Thursday, February 12, 2009

carolina blue biscuits

well, they're not actually blue, but i'm posting this recipe in honor of carolina's win over rat face last night.  biscuits for basketball, you ask?  well, when i lived in chapel hill, a certain southern fast food joint offered great biscuit deals.  their biscuits are lovely and sweet tea divine. . .

but, on to my biscuits:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (i use kosher salt)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk

mix dry ingredients with spoon.  butter should be cold, but not too cold (i like to let it sit out of the fridge for 15-30 minutes before using).  cut stick in half lengthwise and then slice both halves into pats of butter.  mix butter into dry mixture.  i use my hands for this and i think it produces the best biscuits.  if you've got a fancy mixer, feel free to use it, but i really think that handmade biscuits taste the best.  mix butter and flour until butter is incorporated (there will still be plenty of loose flour, but all of the butter will be pea sized and completely flour covered).  add buttermilk.  mix in with a (wooden) spoon.  you can try to completely mix it with your spoon or with the aforementioned fancy mixer.  however, i again have to plug the hand mixing method.  its messy, but it really gets you delicious biscuits.

also, i totally don't roll my biscuits.  i shape them (as you would shape a mini-meatloaf or a meatball).  i know this may seem sacrilegious to some, but its just how i do it.  

coat the tops with an egg wash and bake at 375.  length of cooking depends on what size you make your biscuits (i make monsters and minis).  basically, you want the tops and the bottoms to be golden brown. 

fun additions:
goat cheese
cheddar cheese
chives
parsley
rosemary

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

those sound delicious! i'm going to give them a try for a late-morning sunday breakfast. :)