If I didn’t have my head attached, I’d probably leave it somewhere.  That has been the story of my life for about a year now, and things don’t seem to be slowing down!

So, I’m not surprised that I got my weeks turned around, and made the Sweet Cream Biscuits instead of the Chockablock Cookies.  My apologies to the host kitchens of the week. Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite for hosting this recipe.

These are by far the easiest biscuits I’ve ever made. The came together in about 5 minutes, and then I used 1.5-inch biscuit cutters to make small biscuits, which to my surprise my husband loved! You really have to give these a try; the only thing I’ll do next time is decrease the sugar by half to provide a less sweet biscuit.

At any rate, be sure to check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see what everyone else has been up to!

I have made a lot of biscuits in my day, and they usually rise.  So, I’m pretty confident that my basic biscuit-making skills are decent.  Combine that with a new bottle of baking powder, a wet dough that I handled gently, and shaping said dough with no added flour . . . and you have to color me surprised that I ended up with flat, tender “biscuits” that looked more like hockey pucks or big cookies.

Oh, well.  C’est la vie.  They were tasty, however, because to the halved recipe, I added:  the zest of half an orange, a pinch of cayenne, and 1/2 tsp. of allspice.  If your allspice is fresh, use 1/4 tsp.  Mine was ancient.  So, the biscuits were flavorful, very buttery, and very flat.  A culinary mystery, indeed.  If you want to see what these should look like, head on over to Pink Stripes.  Awesome.  With ice cream, no less! These were interesting, but not on the repeat list.

Thanks to Erin of Prudence Pennywise (check out her blog – it’s a lot of fun) for picking Sweet Potato Biscuits for this week.  You can find the recipe on her blog, and check out the TWD blogroll.

Shirley Corrhiher’s Touch of Grace biscuits, to be exact.

“But, Madam Chow!” you say.  “Where is the “digestivo,” the limoncello that you made with organic lemons bought on sale at Whole Foods?”

At home.

“And the “antipasta,” the bruschetta?”

Eaten, with photos on my computer.  Which is at home.

The bruschetta was excellent, and I haven’t tried the limoncello, which I made with Stolichnaya vodka and the aforementioned organic lemons.  Both were lovely choices by our hostess this month, Lauren, of Fried Pickles and Ice Cream.  So, what’s going on?

I am out of town on taking care of a family emergency.  I managed to upload a few things before I hit the road, but not everything.  So, please check out the blogroll to see how others faired this month with the recipes, and read on for my review of these biscuits.

If you want to make light-as-air, fluffy biscuits, these are the ones for you.  I discovered several things when I made these.  First, I can make a decent biscuit.  Second, White Lily flour keeps for 8 years in the freezer, if it has been well wrapped.

Don’t judge me.

Third, I am a flaky-biscuit girl after all.  I will, however, keep this recipe tucked away in my repertoire of baked goods, to be served to those who like fluffy biscuits.

I think the original recipe would be waaaay to salty, not to mention too sweet, so I cut down on the salt and sugar, and substituted low fat cream cheese for the lard.  I baked all the biscuits in a 9-inch pie dish so that they would have soft sides.  Worked like a charm!

I found the following excellent explanation over at Orangette:

“This recipe relies on two principles: 1) that low-protein flour makes tender biscuits, and 2) that a wet dough creates lots of steam in the oven and makes biscuits extra-light. . . . The only tricky part is that you need Southern self-rising flour. It sounds finicky, but there’s a method to Corriher’s madness: Southern brands of flour are milled from a soft wheat that contains less gluten, meaning that they make a more tender biscuit. My favorite brand is White Lily, although I think I’ve also used Martha White, maybe, and Aunt Jemima brand. . . .  White Lily is hard to find outside of the East Coast and the South. Williams-Sonoma used to carry it, but they’ve stopped, and now I have to mail-order mine. Crazy, I know, but these biscuits are worth it. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll order some too.”

Recipe after the jump . . . .
continue reading "Here for Recipes to Rival? I Have Some . . . Awesome Biscuits for You!"

As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite magazine is Fine Cooking. I keep every issue, and re-read them again and again. I also dislike wasting food, so when I found myself with some buttermilk and habanero pepper cheddar that needed to be used up, I turned to Fine Cooking for inspiration, and I found it in Peter Reinhart’s biscuit recipes in issue #85.

To produce flaky layers, Reinhart employs a folding method akin to the one used for puff pastry. I made two batches of biscuits, one plain and one with the habanero cheddar, cut them into rectangles ( I didn’t want to have to re-roll anything), and froze them. For the past couple of weekends, I’ve popped them frozen into the toaster oven for a tasty breakfast treat.

The original recipe calls for baking them at 450°F, which is fine if they are not frozen (the intense heat will give the biscuits a lift and produce flaky layers), but I’ve had great results baking them fresh or frozen at 425°F. More after the jump . . . .
continue reading "Cleaning Out the Pantry – Biscuit Bliss"

Light and fluffy these were not. Sometimes, a baker loses her edge, and that, my friends, has been my sad tale of woe over the past week or so. Yes, I know, I had a couple recent successes, but I’ve had more mishaps than I care to mention. This delicious little paperweight is one of them.

First, I must say, these biscuits/scones are good: dense, buttery, with a hint of caramel and a slight nutty taste. Did I say they were buttery? Mmm.

But everything went wrong in the baking process, pretty much from beginning to end. First, my new box of light brown sugar was so hard it could have been used as a deadly weapon. Luckily, I had dark brown sugar on hand, and Master Chow and I liked it so much that I plan to use it in the future. And I will make these again – you see, folks, Master Chow has asked me to put these on the “repeat list!” That’s always a good sign.

Then I couldn’t find my pecans, so I used walnuts.

My sour cream had frozen in the refrigerator. Yes, the refrigerator.

I discovered that my milk had soured, and had to use half-and-half.

I think the frozen sour cream and the half-and-half altered the water ratio in the final dough, because mine did not “pull together in a soft ball,” to paraphrase Dorie. It was a crumbly mess, and I had to actively knead it (something you never want to do with biscuits or scones) to pull the dough together.

Then I rolled it too thin – 1/4 of an inch instead of the 1/2 inch in the recipe. By that point, I thought the dough might bite me, so I cut the “biscuits” out and threw them in the oven. Now I know why some people drink in the morning. And I hadn’t even had my coffee yet! Note to self: do not attempt any baking at 7:00 a.m. without first having a cup of coffee.

I finally made myself a cup of Peet’s Major Dickason’s blend (thank you, Dowager Chow), and sniffed appreciatively as the scent of baking hockey pucks, . . . er, “tender biscuits” filled the air. And they did smell wonderful! They did not rise at all during the baking process, however, something that is supposed to happen with biscuits. When you haven’t had to knead them. And you use the proper ingredients. My culinary shortcomings aside, I’m curious to see the results of other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers.

Eat Me, Delicious picked out this week’s recipe. For the full roster of bakers, check out Tuesdays with Dorie. The recipe below reflects my adaptation of the original.