My Best Southern Biscuits -> just make these

I agree that I probably do have too many biscuit recipes here.  I wasn't going to put up another one but I've been asked for a while now how I make my biscuits.

I decided I should probably publish the one that *I* use every couple of days to replenish our stock :)

I have a pretty handy arsenal of biscuit recipes and methods in my head and I used to flip flop around which I'd make on any given day, usually depending on my mood.  I noticed that I stopped flipping about and stuck to this one recipe pretty consistently now and since I have the time, I took a million pictures of it this morning and here we are.  

One of the recipes that would come in and out of fashion for me was one I found in one of my old "old lady" cookbooks and have been using it as my standard, go to, the one I make, the one people ask me for, real old fashioned southern biscuit recipe.

I tweaked it a little bit and now it's THE recipe with THE method that I use all the time.  The recipe is EASY but the method is a little weird.  When you look at it, you'll think I'm being fussy and making an easy thing more difficult but truly, I'm not.  If you break it down, it's a mix, a few flips and a bake. Trust me, I make these 2-4 times a week and have for a really long time.

This recipe takes 5 minutes to put together and 15-20 minutes to cook then you are in soft, tender, delicious southern biscuit nirvana.  I promise you.

I haven't steered you wrong before and I'm not going to now.  This is one of those leap of faith moments.  Forget what you know about biscuit making, shake your shoulders out and do not fret.  My international tester made them and loved them.  I have faith you will too.

I had Connor take a million pictures, over my shoulder, as I made them for his breakfast this morning.  I timed it and it was 8 minutes from deciding to make them to popping them in the oven.  That's pretty quick and pretty easy.  I'm sorry there's so many but I wanted to show you, literally, step by step.

TRACY'S SOUTHERN STYLE BISCUITS

1 cup milk (I use 2%)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (out of the big plastic green lemon jar I keep in the fridge, don't judge :)
2 1/4 cups *SELF RAISING flour
1 stick of **MARGARINE (again, don't judge)

optional: a couple of tsps of sugar if you feel the need, I add some 50% of the time

*IF you do not have self raising flour then make some.  For each cup of flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt, mix it up, make 3 cups for this recipe and use it as "bench flour" as well.
**OK OK OK... in this recipe, I absolutely do use margarine, it's CHEAP and they come out beautifully and you can then justify slathering, thickly, the hot, fresh, biscuits with your best cold butter.  I think butter makes them too rich, if there is such a thing.

LONG WINDED WITH COMMENTARY AND PICTURES INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450 and be sure your rack is on the top third of the oven.

Mix milk and lemon juice in a cup and leave for a few minutes.

Cut/mix margarine into flour with hands, combining until it looks like sand.  Use your fingers (like me) or two knives or two forks or a pastry cutter.

Make a well in the center and pour all the milk/lemon into it!  ACK!  SERIOUSLY!  Mix with a fork until it's a runny, batter like mix.  Take a moment to worry that you've done something wrong...  OK, look at the pictures now and see that you didn't :)

Pour (yeah, you have to pour this) dough on to HEAVILY floured board and with a bench scraper, start to fold it over itself.  No kneading or pushing, this stuff sticks like CRAZY at this point.  You want to dust lightly then fold with the scraper then turn, dust, fold, turn, and slowly, after about 8 turns, you have a very soft, smooth, lovely dough.  You can tell if it's too wet because it feels cold and wet.  IF you try to cut the biscuits and they stick together or go flat then it's not enough turns, trust me.  This sounds obnoxious but it's really easy and quick... look below before you judge it.  It takes a minute or two.  Connor said I should do a video showing it in real time I will next time I make these, which will be Sunday or maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, when it's a soft dough, pat it gently and cut biscuits out.  I use a 2 inch cutter, dipped in flour and cut straight down, no twisting.  I put the 9 (or 10 with a cooks treat) on a greased sheet, touching and bake at 450 for 16 minutes, then I spin the tray and cook them for another 4.  Butter the tops lightly when they come out and well, then just eat 'em.

HERE are a million play by play pictures, let me know if you have ANY questions:

Flour in the bowl and then the margarine stick (1/2 cup for those who don't get the sticks)  Work it in with your fingers, lightly and quickly.
   

No big chunks left, make a well in the center
   
Pour all of the milk/lemon juice in at once.  Mix quickly with a fork.
   
