Saturday, February 20, 2010

Kentucky Biscuits

IMG_7378 I’ve had this problem lately with food.

Meaning, I don’t like it.

I don’t like thinking about it, preparing it, or eating it. I especially don’t like digesting it.

Because, you see, I’m sick. Morning sick. Except it’s all day all night sick. I hate hate HATE feeling that way, but at the same time I don’t care, see?

I have an onion growing on my counter. I just can’t bring myself to cut it up. I let an entire tray of mushrooms go bad in my refrigerator. I don’t even want to look at them. And instead of healthy food going into my body, I’ve been mostly living off of Reese’s Puffs and french fries. I know. It’s just about the most awful thing I can think of.

But Valentine’s Day was last Sunday and I thought I should put away my dislikes and try to prepare something edible for my daughter and husband for breakfast, who have been suffering my lack of food interest for about four months now.

I searched for biscuit recipes even though I know I always make terrible biscuits. I’ve tried so many recipes, and I find that they always taste dry and hard. My hub loves KFC biscuits and I’ve yet to find a copy cat recipe that actually tastes like KFC biscuits. It’s so sad. I’ve read a lot about biscuit technique (cutting with a sharp thin biscuit cutter or knife so that the sides don’t “meld” together and keep the whole thing from rising properly) and thought about what makes my perfect biscuit. I even have tried Dorie Greenspan’s version and I swear, it was not good. I would like to believe that I messed up on the recipe, however.

With skepticism, and after examining many ingredient lists, I decided on a recipe I found on “allrecipes.com” which, generally, earns my disdain. I’m a Cook’s Illustrated, Gourmet mag before they left me hanging on Bon Appetit, ATFT, Smitten Kitchen, kind of girl. I like when someone has scientifically proven to me that they have the best recipe. So generally, I don’t just go around randomly. I stick to my trusted sources.

But I was wrong. This recipe rocks. It’s fluffy, savory with a touch of sweet, and moist. And my favorite part was that I didn’t have to roll out, cut the biscuits, re-roll the scraps, and spend a half hour cleaning the counter of dried flour and dough.

And my family was so happy. We were all so happy, until I had to vomit during church. But that’s a story for another time.

IMG_7379

Kentucky Biscuits from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 dash salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in the buttermilk. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead together for about a minute (LIGHTLY—don’t overwork the dough). Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet, pat or roll into a 6x6 inch square, and cut with a sharp knife into 12 even sections. Do not separate.
  3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center of the square comes out clean. Separate into biscuits, and serve hot.
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6 comments:

Bekah said...

Here's the trick to great biscuits/scones/anything that has you cut in butter. Keep your butter in the freezer. Grate the frozen butter onto a dish. Put butter back in freezer. Mix your dry ingredients. Add butter. Add milk. This method insures that the butter never melts and starts reacting with the flour. You get super fluffy biscuits every time. (I learned this method from cooks illustrated, I think it was a blueberry scone recipe)

Robbie said...

Mmm, biscuits. Those do look yummy. Sorry you got sick after. I'm proud of you for cooking something, though!

Danielle said...

Yum! Your biscuits (and story) give me hope that I too can make fluffy biscuits. I've tried MULTIPLE recipes too and while they often taste just fine, they don't rise very much. I'm sure that's from me overworking them.

And are you sick because you're expecting? I ask because I experienced the same exact problem with not wanting to cook about 3-4 months ago. From about 6 weeks to 13 weeks I was not feeling the whole cooking thing. Then one day, similar to you, I just made myself do it and it's been ok since then. I hope you get to feeling better soon!

Cindy Rowland said...

A friend of mine was very much not into food during her third pregnancy. I think they ate white bread and yogurt for several months. They lived to tell about it though. I think their eating is back to "normal" but who really has time to care with three kids? They seem happy.

Anyway, deepest sympathy to you. I hope it gets better soon.

Rachael Hutchings said...

Never thought I would want to try a recipe so bad that is preceeded by the mention of vomit...but I'm dying to try these out! LOL

Sylvia Louise said...

I should try this. I love biscuits, but I can't make them to save my life. I can't seem to "handle the dough" as little as I should. I usually end up with dense disks of grossness.

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