I am fortunate to have a history of long-living women in my family. In fact, my Great Grandma passed away just a few years ago. It makes me feel like time is on my side, you know? I am also fortunate that I was able to experience her cooking. You see, Flora came from a tiny town in the middle-of-nowhere Tennessee. And as was the case with most southern women, she prided herself on her cooking. And in her case, that pride was justified. Her chicken and dumplings and chocolate pies are some best things I have ever eaten, and I have never ever tasted their equals.
Her biscuits were also amazing, but I am proud to say that not only have I equaled them, I am pretty sure I have surpassed them. That probably has Flora squirming in the grave, but you know what? She was also kind of a bitch, so....oh well.
A few notes about biscuits...you have 3 options when it comes to fat: butter, shortening, and lard. All butter...the taste is great, but in my esteemed biscuit opinion, the texture is off. They are too dense and heavy. All shortening...the texture is perfect, but then the flavor suffers. My resolution...lard, with a little butter too for the flavor. If lard freaks you out, sub with shortening, but you really should give it a go.
Also...the less you handle the dough, the fluffier these will be. After cutting the first time, I will re-form the dough and cut more, but these second-pass biscuits will not be quite as tender as the first. And skip the third pass....those guys will be worthless. Or you could just avoid this problem by going rogue and making square biscuits. Also, make sure everything is really cold, it really does make a difference.
Sometimes I like to add in some flavor crystals, just to kick things up a notch. In this case I added lots of cracked black pepper and fresh rosemary. Other ideas are sliced green onions and cheddar cheese, blue cheese, lemon zest and thyme, or just plain old fashioned awesome biscuits.
Better Than Flora's Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups flour (all-purpose or cake flour)
1 TB baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 TB lard
2 TB I salted butter (plus more to melt and brush on the top)
1 cup cold buttermilk
1. Heat oven to 450. Cut butter and lard into small chunks and put them in the freezer to make sure they are really really cold. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and shortening, and using a fork and a knife, cut them into the flour until incorporated into the flour and the mixture looks like tiny crumbs or gravel. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.
2. Turn the dough out onto a really well-floured surface and roll until about 1/2 - 1 inches thick, fold the dough in half on top of itself and press/roll it lightly so it sticks together. This dough is going to be really sticky, so be generous with the flour. Cut dough into rounds using a floured biscuit cutter or a glass (don't twist the cutter, push is straight down and pull it straight up). Or use a sharp knife and cut the dough into squares. Repeat if desired with any excess dough.
3. Place biscuits onto ungreased baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with melted butter. Bake until the tops are golden brown, ~18 minutes.
I am fortunate to have a history of long-living women in my family. In fact, my Great Grandma passed away just a few years ago. It makes me feel like time is on my side, you know? I am also fortunate that I was able to experience her cooking. You see, Flora came from a tiny town in the middle-of-nowhere Tennessee. And as was the case with most southern women, she prided herself on her cooking. And in her case, that pride was justified. Her chicken and dumplings and chocolate pies are some best things I have ever eaten, and I have never ever tasted their equals.
Her biscuits were also amazing, but I am proud to say that not only have I equaled them, I am pretty sure I have surpassed them. That probably has Flora squirming in the grave, but you know what? She was also kind of a bitch, so....oh well.
A few notes about biscuits...you have 3 options when it comes to fat: butter, shortening, and lard. All butter...the taste is great, but in my esteemed biscuit opinion, the texture is off. They are too dense and heavy. All shortening...the texture is perfect, but then the flavor suffers. My resolution...lard, with a little butter too for the flavor. If lard freaks you out, sub with shortening, but you really should give it a go.
Also...the less you handle the dough, the fluffier these will be. After cutting the first time, I will re-form the dough and cut more, but these second-pass biscuits will not be quite as tender as the first. And skip the third pass....those guys will be worthless. Or you could just avoid this problem by going rogue and making square biscuits. Also, make sure everything is really cold, it really does make a difference.
Sometimes I like to add in some flavor crystals, just to kick things up a notch. In this case I added lots of cracked black pepper and fresh rosemary. Other ideas are sliced green onions and cheddar cheese, blue cheese, lemon zest and thyme, or just plain old fashioned awesome biscuits.
Better Than Flora's Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups flour (all-purpose or cake flour)
1 TB baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 TB lard
2 TB I salted butter (plus more to melt and brush on the top)
1 cup cold buttermilk
1. Heat oven to 450. Cut butter and lard into small chunks and put them in the freezer to make sure they are really really cold. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and shortening, and using a fork and a knife, cut them into the flour until incorporated into the flour and the mixture looks like tiny crumbs or gravel. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.
2. Turn the dough out onto a really well-floured surface and roll until about 1/2 - 1 inches thick, fold the dough in half on top of itself and press/roll it lightly so it sticks together. This dough is going to be really sticky, so be generous with the flour. Cut dough into rounds using a floured biscuit cutter or a glass (don't twist the cutter, push is straight down and pull it straight up). Or use a sharp knife and cut the dough into squares. Repeat if desired with any excess dough.
3. Place biscuits onto ungreased baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with melted butter. Bake until the tops are golden brown, ~18 minutes.
These remind me of the time you told me to make gorgonzola biscuits with a pinot noir butter and they were delicious. I didn't use lard. But now I know. Next time.
ReplyDeleteOh man....those were so great. I can only imagine how they would be with lard. You should make that again. Soon.
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