It looks like batter, trust me, it'll work.  Heavily flour a board and the top of the dough
   
Pour it out... ohhhhhhhh it's a blob! Flour the top and grab your scraper and start flipping it on itself

   
Scrape under, flip it! Scrape under from the other side, flip it!
   
Scrape under, flip it, flour it lightly.  Scrape it, flip it, flour it lightly.  Repeat 4-5 times
   
OOH!  it's starting to look like dough!  Flour lightly now, scrape, fold in half.
   
yeah, here we go.  Now I get fancy, flour lightly, fold in thirds, and turn!  it makes a difference!
   
Bottom third up and over, now turn it 90 degrees and do it again, 3 or 4 times
   
Ok, this is really looking like dough now, square it up a bit and see if it's happy being patted out.  I pat it the dough about equal height of my baby finger

   
Yeah, that works... square it up nicely.  Flour your cutter and press straight down and slide it out of the way, no twisting.  I don't know if it truly matters but I'm funny about it so just don't twist :)
   
cut out 9 biscuits, you can fold the scrap dough to get the rest. I always roll any extra as cook's treat :)
   

oh just look at this waiting to be baked biscuit...  what a beautiful thing

Line then up touching on a 1/4 sheet pan, lightly greased.  I press my fingers on the top, I don't know why but I just do.  Set timer, on preheated 450 degree oven, for 16 minutes. Bake them on the top third rack
   
At 16 minutes, they're a bit pale still, spin the pan and cook another 4 minutes or until they're beautiful.  When they come out, brush them immediately with a little butter

   
OK, now we're onto the beauty shots.  No knife required, just pinch the sides and pull these babies open
  

 

This is Connor's, plain with butter, now, onto the cook's treat!

   
*this is how I serve when I'm taking pictures
    
*THIS is how I serve myself up in real life!!!  Thick butter and way more golden syrup!
   
ooooh, drippy and marvelous.  You can taste it, can't you?
   

So, in conclusion (finally) THAT is how I make my biscuits.  Try it, you'll love it!  It sounds hard and look obnoxious but really, a quick mix, a couple of flips and into the oven.  DELICIOUS!!

Unlike the other biscuits I used to make, these reheat perfectly even after a couple of days.  Connor toasts them in the toaster oven without splitting them and they come out like fresh from the oven.  I split and then toast and they're like slightly thicker English muffins.

Truly, try them and let me know how much you love them too!

/enjoy

Cauliflower Salad with bacon

So, you fry a pound of bacon until it's crisp and then chop it up.

HA!  got your attention, is there any recipe on earth that can be BAD starting like that?  This is one of those oldie and goodie recipes. The church ladies and regular folk made it and took it to whatever function was being attended at the moment.  It comes in and out of fashion.  I used to make it as my standard party piece but then it fell by the wayside in favor of me making some other new and more interesting salad.  Well, it's come around again by way of my dear friend who asked me to make it 'again' and I took it to her house today and we ate it, and we loved it, and it's back in rotation so I thought I'd share it with you.

Tracy's Cauliflower Salad

1 lb bacon, cooked and chopped
1 head cauliflower, broken into tiny florets
1 small iceberg lettuce (it HAS to be iceburg lettuce, there's something wonderfully old fashioned feeling about having a chopped iceberg salad)  anyway, shred the lettuce.
*IF you want it to be more substantial, you can substitute shredded cole slaw mix in place of the lettuce, it's a different creature all together but it's as delicious and it's heartier and will hold longer

THAT's it!  Seriously, throw it in a big bowl.  The secret, is the dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise (not miracle whip or salad dressing, use real and full fat or don't bother making this)
1/4 shredded parmesan cheese (or a little more if you like)
1 Tablespoons sugar
**I add a number of grinds of freshly cracked black pepper but it's not "officially" in the recipe ;) 

Mix the dressing separately and then toss it all together at the last moment.  DEVOUR with abandon!

I felt obligated to take some quick pics as I made it, i'm a little embarrassed it's so quick and easy.

Ok, cook your bacon.  This is a lb and I cooked it in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes, drained on a towel then chopped it up.  I saved the fat in my bacon fat jar :)
 

Look at this lovely cauliflower!  I break it into quite small florets and then chop the stalk small and include that.  It's so tender and flavorful, even raw.  Do it.
   
 

The dressing, I just toss in a measuring cup and leave in the fridge until I'm ready to mix it.  Mix at the last moment, the lettuce doesn't hold up well.

