Biscuit 101

Hi folks! Sorry I've been so lax lately on getting posts out. Things are starting to settle down again so with luck we'll be back to once a week or more postings.

Today I want to hit on that oh so misunderstood, American Biscuit. Fluffy, light, golden brown & delicious pucks of love! It has taken me some time, some trial & error and some "I ain't eating...that" to get to understand our friend, the biscuit. Biscuit's are easy, but also easy to screw up. Measurements aren't super strict, but need to be decently correct. Ingredients need to be of decent quality. What you do and how you do it is of great importance. I'm going to go over the hows and whys here, but there will be the full recipe below as usual. Reference it if you like.

Lets start with the fat. Butter, lard, margarine (block), and shortening (flavoured or non) are all acceptable fats. You may also use them in combination. I prefer 1/2 butter flavoured shortening 1/2 lard, it produces a very tasty, tender biscuit. Lard by itself tends to produce a flakier texture, butter denser but very tender and tasty, margarine is about midline on the tender/flaky scale, while shortening is a bit heaqvier but makes an excellent crust with a tender inside. You must chill your fat. I always assemble all of my ingredients, then cut my fat into small blocks and put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. If your cutting the fat in with a food processor chilling the blade is also a good idea. Sift all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl (or processor chamber if using one). After the fat has chilled you need to cut the fat into the dry. A food processor is excellent for this, be quick though and pulse just until the fat is fully integrated. If using a pastry cutter, fork or just smashing it in by hand, you want the consistency of the mix to look like crumbs and small peas, and when you squeeze a small handfull of it it forms up but crumbles very easily.

As for the buttermilk. I have heard more than once that people don't want to buy specialty items. Well, if you have milk, you can make buttermilk. For each cup of buttermilk the recipe calls for, add 1tbl white vinegar to the milk and stir quickly with a fork. You should see the viscosity of the milk increase and become slightly thicker. When incorporating the wet into the dry, you want to use as little stirring as possible to fully integrate the two. You want the mix to just come together enough to come out of the bowl.

Once you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface, you want to work it gently. Add just enough flout into it to be able to pat it out. I like to pat out to 1/2" thickness. Pat your dough out to desired thickness and....walk away. Yes leave it alone. Leave it for about 10 minutes. Trust me, it needs to rest. If you don't rest the dough often it gets tough and chewy, which we do not want. Now, you have to cut them. You don't need some high dollar biscuit cutter. I use a can, specifically a can that had tomatoes in it. We have the type of can opener that cuts from the side, not from the top, so you get a nice sharp edge. This is important if you want your biscuits to rise. When cutting biscuits it is extremely important that you push straight down till you have cut through, before any twisting motion happens. If you twist on the way down the sides won't allow the biscuit to expand properly when baking. I don't twist at all, I cut straight to the board then use my fingers to pull the excess out of the way.  After you have cut all you can, smoosh the dough back together and cut more until you have used it all, or mostly all, up. Use as little force and possible when smooshing. Now comes one of those tips that often seem to get overlooked or not passed on. If you want tall biscuits instead of flat ones, your biscuits need to juuuuuuuuuuuust touch on the baking pan. See what happens here, is that they begin to expand, and being the delicate baked lovelies that they are, rise into one another but cant push out more now, so they rise up. And up is goooooood. Oven times vary, sometimes even batch to batch. I average 13 minutes in my oven. I have seen it take as little as 10 and as much as 16, so best bet is shoot for 12 and turn halfway, keeping a close eye out the 2nd half. There you have it. Best biscuits ever. My only other suggestion would be to use parchemnt when baking, it makes for easier removal and less burning/sticking.

Buttermilk Biscuts - 450° - 10-15 minutes

4c         All Purpose Flour
2tbl       Baking Powder 
1tsp      Baking Soda 
2tbl       Sugar
2tsp      Salt
1/2c      Fat
2c         Buttermilk

Cut your fat of choice into small cubes and toss in the freezer for 15 minutes. Sift together dry ingredients. Cut fat into dry ingredients until mixture is crumb like. Add Buttermilk and stir in with a wooden spoon until just combined and dough can be turned onto a floured board. If needed add flour in small amounts until desired consistency is reached. Work just enough flour into dough mix on board until it becomes pattable. Pat to a uniform thickness of  1/4" or 1/2". Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Cut into rounds, place on parchment lined baking sheet, each biscuit juuuuust touching its neighbor(s). Bake, turning halfway through. Allow to rest for 2-5 minutes after removing from oven.

Post Holiday Hmph

I apologize for the delay in posting. Between the holidays and the cold from hell we've been passing back and forth, it's been a rough few weeks.

Now that the holidays are over and we are all back to busy busy, we need something simple, quick and good. Today's recipe can usually be knocked out in 30-45 minutes, start to plating. I know many of us remember the "Chicken and rice casserole" from our youth. As I speak to more and more people about it, I find that it was almost always one of two ways. Excellent or "Dear god it was nasty". Now my version does require more than one dish to make, but I also find this to have more flavour and totally eliminates that "blood pool" possibility in the rice. I also suggest you read through the instructions once before gathering everything. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a good start on your new year.

Chicken & Rice

Chicken, how ever much you require to feed your family.
2c             Uncooked Rice
4c             Water
1cube        Chicken stock
1tbl           Dried minced onion
1tsp          Dry Mustard
1 tsp         Black Pepper
1 tsp         Curry Powder (optional)

1 can        Cream of mushroom soup
Milk         As needed
In a large straight sided skillet that has a lid, heat 2-4 tbl oil on med heat. preheat oven to 350°. Lightly fry chicken in skillet, just enough to get some nice browning. If the skin sticks to the pan leave it, thats just more flavour for the rice. If you have a cooling rack or racks that fit inside a cookie sheet, place them in one. If not you can also place several celery and or carrot sticks across the bottom of the cookie sheet. This step is to allow for fat drainange. If you are unconcerned about the fat or have very lean peices you may skip it.

After the chicken has browned place on your sheet and in the oven, uncovered. Drain off the grease and oil from the pan. Just pour it off, don't rinse. There should be a thin sheen of oil left. Toss the rice into the pan and spread it evenly. While the rice toasts, bring the water ro a boil. Stir the rice often enough to prevent burning while the water comes to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil add the spices to the rice. Slowly pour the water into the pan with the rice. *caution* There will be mass amounts of steam. Please use caution when using boiling water, but especially so when adding to a hot pan! *caution* Stir, scraping the bottom until all the loverly leftover bits (fond for those in the know) are free from the bottom. Turn the heat to 1/4 (low on the medium side) and cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until the water is mostly absorbed. Add your soup and stir to combine, adding milk as necessary to form a nice sauce. Now would be the time to add frozen veg to your rice mix if you'd like. Pull the chicken from the oven and verify it to be done. If it isn't return to the oven and finish cooking, of course. Thighs and drumsticks are best for this recipe, partly for cost and partly for cook time. Serve!