Whaddaya want for nothin'? Rrrrruber biscuit?

Bow, bow, ooh ooh oooh, ooooooooooooooh

Luckily, the biscuits I'm about to introduce you to are not made of rubber. They are made of flour, shortening, some leavening, and butter. Mmm, butter. But, after the day I've had, I needed to hear some Blues Brothers. They always seem to cheer me up. So, about these biscuits...

Until I found this recipe about 2 months ago, I was unable to make a decent biscuit. Actually, I was unable to make an edible biscuit; I'll just be honest. The last time I made a good biscuit was in culinary school a few years ago. They really aren't that difficult to make and I even tried cheating by using jiffy mix! Nope! Must have been a skill God did not bless me with. Or so I thought. But then! Alton Brown came to my rescue. I had to tweak his recipe just a little and that's what I'm about to share with you, but you can find his original recipe here. This is a very idiot proof forgiving recipe and fast. Oh! And I recently did some of my own experimenting and found that it is also a glorious and wonderful thing because you can freeze these biscuits [unbaked] and save them for whenever you need them. Never buy store bought frozen or canned biscuits again! I'll give you those details towards the end. Ready? Go!

Southern Biscuits
2 Cups AP flour (I use King Aurthur brand)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 kosher teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
3 Tablespoons all-vegetable shortening [or lard if you've got it and feel like throwing caution for your heart health to the wind], chilled and cut into small pieces
1 Cup chilled buttermilk*
2 Tablespoons butter, melted (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix these ingredients lightly with your fingertips. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture looks like crumbs. Your fingertips work best, but try to work quickly so the fats don't melt. Cold is key when making crusts and biscuits. Make a shallow well in the center and add the buttermilk. Stir, again with your fingertips (or a spoon, you sissy) just until the dough comes together. It will be a sticky mess. Be sure to scrape as much dough as you can off of your fingers/spoon.

Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface, dust the top of the dough with flour, proceed to drop flour on the floor and make a mess. Gently fold the dough over itself 5 or 6 times. Turn it a few degrees each time you fold it. Press the dough out until it's about an inch thick. Then, using a 2-inch cutter, cut out your biscuits. It's helpful to dip the cutter into a bit of flour every other time you cut a new biscuit. Place the biscuits on a greased or lined baking sheet. Reform the scraps of dough, working it as little as necessary, and continue cutting. If there is any scrap dough left over after the second pass, just discard it. Bake the biscuits at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes or until they are golden on top. Brush with melted butter.

This was my very first batch (from March-ish?). They came out
slightly lopsided but so yummy!

OR

After you've cut out your biscuits, lay them on a wax paper lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer for at least 4 hours. Then, put them in a plastic zip top bag and freeze until you need them! When you want to bake them preheat your oven to 350 degrees, place the frozen biscuits on a greased or lined baking sheet and bake for about 22 minutes.

*If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, fear not! Just add a tablespoon of white or apple cider vinegar to a cup of milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes. It doesn't have the exact same tang, but it will have a similar acidity to buttermilk, which I find necessary for this recipe.

This isn't a very "healthy" item that I can have all the time now that I'm making an honest effort to change how I eat. But man, oh man, to I look forward to these as a treat every few weeks. I hope you enjoy them, too!

Elle

PS The picture of the biscuits count as my photo for Photo Friday. Two birds, one stone, blah blah blah.

Quality ingredients for quality cooking

I was recently asked by a friend about some of the ingredients I use in my cooking. She asked me if I use store-brands or if there are brand names I swear by or if any of that really matters. Of course, the answer to that is not simple at all. The ingredients I use are based largely on what my budget is at this point in my life. I can't afford to go to Dean and Deluca and drop $20 on a pound of strawberries. Not that we have a Dean and Deluca in my neck of the woods, but hopefully that gets the point across. I buy products that are on sale, I buy store brands for many things because they really are just as good as the brand name. I shop at places like Aldi and Trader Joe's (owned by the same company, by the way) because they offer great products for reasonable prices. And with the constantly rising or fluctuating costs of food these days, these stores have become invaluable to me and my family.

I try to buy organic produce when I can. I pay attention to labels and I am very conscious of what I'm going to feed my family. We've cut out most processed goods and we try to eat as cleanly as possible (though the occasional M&M or Reese's Pieces never hurt anyone!). But like I said, we're on a budget. And a budget doesn't always allow for the best of the best. There are, however, some ingredients that I refuse to skimp on. The first 3 items that come to mind are:

Flour- I use King Aurthur All Purpose flour. It is a staple in my pantry. It has never failed me. I will use Pilsbury as a back up, but I will always choose King Authur first. The grain is grown in the US, it is a decent and fair company, and nothing else measures up to the quality of their product in my opinion. For cake flour, I use Swan's Down. I use it, again, because not much else measures up to that. Plus it's an old, tried and true company that's been around for more than 100 years. They must be doing something right. My grandmothers use/used Swan's Down, my mother uses it, and now so do I.

Butter- So...I mostly* use a store-brand, unsalted butter. But this is listed here because I use butter as opposed to margarine, which is much cheaper. Whether or not margarine is one molecule away from being plastic is true, I still will not put something with that many unpronounceable ingredients into my cooking. It's just...icky. That's right. Icky is a technical term. Deal with it.
*I buy Land O'Lakes or Plugra, which are my favorite brands, if I can get them at the same price or slightly cheaper than the store-brand if they're on sale. It's rare but it happens.

Bacon- As a friend of mine just found out this morning, buying cheap bacon will leave you feeling cheated and sad. It can look amazing, but if the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Many store brands or cheap/off-brands are injected with brine or water. So the bacon looks great, but shrinks down to a third of the size it started out as after it's been cooked. Kinda like Shrinky Dinks. If you are lucky enough to have a local butcher, awesome! Support your local economy and get a great quality product even if you have to pay a little more. We aren't that lucky. So I like Wright brand bacon. I buy it almost exclusively. They provide a tasty, reliable product still at a reasonable price.

Of course, this list could go on and on. There are a lot of products that I enjoy and prefer over most others. But those three are something you will find in my kitchen no matter what. If the zombie apocalypse does happen, those 3 things will be in my emergency kit (since my emergency kit includes a battery operated refrigeration unit of some kind and a dutch oven).

What about you? What products or brands do you prefer over any other?



***I am not being paid to promote the brands listed in this post in any way, shape, or form. I am explaining my preferences and personal experiences with these brands and do not benefit from you clicking any of the hyperlinks.***