Biscuits X2

Today was baking group at the clubhouse, and we made biscuits.  The original plan was to make scones to go with tea, but I discovered there were no eggs, so we made biscuits instead.  They turned out great!  We added cheese, dried chives, and dill to the mix, and the flavours were great.  Here they are.

When I got home, I decided to keep the baking momentum going and make something to accompany my cabbage rolls.  I was out of bread, too.  So, I decided to make this recipe, Pull-Apart Drop Biscuits.  They involved a very wet but rich dough that was very sticky to work with, but they turned out fantastically!  I was super impressed.  Both biscuit recipes came from the May 2010 issue of Canadian Living Magazine.  The above recipe is the Flaky Biscuits, and the recipe for the Pull-Apart Drop Biscuits is here.

Magazine Monday #77: Flaky Biscuits

Wow, two recipes in two days - go me!

I just whipped some borscht out of the freezer for dinner tonight and needed something to go with it, so I flipped through my clipped recipes and found a biscuit recipe I hadn't tried yet.

This is it. It is, once more, from Canadian Living, this time the May 2010 issue.

I added fresh dill from my AeroGarden and some grated cheddar cheese, and they were fantastic hot out of the oven! This is one of the nicest biscuits I've ever made, I think. Definitely keeping this in my repertoire!

Magazine Monday #75: Three Seed Biscuits

This recipe from Canadian Living's November 2010 issue caught my eye. Biscuits can really be indulgent in my world because they are so buttery, so fluffy, so good. These looked healthy, so I could enjoy them with a little less guilt than normal. I made them yesterday to go with the borscht I made & froze last week. They were excellent! I didn't have any sunflower seeds on hand, so I put in poppyseeds. Also, I didn't have any wheat germ, so I substituted quick oats.

The biscuits were great, nice & crunchy, and right out of the oven, they were a perfect accompaniment to the soup! This morning, I had a left over one with eggs for breakfast, and I have one more to enjoy later on, perhaps with some jam.

This keeper recipe is here.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Here is my latest NaNoWriMo update, including excerpt!

This is the recipe for the biscuits I made with the seafood chowder in yesterday's post. I used the technique of grating the butter with a grater, as I learned in the pastry recipe for that no-bake pumpkin pie I made around Thanksgiving last month. It worked like a charm! These biscuits were wonderful. I have no idea where I got this recipe from, but I've had it for a long time. As I mentioned yesterday, I used some lemon pepper in them for a bit of zip.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk

1. Whisk together dry ingredients. Grate the butter into the mixture & toss to combine. Add buttermilk and mix just enough to blend together. Do not overmix!

2. Roll or pat dough to desired thickness - anywhere from 1/2" - almost 1" (but be aware that the thicker you pat the dough, the longer these will take to cook through). Cut. Bake at 425F until done.

Beef Stew & Biscuits, Commercial Style

Here are some shots I took at work the other week, when beef stew & biscuits were on the menu. I'm not a fan of beef stew, but this looked really good & smelled just great. My shift ends before dinner, so I didn't get to sample it, but the residents, I heard were happy. The biscuits, which I made, turned out great! Dessert was provided by one of the residents, who spent the morning making homemade apple pie for everyone.

First, the cook started off using the grill to brown about half a cow's worth of stewing meat.

Meanwhile, potatoes & turnips get par-cooked.

The cook chopped up onions, celery, & carrots, then added them, along with the potatoes & turnips, to a big pan with the beef.

Some gravy (Bisto) gets going...

The gravy gets added to everything in the pan...

And we get this...

...And this...Then the whole thing gets covered with foil and put in the oven at 250F for 4 or so hours...And here are my biscuits (recipe here, minus the dill & cheddar):
And here are the gorgeous apple pies that resident made for dessert!

A great meal!

Magazine Monday #14: Cornmeal & Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits

I made these to go with the ham & pea soup I posted about last Wednesday. This recipe comes from Canadian Living's May 2003 issue.

Cornmeal Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each salt & baking soda
1 tbsp dried sage, crumbled
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese + 1/4 cup shredded cheese for the top

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until mealy. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and the egg, and stir into the flour mixture. Stir in the cheese.
3. On a floured surface, press the dough into a ball and knead gently about 10 times. Pat into a 10x7" rectangle and cut into 12 squares. Place on parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet. Brush a beaten egg and sprinkle with the 1/4 cup cheese.
4. Bake until golden, about 12 - 15 minutes.

OK, as you can tell from the pictures I didn't follow the instructions for shaping the biscuits. That's because I used my #12 cookie scoop to scoop them instead, a trick I learned when I worked at that sh*thole bakery in Victoria (I will say this for them, they made great scones). It's quicker, easier, and cleaner. I also didn't egg wash or top mine when I made them; what can I say, I was in a hurry!