Toss and eat with joyful abandon, it's SALAD :)  I love this with brisket, shredded and piled high on homemade rolls... hmmmmm  that gives me an idea

  

It's just a quickie but it's a GOODIE!

Garlic Pull Apart Cheese Bread , my version

You're going to want to sit down for this one.....

Here's the beauty shot, right up front.  I think we should take a moment and look at this.  Yeah, it's light and airy but substantial and tender.  It's laced with garlic and cheese and herbs and pepper.  It's one of the best things I've "winged" in a very long time. 

I've had a rough day, I wanted something decadent.  I wanted something rich.  I wanted something comforting and delicious. I wanted something extravagant.  I'd planned on pasta for dinner, this seemed the brilliant side.  I must say, in this instance, I think I have absolutely nailed it.  First time out, no testing, no opinions from friends, nothing.  Make these.  You'll LOVE them!!  

TRACYS GARLIC PULL APART CHEESE BREAD

2 cups a/p flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup +2 TB warm water

1/4-1/2 cup butter
3 garlic cloves (or more or less to taste)
parsley, salt, pepper, oregano
grated Parmesan cheese (as much as you love)

Just the long winded, commentary and pictures version of this recipe today.  

In a vessel that has some form of measurement on the side (I use my http://www.acemart.com/kitchen-supplies/food-storage-accessories/food-containers/square-white-food-containers/food-container-square-polyethylene-white-cop10731/prod4653.html )  put in the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water and mix with a spoon or spatula for a minute or so until it's a relatively cohesive shaggy blob of very very very wet dough.  Put the lid on and leave it to rise until it's doubled.  MINE took 30 minutes BUT remember I make bread daily so I have yeast in the air and everything rises faster here. 

Lightly butter a dish (hahahaha  did I seriously take two pictures of buttering?  hahaha sorry)

 

In a glass bowl combine the butter, garlic, herbs and microwave until melted.  Mix in a little cheese and taste to be sure you love it.  Be sure to keep it quite liquid, we are going to coat the dough in this stuff.

  

When the dough has risen/doubled, it looks like this, hardly a dough but TRUST me here.  I haven't steered you wrong before with this super wet dough and I won't this time either.  I don't have any before pictures because I was making this up as a quickie and it was when I pulled the dough out that I realized I was going to blog this...  just in case you were wondering.
 

Tip it onto a relatively well floured board and flip it a time or two.  Pat it into a rectangle and with a bench scraper, chop it in half then chop each half into a bunch of little pieces, I think I got 22 or so.  Roll them into little, loose balls.  Try not to use too much flour, just enough to have the dough not stick to your hands.  I put a little on my palm then clap it off. 

  

Roll each ball in the melted butter/herb/cheese mixture and put in the prepared dish.  Be quick here, a dunk and flip is all it needs.  Do NOT fret about the butter that isn't absorbed yet, this is NOT going to end up an oily mess, I assure you.
  

Arrange them in a flat layer in the dish and leave them to rise.  I put mine in the oven with the light on for about 30 minutes to go from this to this:
 

Bake in a PREHEATED oven set at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until you can pull the center ball out and eat it and know that it's cooked :)  Yep, I DID!  I grabbed the middle one by the 'head' and yanked it out and ate it!  MMMMMMMMMMMM

You can pull and eat straight from the dish, after you let it rest about 5 minutes, or you can tip it out and pull it...  Connor went mad for it, there's none left!!  He said it was the best bread I'd made and that's high praise because we all know exactly HOW much bread I cook.

It's a quick and easy and CHEAP side for any meal but worked beautifully with my pasta tonight.  The balls are rich and buttery but still have good texture and chew because the base dough is good, quality, old school and in fact it's the "crusty Italian loaf" dough that I make but I simply cut the recipe in half.  

Here's some requisite beauty shots:
  

  

I tipped it out to see what it was like upside down... oh yeah, crunchy bits on the edges, hello!

  

And, we're back to this...  Seriously, go make this.  You're going to love it

/enjoy

Pappadeux and my restaurant love. Was I schmoozed? or has the love just gone cold? Neither, it's still love!

Lovely ice cold Pinot

No recipe today... instead, I have a little story to share. 

I love LOVE one of our local restaurants, Pappadeux.  It's seafood and extravagant and generally fabulous, delicious and somewhere you would probably like to go if you have some $$ to drop.

