(no subject)

[madbaker]

Last week's Resolution Recipe: Olde-Tyme Buttermilk Biscuits.

2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup shortening butter, baby
3/4 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 425. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk, stirring lightly until all the flour has been absorbed. Do not overmix and do not knead because you do not want to strengthen the gluten in the flour.

Sprinkle 1 T flour on a bread board, and gently roll the dough in it. Press the dough into an oblong, approximately 4x10". Cut into 10 pieces, about 2" square. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 12-15 minutes. These biscuits are done when the bottoms are a light golden brown.

What worked: Perhaps the best biscuits I've ever made. That may be because I used house-made buttermilk, made from cream I skimmed off raw milk that came directly from a farmer's Jersey cow. No pasteurization whatsoever.* Topping them with Filoli honey was a good call as well.

What didn't: I prefer nice round biscuits rather than square. Yes, I'm reaching.

Will I make it again? I almost hesitate to try this with commercial buttermilk...

*I did not buy this milk. That would be illegal in this state. I merely happened to give some money to the farmer when I received a gift of a gallon of milk. No, I won't tell you where.

What I'm reading: Lois McMaster Bujold, Cryoburn

Comments

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds yummy!I want access to fresh milk again. When I lived in Alaska it was illegal to sell unpasteurized milk, but it was possible to purchase a share in a cow, and once a week the farmer would deliver you your share of the milk from your cow. My housemate at the time was part owner of such a cow, and made cheese on a regular basis...

[xrian.livejournal.com]

Cryoburn: when you get close to the last 10 pages or so, you might want to go get a handkerchief. There's a plot twist. You may need it.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Already finished it, and I had unfortunately seen it coming from veiled comments Bujold made at the signing.