Shirley's Recipe Sans Heavy Cream

I wish they had turned out, I really did. But they just weren't the same without the heavy cream. Shirley suggests that you try it at least once with heavy cream and I did. The second time around with just buttermilk just didn't cut the cake so to speak.

I learned another valuable lesson this time too. I was so rushed to get the recipe in the darn oven that I forgot to integrate the shortning into the recipe. So essentially, there wasn't enough fat in the recipe. Granted, the Buttermilk that I use has 8 grams of fat per 1 cup with 150 calories so there is some fat in there but not enough to make a good biscuit. Most Buttermilk I find in the stores is 1 1/2 % milkfat or 3.5 grams per 1 cup serving. I really like Marburger Farm Dairy out of Evans City, PA. Believe it or not, it's hard to find REAL BUTTERMILK here in Atlanta. I realized it before I put them into the oven so I figured I'd bake them anyways. They were quite spongy. They lacked crumb and real flavor. It somewhat resembled cornbread in looks but not in flavor. So. here I was with two pans of biscuits for breakfast.

The weather has started to cool off a bit so we ate outside with sausage and eggs. We took the smell test to see which one smelled better. The one with shortning or the one without. I felt like the one without shortning had more of a flour smell but Brian and Emily couldn't really determine. So the test was inconclusive.

Sunday Breakfast

Granny, I am bringing out your bowl today.

This is the same bowl that Granny used to make her most delectable biscuits that only the Walley family who knew her dream about. There is still some flour in there and traces of excellence...traces of flour in the bowl. Since I'm getting better, I think this next recipe should be "bowl worthy."

More Research

There is a place called the Flying Biscuit here in Atlanta that has always had great biscuits. I haven't had them in a while so I stop there to get one. They serve it with apple butter which is something like reddish spiced thick apple sauce. The warm biscuit costs me $1.39 and since I'm doing research I sit in my car and eat the whole thing. The interesting thing about this biscuit is that it looks like they twist it with a biscuit cutter and it does break apart in two pieces. Clearly the top and the bottom. The top has a large granulated sugar on the top and I think they used buttermilk. It was yummy but it did give me a slight flour taste. I bet you they use White Lilly. I think I will integrate the sugar in top of my biscuit for Sunday morning breakfast. I have some extra apple butter that will taste really great on the biscuits too!

Giddy

I can't make another recipe unless I write about my last recipe. Today I am writing about Shirley Corriher's Touch of Grace Biscuits. Her Cookbook, Cookwise, a winner of a James Beard Award, has amazing recipes. Shirley calls herself a food sleuth and tells how and why things happen in cooking. She has appeared many times on Alton Brown's show, Good Eats. I've met her on more than one occasion in Atlanta and have chatted with her about cooking and her cookbook that she was trying to finish back then. She did finish her book called Bakewise which is the same idea as Cookwise only for baking. It's on my purchase list.



Once, at a wine and food pairing here in Atlanta, Shirley was there and we started chatting about cooking and entertaining. I told how unsure on what to make for dessert for the girls for an afternoon lunch. She suggested that I serve strawberries soaked in balsamic vinegar. The balsamic pulls the color and flavor out and it was perfect for my ladies lunch.



Shirley's Touch of Grace Biscuits are made like her Nannie's. The secret is the very wet dough and tossing them in your hands to shape--not manhandle them. As you've read before, my goal is to make biscuits like Grannie, Brian's grandmother.

So the scenario is that it's Sunday morning and I have everything all planned on how I'm going to whip all of this together. I premixed the dry ingredients before church and when I get home, I'll turn on the oven and whip up the biscuits. The recipe goes pretty smoothly and it is interesting that she uses both heavy cream and buttermilk in these biscuits. If you look at the pictures provided, they are very delicate when you put them together and they take some time and care. My ice cream scoop (that is on my list) would have come in handy to measure out these little balls of fluff. The recipe says that it makes ten but I'm lucky if I get seven. They are too big but it is too late to change the size. I've been told to not handle these puppies too much and I'm not going to ruin it. In the oven they go.

Breakfast is served with fresh eggs we got from Dobbins Farm, homemade fig preserve, Applewood smoked bacon, orange juice that was gourmet pasteurized (it really does taste better) and the biscuits. Brian takes one look at them and said that he thinks that we're almost there. He's giddy with delight as how much they crumble. The butter melts in their spongy like texture and they are very light and airy. Emily can't stop eating them. She's never done this before so I know this recipe is a keeper. She keeps picking at them and can't stop. I will try this recipe again but next time I'll make them smaller and see if I can get away with using just buttermilk.

Can you actually make a good southern biscuit with regular flour? I'm inspired after watching fellow blogger's post-Chef John: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/01/buttermilk-biscuits-recipe.html This time I'm going to use regular flour (King Arthur Unbleached). I read Tyler Florence's recipe on Food Network.com and many people complained about how salty they were. I think that most recipes should clarify if the chef used Kosher salt (which I think that Tyler probably did) or regular Morton's salt. 

