Posted on 02/13/2020 4:27:29 PM PST by RoosterRedux
For 25 years in Georgia, I watched my mom make the same batch of six light, fluffy biscuits for breakfast almost every Sunday. Then I moved to New York, never to see a light, fluffy biscuit again. I arrived in the city in 2011, just in time for southern food to get trendy outside its region, and for three years, I bit into a series of artisanal hockey pucks, all advertised on menus as authentic southern buttermilk biscuits.
With every dense, dry, flat, scone-adjacent clump of carbohydrates, I became more distressed. I didn’t even realize biscuits could be bad, given how abundant good ones were in the South. Even my mom, a reluctant-at-best cook, made them every week without batting an eyelash. The recipe she used had been on my dad’s side of the family for at least three generations.
The more bad biscuits I ordered in New York, the clearer it became that there was only one way out of this problem if I ever wanted to have a decent Sunday breakfast again: I had to make the biscuits for myself. I did not anticipate the hurdles of chemistry and the American food-distribution system that stood in my way.
I asked my mom to email me the recipe, and it was three ingredients (self-rising flour, shortening, and buttermilk), mashed together with a fork. I’m not an accomplished baker, but I cook frequently, and this was the kind of recipe that had long been used by people without a lot of money, advanced kitchen tools, or fancy ingredients. Confident that I could pull it off, I marched right out and bought the ingredients. The result: biscuits that were just as terrible as all the other ones in New York. Not to be dramatic, but my failure destabilized my identity a little bit. What kind of southerner can’t make biscuits?
In subsequent attempts, I tried everything I could think of to get it right. I worried about buttermilk quality, so I bought an expensive bottle at the farmers’ market, which did nothing. I tried different fat sources, including butter and lard, which made small differences in flavor and texture but still resulted in a shape and density better suited for a hockey rink than a plate. I made sure all of my ingredients were ice-cold when I started mixing, which is a good tip in general, but did not fix my problem. I kneaded the dough more or less, made it wetter or drier. The only thing left was the flour, but I figured it couldn’t be that—wasn’t self-rising flour the same everywhere? We had just used regular grocery-store flour back home.
Out of ideas, I did what any self-respecting Millennial would do: I Googled it, and then I called my mom, and then I placed an Amazon order.
The one ingredient I took for granted had indeed been the key all along, says Robert Dixon Phillips, a retired professor of food science at the University of Georgia.
(Excerpt) Read more at getpocket.com ...
Mother was one of 13 children. They grew up on a huge farm, over 1000 acres. They were fairly wealthy and had all the beef, chickens, turkeys, and pork, and vegetables, they wanted.
Mother learned Southern cooking because that was the only thing she knew.
I used to live off 95 near Unitia.
I had a Grandson and Granddaughter both win blue ribbons at the Tulsa State Fair. I wonder how they kept the bread fresh while on display.
Biscuits and butter...forget the gravy and pass the butter.
Everything's better with butter.
You bet. If people can read they can cook. and Bisquick is GREAT.
You ever go on down 411 from Madisonville to the town of Benton???
They used to have speed limit signs in town that read 34 miles an hour....No foolin’.....
Lol. I must say that I don't know the difference between country ham and city ham. It's all PORK--cured with salt.
I've never met a pig part that I didn't like.
I just HAD some ham for dinner. Mmmmmm.
They had more than that. 33 or 28 or such other crazy stuff.
Taking the road to Fla back in the late 60’s.
They got rid of them because people kept stealing them.
LOL.
Keep in mind no RADAR and analog speedometers a foot wide!
Unfortunately, I learned to make very good biscuits 8 years ago via YouTube videos.
Just one criticism. A true scone is very like a biscuit. It should be light not heavy.
The REAL key is to use White Lily flour. Available in the South almost exclusively. This flour makes all things taste better. I’ve made good biscuits and scones for decades. Moved to the South and used White Lily and OMG an entirely different experience
HEB in Killeen used to have it.
Walmart.com has a 3 pack - 3 five pound bags for 8.34. Just added it to my cart.
They suck frozen.
They say that in the Army, the biscuits are mighty fine. One rolled off the table and killed a friend of mine.
That’s baking powder.
Good God....there is NO hope for our society.
My son, a Californian, LOVES Beaujangles biscuits, and will try any biscuits on anybody’s menu when he is in the South. I think maybe Beaujangles does something to make the surface crispy. My Bisquick bisquicks don’t have that, although I am capable of making very flaky, lofty biscuits anyway.
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