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15 December 2007

Biscuits is an art form...

I can't make biscuits. I can eat them every day, but I can't make them to save me. I know all the best restaurants within 40 miles to get biscuits. The only one close enough for a daily visit has a problem with consistency. Some days, they're perfect. Some days burnt black. More often lately, they're a bit flat and dense. We affectionately call them hockey pucks. Some days, they're half done and you can taste the ingredients. Doughballs. Occasionally, they have more of a cornbread flavour, which isn't a bad thing, actually, but they make me crave greens.

Years ago, when I lived in DeLand, I never passed up an opportunity to visit Hunter's family restaurant. Miss June made the best biscuits! How I wish I'd asked her to teach me. Though I'm not at all sure one can be taught to make good biscuits. Oh, we can learn what to do and do everything exactly as our teacher, but how many of us can create a masterpiece worthy of the name 'BISCUIT'?

Miss June is gone now and Hunter's is too far even for a day trip. If I ever again find someone with her talent, I'm going to make a point of asking for lessons. Who knows? I might just be a latent Grandma Moses. 8-}
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9 comments:

Moultrie Creek said...

I CAN make biscuits - thanks to Pillsbury's frozen buttermilk biscuits. They are not as good a Grandma's, but they're the closest I've found.

I remember my grandmother making biscuits - and not measuring a thing. I imagine after 50+ years of making biscuits every day it becomes instinctual (is there such a word?).

R.Powers said...

I was going to suggest the same brand Moultrie Creek did. They are excellent as is some brand in a red and white bag that I can't recall right now.

Grandma Moses could paint and bake?!
Wow!

Anonymous said...

Mary B's biscuits in the frozen section at the grocery store, made in Bagdad, Florida. Those taste just like grandma made and are even better if you cook them in a iron skillet.

Susan Humeston said...

Best biscuits I've ever had were at Dillard's in Dillard, GA. If you've never been there, it is in the GA mountains and is a bed and breakfast/restaurant that serves traditional Southern food and veggies grown on the premises. There is no menu - everyone gets the same thing depending on whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner. The waitress just brings out plates of 4 types of Southern cooked meats and tons of bowls of vegetables, biscuits and gravy. I drool just thinking about it.

I've tried to make my own biscuits, but they always turn out like hockey pucks. My husband can make biscuits, but the kitchen afterwards looks like the flour container blew up. I like the idea of Mary B's - I'll look for them....

Steve said...

I love good homemade biscuits. My mom has always made about the best I know, but in every church where I have been appointed, there have been one or two cooks who really did it well, too.

The secret of most good cooking is to not be intimidated by the ingredients or the process, and I'm a decent cook with good instincts in the kitchen. But successful biscuits elude me. Congratulations to those who have the knack.

Anonymous said...

My grandmother still makes the best biscuits known to man. She's in her early 90's now. I can't duplicate her success, but mine are edible.

If you're near Ft. Myers, I'm sure she'd be honored to teach you.

7th generation also.... :-)

Anonymous said...

I can't make them from 'scratch' either, but I can tell you a secret that will make everyone think you've discovered the old fashioned method of tasty, light, fluffy biscuits!! Run to Sam's Club and purchase their buttermilk biscuit mix in the large gold box (I think maybe it's a Betty Crocker or something like that?) It is the same mix many of these restaurants use (including those awesome ones at Red Lobster). You just add water and either drop them from a spoon or make a dryer mix and cut with a biscuit cutter. Brush with a little melted butter....oh, to die for! The Red Lobster version just requires adding some grated cheese and garlic powder, then pouring melted butter/garlic powder over the top when they are almost done. Not kidding...they are super good!

Meems said...

sophie: do i dare say i make a pretty mean biscuit? my grandmother and my mother taught me and it's not as intimidating as you might think. I don't have a recipe written down but i would be happy to share what i know with you ... maybe when you come down this way for epiphany?

Anonymous said...

I have a number of different ways to make biscuits, but the easiest is simply this:
To White Lily self-rising flour (it is finer than regular flour)add heavy whipping cream until you get the desired consistancy. Roll or pat out to 3/4" and cut using biscuit cutter or lid of cooking-spray can which has been dipped in flour.
Bake at 450 degrees F on lightly greased pan or cast iron griddle. These biscuits are very soft and fine-grained. Yummy!