Over the years, on special occasions  I've cocktailed in the bar, fabulous.  I've eaten lunch, dinner and mystery meals in the late middle of the afternoon.  fabulous.  I take the out of towners, our of countriers (is that a word?) and we go for birthdays and anniversary dinners.

THAT being said, there was *shudder* the unfortunate cardboard crab cake incident of 2012 that about did me in.  I got teary because it was abysmal but I'm not supposed to complain or comment when I'm out so I had to suffer until it blew out of me. 

The usually delicious, plump, juicy, flavorful, crispy, soft, crab cake came to be as a thin, hard, dry, cardboard-esque slab of nothingness.  Now then, all restaurants have their glitches, however on this day, I told the waiter who ARGUED with me.  Oh no no no that's not OK.  I got teary, my table mate was furious that I'd SAID anything, my birthday dinner was ruined, painful to just get through, I hated it, I hated every minute.

I went back a time or two but frankly, the bloom was off the rose.  I usually took my mother, from out of State, when she came but we started to go to Pappasitos (my NEW MOST FAVORITE)  

I, sadly, lowered my expectation of Pappadeaux.  Frankly, I was starting to arrive there prepared for unpleasant staff and potentially disappointing food.  I'd order 'safe' things and never repeated an order in case it didn't live up to memory. That's no way to feel when you're about to drop $50 (that I could make at home :)).  

Last week, I got a last minute "let's go for a drink and a fabulous lunch" call from a friend.   She said Pappasitos, which delighted me!  I jumped in the car, braved the construction on the roads and rushed there.  When I got there, she wasn't to be seen so I called.  She was already into cocktails when we realized she said Pappasitos but MEANT PappadeauxI called to ask where she was so I just walked over.  I shared the story of the bad food and waiter with our new favorite waiter, Preston.  Preston then shared the story with his manager, Sarah.  Sarah came over and apologized and was absolutely charming.  She said they were taking care of my crabcake as a "sorry for your bad experience, thanks for coming back in" gesture.  DELIGHTED!  That's the sort of customer service I'm used to here in Texas and any less shocks me now.

Did I mention that Preston, our waiter, was positively charming as well?  There were a few glitches in translation of definitions of specific cocktails but nothing that's a deal breaker. 

OK, look, I asked him to pose like this with my girlfriend, I said the way to tell if someone is truly sweet is the "side hand shelf" post... and look, he DID!  He doesn't know us but he played along.  THAT is why we are going back today.  

The meal was lovely, even though they changed their sweet potato strings to regular potato springs which sort of taste like french fries.  HOWEVER, the ambiance is fun, the staff is lovely and the company was fun.  

DELICIOUS, shame about the fries on top

The crab cake redeemed itself.  It was plump, delicious, filled with crab, lightly fried with crawfish and a beurre blanc.  I don't like the french fry strings they put on now but it's not the end of the world, I just flick 'em off.

OOOOH, look how DElighted we are at our BEAUTIFUL food!  Hardly hamming it up at all!!  HAHAHAHAHA   (yeah, we're very very silly ;D)

 

After a short time, Dean, the GM, came over.  I love a table side visit from a GM. He was charming.  He even seemed interested in my rant over potato vs sweet potato strings on food.  If I WANTED french fries, even skinny ones, I'd have ASKED for french fries.  He gave each of us his card and asked that we call when we are going to come back with girlfriends.  I was going to suggest we go to Truluck's but I think we may hit Pappadeux instead.  CHARMING! 

Call me, he said.  We'll take care of you, he said.  I DID call, but no luck. 

Since last Friday, I called and left a message, I called and got no answer and I called and was disconnected when I asked for him.  Hmmmmm.  I'm not saying for sure it was ME but 3 strikes and you're out. 

Fast forward to today.  

Some girls and I are going to lunch.  We like to cocktail then nibble then giggle then cocktail some more and nibble some more. We don't hurry.  I tried to call the GM, since he DID give me his card, he DID ask but again there was some inability to transfer my call from the phone at the desk to wherever they were trying to connect me. That's one too many calls... nice sentiment but I'm wondering if maybe I was schmoozed? maybe I need to move away from this restaurant and the love that's been no good for me.  I'm not feeling the love.

I get that GM's are busy but if the staff can't forward a message or the GM can't call back or the front desk can't transfer a call; c'mon, maybe it IS me?  

