Monthly Archives: June 2020

Buttermilk Biscuits

12 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by in Breads, Breakfast, Comfort Food

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I found this biscuit recipe on Food 52 and am posting it here so that I can find it again when I am ready to try baking these.

Ingredients-

  • 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, frozen, plus more, for the pan
  • 2 1/2 cups (310g) all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping the biscuits
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-milk buttermilk, cold
  1. Butter a half-sheet pan.
  2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl using your fingers. Add the shortening and use your fingertips to rub it completely into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you feel any lumps of shortening, rub the flour through the palms of your hands to work it all in.
  3. Roll your frozen butter in the dry ingredients to make it easier to handle. Using a box grater, grate the frozen butter on the large holes into the flour. Anytime the butter warms up and gets slippery, roll it in the flour again. As you go, shake the grated butter into the flour once or twice and toss to coat it evenly. When you’re done grating, make sure all pieces are coated with flour, then quickly and lightly pinch them into the flour. Make a well in the center of your flour, add most of the buttermilk to the flour mixture, and fold using a rubber spatula, running the flat edge of it through the center of the mixture like a hash mark and then around the edge while you rotate the bowl. Keep at it, while being as gentle as possible, until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened—it will look wetter than you think it should. If there are still dry crumbly bits, stir in the rest of the buttermilk.
  4. Lightly coat your work surface with neutral oil or nonstick cooking spray, then flour. (The spray keeps the flour in place.) Sprinkle a little more flour in the center of the board.
  5. Turn the dough out onto the prepared surface and gently toss it around like a cat playing with a ball of yarn, until the sticky ball of dough is covered in a thin layer of flour. Pat into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with flour, then fold it in thirds like a letter. Repeat the patting, sprinkling and folding twice, rotating the dough 90° each time. Pat the dough into 3/4-inch thickness. It should no longer be sticky.
  6. Flour a 2-inch-round biscuit cutter (or clean, hollowed out can) and press it straight down to cut the dough, then twist to remove the biscuit. Transfer the round to the buttered pan, placing the bottom side up. Repeat, cutting the rounds as close together as possible, and spacing them 1 inch apart on the pan. Gather the scraps, smoosh them between your palms to 3/4-inch thickness, lay the dough flat, and cut again. Refrigerate the rounds until cold, at least 15 minutes.
  7. Heat the oven to 450°F.
  8. Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown and crisp, about 16 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan before serving hot.
  9. To make ahead: You can let the biscuits cool completely, then freeze them for up to 2 months. To serve, thaw them and then bake in a 350°F oven until toasted and warm.

Marge Means Bread

08 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by in Breads

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When we moved back to Kingwood in 2012 I became friends with Marge and visited with her at church and in her home. She loved everyone and everyone loved her. She passed away when we were on our mission in the Philippines here is the photo I have of her bread recipe. She used to make loaves and deliver them all the time in her little red truck.