Title: Perfect Buttermilk Biscuit
Categories: Bread Breakfast
Yield: 12 Servings
| 1/2 | c | Shortening |
| 2 1/4 | c | Flour |
| 2 1/2 | ts | Baking powder |
| 1/2 | ts | Baking soda |
| 1 | tb | Sugar |
| 1/2 | ts | Salt |
| 1 1/4 | c | Buttermilk |
Place shortening in small plastic food bag. Flatten shortening between
plastic sheets so it is thin and return to freezer. This allows shortening
to become hard enough to break, into tiny pieces when added to dry
ingredients. Tear 2 pieces wax paper about 15 inches long and place on
counter, Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt onto wax
paper. Place empty sifter on top of bare sheet of wax paper, lift sheet of
wax paper holding sifted dry ingredients by sides and pour through sifter,
sifting onto bare wax paper. Sift back and forth 3 times, then sift once
more into large mixing bowl. Remove shortening from freezer. Cut into small
bits, about 1/4-inch square. Drop shortening bits into bowl of dry
ingredients and, using fingertips, lightly rub shortening and flour
together, occasionally tossing flour mixture so you touch all particles of
shortening with flour. When mixture has bits of flour-covered shortening
throughout, begin adding buttermilk. Using fork, add buttermilk, lightly
stirring to mix with dry ingredients. Cover board or surface with dusting
of flour. Gather sticky mass of dough and place on floured surface. Dust
hands with flour and gently knead dough, adding enough flour only to make
dough manageable. Pat dough with hands or roll with floured rolling pin
into round 1/2-inch thick. Using 2-inch cutter, cut out biscuits and place
touching each other in 3 rows, in center of greased baking sheet. Place on
middle rack of 425-degree oven and bake 12 minutes, or until lightly
golden. Remove from oven and serve hot or warm. Makes 19 (2-inch round)
biscuits. ***NOTE::By Marion Cunningham Thanks to Eula Mae Dore, a great
Southern cook from Avery Plantation, La., I've learned to make the best
Buttermilk Biscuits I've ever had. Eula Mae says a good biscuit is one of
the best things to have on hand for quick meals. She uses them in
emergencies to make simple sandwiches filled with scraps of ham or cheese
and serves them with pickles and a small salad. For dessert, she warms a
biscuit or two and makes a shortcake with fresh fruits or berries. She has
convinced me that you can't have too many biscuits on hand. Eula Mae
learned to cook and bake from her grandmother, not from cookbooks, and the
artfulness of her preparation was a joy to watch. Here are some of her
biscuit-making tips: + First go out and replace your baking powder, unless
you bought it within the last four months. More baking flops occur from
old, tired baking powder than from any other cause. And don't rely on the
old test of checking the freshness of baking powder by putting a spoonful
in a glass of water to see if it fizzes. Baking powder, like a carbonated
drink, can fizz a little and still be almost flat. Buying new baking powder
costs very little when you consider the cost of baking failures. + Next,
Eula Mae insists that sifting the dry ingredients four times is the reason
her biscuits are perfect. I tested the recipe sifting and not sifting and,
indeed, sifting does make a slightly higher, more tender biscuit. + After
you cut the biscuit dough, put the pieces on a baking sheet upside down.
This ensures a taller, lighter biscuit by making sure any edges crimped by
the pressure of the cutting don't interfere with the rise. (The French use
the same trick when making puff pastry.) + The tip that helped me the most
was using less flour than usual. Eula Mae's dough was soft and sticky. She
handled it gently, dusting her hands and the dough with only enough flour
to make the dough manageable. The result was a lighter biscuit.