For reasons still unknown, we have decided to go over there today for our Ladies who Love to Lunch.  The original plan was 5 at 11:30 but life takes over so now we are 3 whenever we get there.  No worries, we 3 are a hell of a force :)  




I am going to eat, drink and be merry.  This is the last chance for this place.  I'm also pretty sure I'm going to share the story with the waiter of how we almost didn't come today.  I wonder if we'll see the GM ...... 

ADDENDUM (and end) to the story....

WELL!  I'm home :) Lunch lingered 3 hours at the restaurant then moved to my backyard where the wine flowed and "lunch" continued another 5 hours.  If nothing else, I KNOW how to do this!  

We arrived at the restaurant and were greated warmly.  Sarah was there and remembered us and took care of us.  She seated us, chatted about our recent experience and I told her about my blog and my story and she made sure we were very well taken care of. 

Our new favorite waiter, Mark, was as good a sport as Preston had been the week before.  Dean even came out of the kitchen, to greet us, and said he'd make sure our food was sublime.  It was.  I don't think I've ever had a better meal at Pappadeux or at any seafood restaurant in Austin, if I'm honest.  It was THAT good. 

We had wine and we had 3 fried oysters to taste before we ordered.  I'm not usually a fan but they were crisp, lightly breaded and the oyster was moist and tender and not a little rubber ball.  DElightful.  I'm suddenly glad we came back. 

I had the seafood grill... it was perfection.  I can't even begin to describe the subtle flavors of the seafood, the crisp slight char on the veggies or the perfectly separated highly seasoned dirty rice.  The melted sweet butter and uber fresh lemon wedge, sure standard things but with a little flare and extremely fresh and joyful on the plate.  

The fish was perfectly cooked, the scallops were merely kissed with heat through to their centers, the salmon was pink and slightly underdone in the middle so the rest couldn't overcook.  The whitefish was like a pearl before me.  

Seriously, I'm not a gusher but it was THAT damned good.  My friends had equally as delicious, perfectly prepared meals. 

My skewer...  perfection.  I haven't had such a combination of food that was so perfectly cooked in a very long time.  Skewers are hard!  The shrimp was perfect, a slight char on the outside but they still popped when I ate them.  I shared with the girls, but I didn't want to.  I didn't want to even a little itty bitty bit but I did. 

Peggy had the Mahi with crab beurre blanc and polenta.  It was amazing.  Suzann had Tilapia with shrimp and crap and parmsean risotto.  Perfection.

 

Mark entertained us with stories, kept us entertained and well doused in wine and cocktails.  It was a lovely time with lovely people and simply exquisite food.  This trip to Pappadeux was a trip back in time, to when I first arrived here in Austin and we went to gasp at the sheer delight of the food.  It's back on the top of the list of places we need to go with the Ladies who Lunch, the Moms who need Margaritas.  It's the top of the list for the out of towners, the hot spot to take the relatives from across the pond and across the border.  THIS is my goto once again. 

Mark (what a good sport!) did use his charm for evil purpose and he tempted us with the standard dessert tray.  Then he told us about those special items that were NOT on the try but that he knew would delight and thrill us...  

Bastard...  we were weak and caved.  Moments later, before us appeared the Bananas Foster Crepe filled with Hagen Daaz vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate and caramel. 

There was a strawberry on top so we justified devouring it by the fact fruit is healthy... so the plate was technically health food.  Bananas AND strawberries, c'mon, it's a fruitplate!   :)  

LOOK! what we ate! Seriously, sometimes it's good to be me and at the moment in time this food was on the table, it was that EXACT moment when it was VERY VERY good to be me.

  

I've forgiven Pappadeux.  In my opinion, the crap crab was an anomoly.  The GM not returning a call was unfortunate but not a slight. The rude waiter last year was the exception, not the rule.  I don't think I was schmoozed.  I think they were genuinely apologetic and genuinely happy to see us back.  I think they can cook a plate of seafood as well or better than any place in town.  I'd easily put them up against Truluck's and they're not nearly as expensive.

Take your out of towners, your special someone or just a couple of girlfriends for lunch, it's worth going.

I'll tell you though, I need to take you the Pappasito's, you're going to faint over the crab stuffed shrimp over there.  Yeah, I'll take us there next week.  Until then, go drop some cash at Pappadeux, tell them I sent you if you go the restaurant in Austin.  Let's make some noise. 

/tracy