| From Bill Neal's "Southern Cooking", ISBN 0-8078-1649-3, 1985, page 46,
Sift together
4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
With the fingertips or a blending fork work in
3 tablespoons lard until completely and evenly dispersed.
Make a well in the center and add all at once
1 cup cold water
Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Turn out and knead until
smooth, about 25 strokes.
Preheat the oven to 325.
"Using 10 strokes at a time, begin beating the dough with a mallet,
cleaver, or rolling pin into a rectangle approximately 15 by 6 inches.
Fold the rectangle into thirds, turn 90 degrees to the right, and
repeat. Do this at least 30 times."
Roll out to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a cutter dipped in flour.
Place on an ungreased baking sheet and brush the tops with melted
butter. Prick with a fork and bake for 20 minutes; raise the heat to
350 and bake another 10 minutes until slightly browned.
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| From Casella, "The New Book of Breads", ISBN 87250-032-2, 1979, page 14,
Preheat the oven to 350.
Measure into the bowl of a food processor and then pulse to combine
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
Distribute over the flour
3/4 cup lard, butter, or margarine
Process until the size of corn kernels.
With the machine running, add in a steady stream
3/4 cup ice water or icy cold milk
Process until it forms a ball and then for another two minutes.
Roll out to a 1/8th inch thickness and fold over to make two layers
of dough. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased
baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.
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| I made the biscuits according to 1410.2 (Casella). Interesting.
Using butter for the fat I uncharacteristically followed the recipe
exactly, shaping the first part of the batch as directed, albeit
perhaps a bit too thick. I shaped the last third like the biscuits I
enjoyed in Maryland and baked everything at once.
The biscuits were good but much too buttery for our tastes. They would
have been much better with a small amount of lard instead of this
wealth of butter. They did rise --- somewhat because of the steam but
mostly from the trapped air, especially in between the two layers of
dough. They didn't rise much; they were NOT puffed up. The flat ones
were very much like St. Johnsbury (Vt.) crackers, which I enjoy but
never make.
I managed to duplicate the shape of the Maryland biscuits by extruding
the dough up between the side of my thumb and the edge of my hand and
then pinching off that small egg of dough.
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| Here are a couple of recipes for baking-powder biscuits that don't
have to be kneaded or rolled out, they come out great every time.
Kentucky Ham Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablsepoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening(butter or Crisco)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 4-ounce package sliced cooked ham, sliced
About 35 minutes before serving:
Preheat oven to 450*F. In large bowl with fork, mix flour, sugar,
baking powder, and salt. With pastry blender or two knives used
scissor-fashion, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse
crumbs. Add milk, parsley, and ham; with fork, stir dough just until
mixed(do not overmix, this will toughen the dough).
Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 1 inch apart,
to make 12 biscuits. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
Sausage Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening(butter or Crisco)
1 cup milk
1/2 pound good quality bulk sausage(Jimmy Dean sausage is good)
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon each pepper and dried thyme
In a 6 inch skillet cook sausage 6-8 minutes over moderate heat,
breaking it up with a spoon, until meat is no longer pink and most
of the fat has cooked out. Drain in a strainer. Heat oven to 450*F.
In large bowl with fork, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Cut in shortening(as described in previous recipe)until mixture
resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk, cheese, sausage and spices,
blend well using hands if necessary.
Onto ungreased cookie sheet drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 1 inch apart,
to make 12 biscuits. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
These recipes are both good for breakfast served with scrambled
eggs or with a salad for lunch.
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