Squirrel X's Culinary Miscellany!
bakin' powder biscuits
"Make anything with love, and BAM! It's a beautiful meal."
__Emeril Lagasse
"Who could ever weary of moonlit nights and well-cooked rice?"
__Japanese proverb
"What I love about cooking is that after a hard day,
there is something comforting about the fact that
if you melt butter and add flour, then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing.
It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure!"
__Nora Ephron
"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."
__Elsa Schiaparelli
"Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work
in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent,
so is the ballet. "
__Julia Child
"Cooking is a creation."
__Piero Selvaggio
"'Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers."
__William Shakespeare
"Cooking is like love.
It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
__Harriet Van Horne
It seems fittin' to start this collection of culinary miscellany with the recipe for one of the most wonderful foodstuffs known to humankind --- which also happens to be a hallowed Southern staple that's frequently bollixed up in other parts of the country.
Bakin' Powder Biscuits
Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening [Crisco, or regular lard if cholesterol isn't an issue]
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons bakin' powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk [regular milk will suffice in a pinch]
Instructions:
1) Preheat your oven to 450�.
2) Sift together the flour, sugar, bakin' powder, and salt.
3) Cut the shortenin' into the dry ingredients usin' two knives
or a pastry blender 'til the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
4) Stir in the milk 'til the dough leaves the sides of the bowl
--- it'll be soft and sticky.
5) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly
ten times. Don't get overzealous with your kneadin'!
That's what turns biscuits into hockey pucks!
6) Roll or pat to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into rounds with a floured
2 and 1/2 inch cutter. The best cutter to use is a tomato paste can that's been cleaned and has had the ends cut out. If you want larger biscuits, use a tomato sauce or tomato soup can.
7) Place biscuits on an un-greased cookie sheet approximately
1 inch apart if you want crusty sides or touchin' each other if you
prefer soft sides.
8) Bake ten to twelve minutes, 'til golden brown,
and then remove from cookie sheet immediately.
9) Serve with butter, honey, jam, jelly, red eye gravy, or whatever else you've got a taste for. Some folks like 'em with Karo syrup.
Some fancy yellow mustard.
Well-made biscuits are a joy to the senses, extremely soothin'
to the soul, any time of the day or night, and you can see whatta
cinch they are to prepare.
and the best of intentions for whoever wants to try 'em,
but if somethin' goes wrong, don't blame the varmint.*
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