I like real, full-bodied and creamy buttermilk, not low-fat.  The richness of it is amazing and it makes a really soft dough.  I always keep a tub of Sacco Cultured Buttermilk Blen in my cabinet – it is powder that you add to waterand voila, you have a nice rich buttermilk.

My advice:  Use Marlburg Farms Buttermilk, or regular buttermilk from your local dairy – do not use skim buttermilk.  Always keep a tube of Sacco Buttermilk blend in your cabinet – remember the best pancakes are buttermilk too!

Then there is the mixing:  by hand or by Cuisinart?  Rolling or patting the dough?

My advice:  Use the Cuisnart/food processor and pat your dough rather than rolling it.  Always taste your dough mixture.  And remember, add salt to taste – it is easier to add than to take away.

Baking pan preparation goes from buttering a round cake pan to using parchment on a cookie sheet, but the point is placing all the biscuits close together which prevents the sides from getting a crust.  The buttering and the parchment prevent a burnt biscuit bottom.  But the really funny thing is every recipe has a cooking temperature that is different – everything from 495 degrees to 425 degrees – big difference!

My advice:  Use a round cake pan that is well buttered.  If you do use a cookie sheet and parchment, remember to take the biscuits out before the parchment turns brown, otherwise your bisciuts will be burned on the bottom.

The winning recipe for me was sort of a combination of all of what I read an some of what I tested,, and here it is:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

2 cups White Lily self-rising flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

l stick of frozen Land O’Lakes unsalted butter (8 oz.)

1 cup of Marlburger cultured buttermilk

Shave the stick of butter on the side of a box grater with the largest holes.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, salt and shaved butter.  Pulse processor a few times and then turn processor on and begin adding buttermilk in a slow stream.  Let the processor continue mixing until all ingredients are incorporated and one ball of dough forms (this takes a very short time).  Stop the processor and as soon as the ball forms and remove from bowl.

On a floured surface, (I used regular all-purpose flour) form dough into a rectangle.  Pat dough into a rectangle down to about  10″ x 5″ and about 1″ thick.  Fold the dough in half (top to bottom) and pat dough to be  the same size rectangle with the same thickness.    Repeat process four to four times, always resulting in a 10″ x 5″ rectangle. Cut into biscuits with a  3″ round cookie or biscuit cutter.  Do not move cutter back and forth – press down once and remove dough.  Place in a 9″ round cake pan that has been well buttered.  You should get 6 biscuits depending on how big the biscuits are cut.  Fit into the pan with all edges touch.  You call also cut the dough in squares if you do not have a biscuit or cookie cutter.

Bake 12 minutes – checking for golden (not brown) tops.  Be very careful of you baking time  because the bottoms of the biscuits will burn quickly after 12 minutes and, of course, depending on your oven.  I did not use the convection oven for this recipe.

Remove immediately from pan on to a cutting board or counter and serve while steaming hot.  If prepared properly you don’t need a knife to break open a biscuit; it will pull apart cleanly and be ready for butter, jam eggs or whatever you would like to use as a filling.

After my testings, I believe this recipe makes the most flaky, moist, chubby and delicious biscuits.  The best way for my cooking to be taste-tested is by Doug. He thought previous recipes were too tough and too hard on the bottom or  too salty, or too flat, but the recipe today – pictured above – was rated A+++.

There is nothing like home-cooking, and baking is even more a delight.  Baking  it is a work of science.  Ingredients and how they react to each other, brands, cooking times, leavening, etc. must be precise, or you can ruin a recipe.  Cooking is much more free-style and not too many ways you can ruin something – unless you over salt.  Remember:  always taste your raw, final ingredients in baking or cooking.  You will most definately know if you need to make an adjustment.

These days Doug addresses me a “chef” when he enters the kitchen and doesn’t come in unless I invite him  (I’m smiling as I write this.)  He loves to mix a pot for me, or taste a sauce, and he is very respectful  of my process – and my foibles!  He is a very good taster though and can always recommend a wine to accompany anythng – even a biscuit – in this case, Chardonnay!

Till next time,

E