Cloud Like Biscuit Recipe

Never have I been so pleased with a biscuit recipe

I bake a lot. I bake for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, picnics, bar mitzvahs, weddings, special occasions, and on. I also bake for me. When Im out of whatever, or sick of eating whole wheat pita, oatmeal, and wild rice I like to bake up some carb-heavy, gluten nasty flat bread, zucchini bread, cake, cookies. I am adding this biscuit recipe today (and Ive made a lot of biscuit recipes) to that list of quick breads.

The batch you see above is the 4th Ive made since January, and all have been a success out of the gate. My cloud-like, fluffy, cant do anything but rise biscuit recipe is adapted from Gregs Southern Biscuits, which I found on Allrecipes.com. The main difference is mine dont have lard or bacon drippings, but only because I dont have that food in my kitchen. You bet Id make them with good lard if I had good lard. Also, this is a great recipe for using up leftover, extra buttermilk.

Cloud-Like Biscuits

1/2 tsp butter
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
(I use Bakewells which I order from the King Arthur Catalog)
5 1/2 tblsp cold butter
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with 1/2 tsp butter. Mix flour, salt, soda, and powder in a medium bowl. Cut butter into 1/4 inch chunks and add to dry ingredients. Blend butter in by pinching and rubbing with your hands. Butter should resemble a fine meal when ready. Make a well in the mixture and pour buttermilk in. Mix with your hands lightly until just combine.

Lightly fold and turn the biscuit dough to build layers

Scrap the dough, its a little sticky, out on to a floured work area. Pat dough out about an inch with your hands. Fold the dough in half, turn 90 degrees, pat gently, and fold again. Repeat 3 more times. This builds the biscuit layers up. Now pat or roll the dough out to one inch. Cut biscuits with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter. Its important to push the cutter straight down and lift straigh up. Turning the cutter will seal the edges preventing the biscuits from rising. Use a spatula to move the cut biscuits to the buttered baking tray. You should have 6-8 biscuits.

Now you are supposed to pop those in the hot oven and get baking, while ignoring the rest of the dough. The more you handle the dough the tougher it gets. I simply can not bring myself to do trash the dough. Readers with lots of biscuit experience, what do you do with that excess dough from the first cut? Maybe Im cutting my biscuits wrong. I squish and re-pat the dough one or maybe two more times to maximize the dough. Serve the virgin first cut biscuits to good company and hoard the second and third batches for yourself.

Bake all the biscuits for 15-18 minutes. Biscuits are ready when theyre so light they nearly fly out of the oven, and have beautiful browned bottoms. Move to a cooling rack immediately. Serve with a hunk of butter on top for breakfast, lunch, tea, or dinner.

Tomato Soup

Really this red and really better than can soup from a can

I was sick earlier this month eating bread and soup for 7-10 days. Campbells Tomato soup became dinner on more than one occasion. The soup has a nostalgic but salty sodium and tinny flavor. I discovered this weekend that it doesnt take much to make a soup that blows Campbells lingering memory out of the way in 30-45 minutes. I also discovered the line between tomato soup, tomato sauce and bbq sauce can be a tricky one to walk. I used canned tomatoes, with summer a distant memory. You could easily roast fresh tomatoes if your climate or season allows.

Tomato Soup

1 red pepper

1 large onion, chopped

2 tblsp vegetable oil

36-38 oz canned crushed tomatoes (one big and one normal sized cans)

12 oz vegetable or chicken broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp sriracha

1/2 tsp smoky Hungarian paprika

1 tsp sugar

4 drops liquid smoke (optional)

2 tblsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Core and de-seed red pepper. Wrap in foil and roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked. Remove from oven, and let rest for 10 minutes. Remove skin, and chop. Meanwhile saute onion in oil until translucent in a large stock pot. Add roasted pepper, canned tomatoes, broth, spices, and sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot and liquid smoke, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir, and its done. Serve with grilled cheese, bread, or whatever comforts.

Garlic Goodies

I love roasted garlic. Sweeter, smooth, spreadable easier-going version of garlic. The acme of savory garlic flavor without bite. Set garlic on foil square, drench in oil, wrap foil into a present and bake. Thats what I did for years until I finally realized that I could be making a second product at the same time. Garlic perfumed oil isnt just a by product of roasted garlic, its an equal garlic treat to dab on vegetables, use to dunk bread, blend into sauces, dips, sprinkle on fried food, pizzas, salads and everywhere else you use plain oil.

Roasted Garlic and Oil

3 cups vegetable oil

2 heads of garlic

cracked pepper

a few fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, mint, sage etc)

red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Remove the excess loose papery skin around the garlic. Its fine to leave most of the skin, but you dont want the excess floating around in the oil you plan to eat. Cut the top of the garlic heads, and place in a oven-proof pot with oil and seasonings. Cover and cook for 45-60 minutes. Flip garlic heads half way. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Squeeze roasted garlic out of the heads and use on any and everything. Pour oil into a glass jar with a lid or carafe. Should be good for 1-2 weeks.