Goofy even licks the crumbs off this face. He knows good stuff when he eats it.
Nothing says comfort to me more than some homemade bread. Especially biscuits. My grandma taught me how to make them. Grandma says, "you have to be gentle." And she is right! And, the butter has to be cold. That helps them flake. Here's a time when it's good to be flaky.
This is not my grandma's recipe. I have no idea what recipe she used. But a biscuit, I daresay, is more about technique than the recipe.
Today's version is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (2002). I doubled this recipe and it turned out nicely.
Biscuits Supreme
3 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 c. butter or 1/2 c. butter plus 1/4 c. shortening (I used 2 sticks, since I doubled it, and they were plenty buttery)
1 1/4 c. buttermilk or 1 c. milk (I used milk today)
Preheat oven to 450.
Mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cream of tartar. (I'm not sure why Silly looks so concerned. Who knows what goes on in her 3 year old brain.)
Cut in butter with a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once.
Stir gently with a fork to combine. Turn out onto floured surface (I use my countertop) and knead just a turn or two. Like grandma says, "be gentle." Gently press down and out (don't use a rolling pin, please), about 3/4 inch thick.
Cut dough with a floured biscuit cutter.
Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking pan (or closer if you want them to bake together and have softer sides. Not that I've done it.). Bake 10 minutes until golden. Remove from baking sheet while still warm and serve. With some butter. Or jam. Or ham. Anything.
Man, how do you do that?? I keep trying to make biscuits, but I just don't have what it takes. Someone told me that to make them really flaky, you sprinkle a bit of flour in the fold each time you knead. ?? Haven't gotten that far yet. Last time I made any I dumped the corn meal container upside down in the bowl and had to guess how much dry ingreds I had, lol. (Yeah, they were cornmeal biscuits, yum.) Oh well. Butter? I'll try that next time.
ReplyDeleteI want a biscuit!!
ReplyDeleteSally, it's all about the butter. Cold hard butter makes them flaky. Wherever the butter melts, it fills up with air. So you have to work quickly while making them. If you want, you can stick them in the fridge to firm a bit (a few min) before baking.
ReplyDeleteI use shortening and it makes a pretty tasty biscuit. Not buttery, naturally. But tasty, just the same.
ReplyDeleteHey, isn't that picture at the beginning Goofy and not Silly? I was confused.
Good call. I will fix it.
ReplyDelete