Greg loves homemade biscuits so much that he volunteered to go to the store and pick up groceries this morning so I could make them (which if you know Greg at all, he rather do just about anything else). But who can blame him? You simply can't go wrong with a fresh biscuit right out of the oven.
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits:
2 cups All purpose flour
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Baking soda
1/2 t. Salt
1 Cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. Honey
1/4 t. Vanilla extract
7 Tbsp. Butter
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Sift the flour, BP, BS, and salt into a bowl. You don't have to sift the ingredients but I think it makes for a lighter and less dense biscuit.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, and honey and keep cold in the fridge.
4. Dice the butter into small cubes. I like to stick it in the freezer for a few minutes afterwards to insure that its cold.
5. Take the flour mixture and the butter and pulse several times in a food processor. The butter should be roughly the size of a pea. I leave the mixture in the fridge for about 10 minutes to let the butter harden again. You want everything to stay cold.
6. Gently stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until its just incorporated. Do not over mix.
7. Dump the mixture onto a lightly floured surface and pat down to an inch thick disc. Cut the disc in half and separate the two pieces.
8. Place one half onto the other and pat down to create another inch thick disc. You want to repeat this process several times. This is what creates layers in the biscuits which makes them flaky and rise higher.
9. Once you have layered the dough several times, pat in once more into a disc shape that is about 1/2 inch thick and cut into circles with a biscuit cutter. You want to use a biscuit cutter because it is sharp enough to cut the dough without pushing the sides down, which will cause them not to rise as high.
10. Lightly brush the tops of each biscuits with melted butter and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the tops are GBD (golden brown and delicious.)
11. Let cool and smother in jelly, more butter or... whiskey sausage gravy.
While these biscuits are perfect on their own, we are big fans of sausage gravy and our southern roots don't frown upon a splash or two of whiskey. It's five o'clock somewhere right?
Whiskey Sausage Gravy:
1 Package of Jimmy Dean sausage (any flavor)
1/2 One medium onion, small diced
3 Garlic gloves, minced
1/2 cup Whiskey (I used a whiskey my parents brought us, Davy Crockett Southern Pecan, from their trip to Tennessee. I may or may not of taken a sip, just making sure it was still good. It was.)
2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Flour
2 cups Milk
1/2-1 Tbsp. Black pepper (add more or less as desired)
1/4 t. cayenne
1 t. Garlic powder
1 t. Onion powder
1/2 t. Salt
Dash of nutmeg. I used fresh nutmeg and grated it several times but ground nutmeg works as well.
Directions:
1. Render the sausage in a hot pan until cooked through.
2. Remove the sausage and add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook a few minutes on low until tender.
3. Turn the burner off and add the whiskey, unless you want to set flame to the pan and possibly yourself.
4. Turn the burner back on and reduce the alcohol until the pan is almost dry.
5. Add the butter and stir until melted.
6. Add the flour and continue to stir. You want to create a medium roux (referring to the color of the flour and butter) which will add to the darkness of the gravy and cook out the taste of flour which can be unpleasant.
7. Add the milk and let reduce on low heat.
8. Add all the seasoning and tweak if desired to taste. Enjoy!
These biscuits can be a little time consuming and are most definitely a labor of love. However, nothing is more rewarding than a big smile from this guy and more satisfying than a warm, full belly.
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| Greg tested, Greg approved. |
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