Biscuits, Outside In

It was in a country community of cooks, as a young mom and "outsider", I got my real "insider" information for the how-to of soft, golden biscuits. I'm not blogging a recipe, but rather a biscuit making methodology that is pretty much (not entirely) universal. Which is to say, if you were to land on an inhabited planet in another galaxy, and there was biscuit making afoot (or a-claw, or a-tentacle....you get my drift), this is approximately the correct procedure. Besides, I have all these pictures and this blog space, right?

First gather your tools and ingredients. You'll need a bowl, a fork or spoon or mixing implement, measuring cups (both liquid and dry measure), optionally a scale [I prefer measuring shortening by weight], a flat pan, a hot oven, a clean floured surface for rolling or patting out the dough, biscuit cutter, flour, shortening, milk or buttermilk or yogurt, etc. etc. etc. Bottom line, get your stuff together.

Flour should be measured by dipping and then leveling with a straight edge. Here I'm using a dry measure cup and a chopstick, but a knife, the back side of a spatula, or any straight edge will do.

To the bowl of flour add your other dry ingredients. If you are using all purpose flour instead of self-rising, you'll need to add some kind of rising agent and salt.  Give that a stir to evenly distribute all. (Another excellent opportunity to use those ever-present chopsticks.)

Next you measure shortening to add to the flour mixture. If  you ever fooled with measuring shortening by the approved method of packing it into the dry measure cups, leveling and then trying to get it all back out of the measuring cup once done, you MIGHT want to consider measuring by weight instead. I find it much less of a mess. The ladies of my biscuit community did not measure at all! They would say, as my grandmother used to, 'Oh, you take shortening about the size of hen's egg.'. These are the same ladies who gave me driving directions telling me to take a certain road and "turn left where the Jones' farm used to be before the fire of [insert any past date ridiculously distant in time]", or would ask in alarm why I had not stopped at the intersection where no stop sign stood, but where one had previously, and "everyone knows to stop there, for goodness' sake."

Well, okay. Shortening measured, so add it to your dry ingredients and cut it in using a pastry blender, or knife, or shamoji (you know, the rice paddle thing you get with rice cookers for scooping out the rice...just down the road from where Tanaka san's noodles shop used to be....) until the flour/shortening mixture resembles (are you ready?) coarse cornmeal. Now I ask you? What does coarse cornmeal look like? I never knew, but was always being instructed to cut the shortening into the flour until it looked like that or like small peas. Now small peas, I could fathom, but it still seems to me that small peas are generally much larger than what I can only imagine coarse corn meal would be. So, I give you a picture complete with the shamoji as a frame of reference for size. ;o)

Before we go further, let me just say, I am aware that the shamoji is about as much help as the aforementioned missing traffic sign. Onward. To this mixture, using a fork, spoon, or chopsticks, gradually add your liquid , pushing the dough as it forms lightly to the side of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, you may add just a bit more flour. You want it somewhat moist. Now transfer it to the clean floured surface and with floured hands pat it out til it is (readly?) "yay thick". I'm not sure what "yay" is but it seems to be whatever lies between a half and three quarters of an inch. If you do not have a biscuit cutter, a round glass dipped in flour can be used to cut out the biscuits and place onto a pan. You do not have to use oven paper; I did because I had added shredded cheese in the liquid/flour mixing stage. I also added some parsley flakes, but you do whatever your recipe calls for, or whatever modifications you are thinking sound good.

Now you slip them into the hot oven. My biscuit recipes all suggest 450 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Some folks like to brush melted butter on the biscuits as they come out of the oven. If, like me, you like crusts better than the soft inner bread, you might want to use a small 2 inch diameter cutter to make lots and lots of little biscuits. This will give you more crust, but also more opportunities for trying various toppings. Biscuits are so yummy topped with any of the following: jelly, syrup, butter, honey, sausage, fruit compote.

Oh! And one of my favorites: Orange Marmalade! The above biscuit was made using a Group Recipes submission by 247cook.

So, what do you like on your biscuits?