BOOK COOK

Making biscuits is serious buisness in my house. My dad once told me he couldn't see the difference between homemade & from a can. I proved him wrong with my homemade version. It takes a bit of work but like all good things it is worth it!!

This is by far my favorite recipe, it comes from the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. The only part I disagree with is using a food processor to cut in the butter. I prefer to do it by hand. Overworking the butter in the dough is what ruins biscuits.

Bird-Head Buttermilk Biscuits
- makes about sixteen 2-inch round biscuits -

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour or 2 cups sifted bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for your work surface and hands

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into several pieces

2 tablespoons cold lard or vegetable shortening, cut into several pieces

3/4 cup cold whole or lowfat buttermilk (preferably whole)

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients thoroughly with a fork. Transfer to a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Add the butter and lard and pulse the mixture in 2-second increments until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces, about 5 pulses. (If you don't have a food processor, cut the fats into the dry ingredients in a bowl by mashing with a fork, a whisk, or a pastry blender; it will take about 3 minutes.)

3. Transfer the mixture back to the bowl, pour the buttermilk over it, and mix with the fork for about 1 minute, until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, knead with floured fingers once or twice, and pat it into a rectangle about 6 x 10 inches and 1 inch thick.

4. Fold the rightmost third of the rectangle over the center third and fold the left third on top. Turn the dough a quarter turn, pat it into a 6-x-10-inch rectangle, and fold it upon itself in thirds again. Repeat one more time, then pat the dough into a 6-x-10-inch rectangle about 1 inch thick.

5. Using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter (or an upside-down shot glass), cut the biscuits from the dough and place them about I'll inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops just begin to brown.

6. Serve the biscuits warm,

"New Years Resolution #2 - Read More Cookbooks"

As I mentioned a week or two ago, I have had a lack of excitement in my current chef job, and it seems to have affected my life in several ways. One of those is that I stopped getting exciting about food. Watched hardly any Food Network, bought virtually no new cookbooks in all of last year, and rarely ever pick one up and read it. Not good! Can't learn anything new that way! So...I have decided to get back on track this year and not let my current job affect me this way. After all, I may not get to use any new ideas in my current job, but if the economy ever turns around, I just might find myself in a more exciting position where I can use them.

I might even watch more Food Network, although having 30 minutes to make a dessert using the secret ingredients of fava beans, avocado, raisins and honey is not likely to improve my future success in the foodservice industry.