Although, I'm not so eager to try Tyler's recipe since sometimes they just don't turn out. Take the timeI tried making his gnocchi with peas, prosciutto, and lemon ricotta. I watched the TV show and love gnocchi. I had to try this! I always make ricotta cheese gnocchi and so I thought I would try the traditional potato version. I spent so much time and then they basically disintegrated into the water. We had potato soup that night for dinner. It wasn't fun. I should have known that 1 egg white wouldn't hold them together. So back to Chef John I just put the biscuits in the oven. I have 15 minutes before I get to see if this recipe really works. I make another pot of coffee and write. I don't have a wire pastry blender so I use a fork. I think I might have to go buy one though because it looks so cool the way Chef John uses it to integrate it with the dry ingredients. Just one more gadget that I really really need. I also like the idea of not touching the butter with your hands which will only melt the butter. Chef John's video shows you how to fold over the dough so that you have layers. I was afraid to handle the dough because I heard that you will have tough biscuits. I use my pastry scraper to fold the dough and that worked very well and helps to keep it a rectangle. It also makes it more fun. Yes, another gadget I had to have and am grateful that I have one. 

My biscuits look just like the video. I'm excited. I think back to what Grannie would have used, butter or lard or shortening? She had a farm, perhaps it was her own butter that they made on the farm. Would she have White Lilly in Louisiana? One more minute and I'll be munching on them. I better check. Looks like they are done after 14 minutes. I take them out and I am so excited with anticipation on what they might taste like. Coffee, butter, and some strawberry jam mom made from NY strawberries. They are gorgeous. Could be a little taller but beautiful. I really like using the buttermilk on top. It completes them.

One taste and I'm really excited. I'm getting there. I might need more practice but these are NOT rubbery. They are CRUSTY on the outside and a bit CRUMMY on the inside--Just like they are supposed to be. The butter absorbs well into their nooks and crannies. Next time I make this recipe I might add a bit of sugar and less salt. Perhaps only 1/2 tsp. I'll use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter (yes... definitely have to go to the store for more gadgets) and I'll cook them less. On a scale of 1-10, they were an 8. Getting closer.

Attempt #1 Bouncing Puck Biscuit

I am on a quest to really and truly find the perfect biscuit. I know it is out there. I have been wanting to do this for a long time. Why would a girl from New York even want to attempt such a feat? It may be because I am married to a southern gentleman who remembers Grannies biscuits. Legend has it that Granny would wake up in the morning before the sun ever started to shine and make the most delicious biscuits. I wonder if it had something to do with the moon and the tides, or maybe that Grannie didn't use a recipe, no stress, just throw them together and it works like a charm-- every time. Maybe that's what I have to do to get that perfect biscuit? But why were they so good? Most southerners that I've spoken to (And I've asked a lot of them) say that hot out of the oven (as if there was any other way to eat a biscuit) that they break apart just barely and that they could almost crumble in your hand. Slap a nice pad of real butter on it and you'll have a piece of heaven. Some like a nice crust on the top, some like the fluffiness. Whatever it may be on what they have experienced. I'm interested in finding the secret.

I recently came across an article I saved from March 2008, Atlanta Journal-Constitution article on how Scott Peacock, former chef at the Watershed in Decatur, GA makes his buttermilk biscuits. Wanting to do this for a while, I couldn't wait for the heat to subside in Atlanta. The thought of turning the oven up to 500 degrees doesn't quite make sense but my drive to achieve success is pushing me. I am going to make my first attempt. I wake up early to make some cranberry scones to send to my husband's office. I prep the night before by putting together the dry ingredients so that I don't have to fuss as much in the morning. I love baking and I love scones but it's great to bake and send them off. This way I can eat only one and not feel the guilt of eating too many. Brian brings the rest to the office and they appreciate it. They turn out great every time I make them, light, fluffy, and just the right sweetness for a Monday morning. I have more time before he goes off to work so I attempt Scott's recipe. Let me go through my checklist:

• Cold Lard-Check
• Real Buttermilk-Check
• Homemade baking powder-check
• White Lily flour-check

The recipe wasn't really that hard. Two things Scott tells me to remember: lard must be cold and you must pierce the dough with a fork at 1/2 inch intervals.

I pop them in the oven and in 10 minutes I have awesome-looking biscuits. I brush with butter, put a few in the basket with the scones, some homemade strawberry jelly, and fresh-cut butter, and send them off with my husband. Can you say RRRRubbber Biscuit? Yes, now I am embarrassed that I sent these bouncing pucks with him. I frantically call him to make sure that he explains that this is a project and that I will eventually find the right one. My next attempt will be with plain old unbleached flour. Now, what do I do with the rest of the biscuits? Any ideas?

#Biscuit #BiscuitMastery