Saturday, September 11, 2004

Obachan's Bloopers (1)


A piece of baked dough

This was supposed to be a buttermilk biscuit. Instead, it turned out to be a piece of baked dough --- disgustingly heavy one.

Buttermilk biscuit is my favorite “Southern breakfast food” and I once spent a lot of time searching for a good recipe. I had been pretty happy with a recipe of “buttermilk biscuit mix” which you can store in the freezer for up to 3 months. The trouble began when I read about the problem of “trans fat” and started thinking about replacing the vegetable shortening with other kinds of oil. Once I tried canola oil, and it accidentally worked OK. I should’ve written down how much oil I put at that time, but I forgot, so I still haven’t come up with the best recipe that doesn’t call for vegetable shortening. Today I guess I put too much or too little of something, because I was so absent minded.



My invention!

THIS is something that's working well. I bought this cheap cloth somewhere and sewed it into a bag. This helps keep biscuits warm at the table. ;)

Posted by obachan at 9/11/2004 09:43:00 AM

Labels:

6 comments:

santos. said...

hi obachan

i have a very simple recipe for a tasty biscuit. just add 1 to 1 1/2 c. of heavy whipping cream (unsweetened and unwhipped) to 2 cups of flour (self-raising or all-purpose, it doesn't matter--the self-raising will be a little fluffier). mix until it forms a ball, then knead very gently (less than 10 turns!), roll out and cut into squares or circles. bake on a greased sheet or in a pan for 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven.

it's a typical southern recipe you might enjoy!

10/13/2004 5:10 AM
obachan said...

Hi Santos,

OMG it’s so simple! Just like that? I’ll definitely try this and post the result sometime soon.
Thanks a million!

10/13/2004 3:03 PM
Cheeko-san said...

You can stop worrying about transfat and start worrying about over-refined flour :-) Southerners don't like to share their secret, but after lurking about a few years I did find out that an ultra-refined white flour called "White Lily" is how they keep their biscuits from becoming hockey pucks. It's also the secret behind Red Velvet cake as well. Williams & Sonoma will sell you a tiny bag for an outrageous price or you could buy a "pounder" bag at a local grocery store for under $2.00!

Traditional Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups of White Lily flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 vegetable oil

(450 for 10 minutes)

PS - thank you so much for sharing your wagashi recipes/experiences!

7/31/2006 9:49 AM
obachan said...

Hi.
Thanks for your advice and the recipe. At this point, there seems to be no way that I can buy White Lilly flour, but I’ll keep your advice in mind. :)

8/04/2006 9:01 AM
Anonymous said...

the "hocky puck" biscuit, as my mother called it, is the bane of all young southern cooks. but i think my great-grandmother's recipe is fool proof. my relatives always used regular flour and crisco but the recipe has been adapted to use butter instead. i don't think oil will work, it turns out too crumbly. you could use lard or bacon greese which gives you an interesting flavor but lard isn't very popular. i've been using this recipe a lot and i haven't managed to mess it up yet.

2 cups flour
6 tbsp butter (cold, grated)
3 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk*

DO NOT OVER MIX
bake for 15-20 min at 400F

*to make buttermilk you can put a tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.


good luck!

2/04/2007 1:35 AM
obachan said...

Hi Anonymous commenter,
Thank you so much for the recipe!
I really should try making buttermilk at home and use it for biscuits or pancakes. Yeah, maybe now is the time...

"Hocky puck" biscuit. That's cute. I love it. :)

2/05/2007 10:12 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)