Southern Biscuits

Southern food will change your life. Eat enough of it and you'll eventually have to learn to cook it - especially if you move back north, because most places simply don't do it right. One of the most memorable recipes I tried to master while in SC was, biscuits and gravy. Learn it all below but don't forget to pair them with some gravy (or hash) and a Breakfast Brown that will surely cure any hangover and put you right back to sleep with a smile on your face.

Today we'll start off with the baking side and get those biscuits going. The key here is to use quality, cold butter, good flour and fresh baking soda. By the way, a single batch is enough for six full grown men when mixed with hash or gravy & eggs - but I always make a double batch. Below is the base, single batch recipe.

Ingredients
8oz all purpose flour
8oz cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick butter, chilled (not frozen) and cut into small pieces
12 oz buttermilk, chilled (or 12oz whole milk + 1 tbs white vinegar)

Procedure
Preheat the over to 400 F, it's a quick prep. Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl and then combine butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles small pebbles or crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and keep stirring until combined. Then use your hands to finish picking up the leftover flour in the bowl and finish combining on a lightly floured surface until it just comes together. To get the flakiness you have to make some layers. To do this you will roll out the dough so that it's about 1/4 inch thick, then fold it over, lightly press down and fold again. Once you have a few folds, roll it back out to about 1/2 inch thick and cut it with a small cup or biscuit cutter in to rounds that are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. To make a good cut, go fast and turn as you reach press, the dough will pop right back out.

Place the biscuits on a pan so they are just touching and bake until lightly brown, about 15 to 18 minutes. Serve warm!

The recipe for gravy will come another day (once I master making it with spent grain flour) and perhaps even a recipe for beer-braised hash as well. Until then, enjoy the hash pictures below.