Buttermilk biscuits
Instructions:
- 3 cups soft southern wheat self-rising flour;
- 4 tablespoons (1⁄2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces and chilled;
- 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening or lard, cut into small pieces and chilled;
- 3⁄4 to 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk;
- Instant flour or all-purpose flour, for rolling;
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted.
- Preheat the oven to 475 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Place the flour in a large bowl. Scatter the pieces of butter and shortening over the flour and toss to coat. Use your fingertips or a pastry blender to work the butter and shortening into the flour until the pieces are in thin flakes no larger than grains of rice. The fat will no longer be sticky. If you press some of the mixture against the back of your thumb, it should cling like a small leaf.
- While stirring with a fork, add enough buttermilk to make soft dough that pulls in all of the dry ingredients from the bottom of the bowl. If necessary, use your hands or a rubber spatula to finish bringing the dough together. The dough should not be gloppy wet, but it is better to be a little sticky than too dry.
- Pour the dough onto a work surface that is lightly dusted with instant or allpurpose flour. (Never roll biscuits with self-rising flour.) Gently gather and knead the dough only until it is smooth and supple, about 8 turns. Add only enough flour to keep the dough from being too sticky to handle. Excess flour makes the outside of the biscuits chalky and tough.
- Use lightly floured hands or a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough to a 3⁄4-inch thickness. Cut the biscuits into squares with a sharp knife or pizza cutter, or stamp out as many biscuits as possible with a round cutter. Do not twist the cutter so that the biscuits can rise evenly to their full potential. Dip the cutter in flour if the dough sticks. Gather any scraps and gently knead until smooth, then roll and cut the remaining biscuits.
- Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Arrange them with the sides touching for softer sides or about 1 inch apart for firmer sides. Brush the tops with the melted butter and bake until golden brown on top and bottom, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve at once or cover with a clean tea towel for up to 15 minutes.
- Tips and Techniques. A word on self-rising flour. Nearly every southern biscuit recipe calls for selfrising flour, which is code for a few specific brands made from low-protein soft southern wheat specially milled for biscuits. As the name implies, selfrising flour contains leavening. Some experts believe that this perfectly uniform blend of ideal leaveners in the ideal flour make self-rising flour ideal for biscuits. Even scratch-baking purists who would never consider using a mix admit that self-rising flour makes a magnificent biscuit. However, it can be difficult to find outside the South, so if the only thing standing between you and a recipe is the lack of self-rising flour, you can try this. It’s not the same, but it will do in a pinch. To replace 1 cup of self-rising flour, combine the following in a bowl and whisk for a full 30 seconds: 3⁄4 cup bleached all-purpose flour 1⁄4 cup cake flour or instant flour 11⁄2 teaspoons very fresh baking powder 1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Tips and Techniques. A word on instant flour, a type of bleached flour sold under the brand names Shake & Blend and Wondra. It comes in slender canisters, and you’ll find it in most grocery stores near the other types of flour. It is extremely useful. Instant flour is a godsend when rolling biscuits or pie pastry. It doesn’t build up on the dough like all-purpose flour often does, so the dough stays light. Unlike regular flour, instant flour doesn’t get gummy when applied to moist food, so it’s perfect for lightly coating chicken cutlets and fish fillets before they are sautéed or dredged in egg and crumbs. You cannot get instant flour to lump, so it is indispensable when making sauces and gravies that are thickened with flour.