TASTE
Blissful biscuits
By Kathleen Purvis
McClatchy Newspapers
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Everybody loves biscuits. But making a good one used to be one of those insoluble cooking mysteries, known only to Southern women.
But today, there's no shame in taking a shortcut to biscuits — especially if the alternative is no biscuits at all.
Want to know how widespread it is? I recently spent the night at the home of a friend who is a legendary Southern cook. On Sunday morning, I came down to the kitchen to find her with a can of Pillsbury Grands in hand.
She shook it at me and made me promise not to tell. What's to tell? I had no problem with it. There were just two of us. She had gone to the trouble of warming up a lovely dish of thinly sliced country ham and put out two wheels of locally made cheeses.
There was no shame in enjoying that with warm biscuits, even if it took a can to get there.
While we lingered over coffee, we tossed around ideas for all the things you can do with canned biscuits. You can dip them in butter and sugar before baking and use them for shortcake. Flatten them and fold them over diced apples to make turnovers. Press them into mini-muffin tins to make crusts for little party quiches.
You'd be surprised at how many perfectly good pots of chicken and dumplings use canned biscuits. (Very surprised — many disappointed daughters have told me the secret to their mother's great dumplings turned out to be canned biscuits.)
Yes, biscuits from scratch are an art, and one worth mastering. But biscuits from scratch are a tough thing to face before breakfast.
If you really can't bring yourself to peel off the spiral label and pop open a can, you can take other shortcuts. In searching around for this story, I found a biscuit recipe with exactly two ingredients: Self-rising flour and sour cream. It makes biscuits that are crispy outside and soft inside with no more work than boxed biscuit mix and a lot better flavor.
And I've long been a fan of refrigerator biscuits. You stir the dough together and stick it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Anytime you need a few biscuits, you pull out some dough, pat it, cut it and bake it. Instant biscuits — no can.
When it comes to biscuit shortcuts, there's just no reason to be ashamed. It happens in the best kitchens.
Adapted from "Endangered Recipes," by Lari Robling (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009.) This is a very wet dough, so make sure your hands and work surface are well-floured. A flat scraper, also called a bench knife, is a great way to get the cut biscuits to the pan.
EASY BISCUITS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Blend sour cream and flour in a mixing bowl with a fork until it comes together but is still a little rough-looking. Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and let stand for a couple of minutes.
Pat or roll dough out with well-floured hands or rolling pin to 3/4-inch thickness. Using a floured 1 1/2- to 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 12 to 14 rounds, reworking the dough as little as possible.
Place biscuits on cookie sheet that has been greased or sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake in the top third of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until biscuits are light brown on top. Serve warm.
You can keep the dough in the refrigerator for up to a week.
REFRIGERATOR BISCUITS
Dissolve the yeast in warm water and let it stand 5 to 10 minutes.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add 1 cup buttermilk and stir with a fork until it is mixed in. Add the yeast and the remaining buttermilk and mix thoroughly.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle with a little more flour if needed to handle it. Knead three or four times, pressing it together and turning over (it should still be a little sticky). Put dough in a large, airtight container with a lid and place in refrigerator up to one week.
Take the amount of dough needed and place on a floured surface. Roll or pat out to 1/4-inch thick, sprinkling with a little flour if needed. Cut out rounds with a floured biscuit cutter and place in a flat baking sheet. For taller biscuits, place them tightly together with edges touching; for flatter, crisper biscuits, leave space between them.
Brush tops with melted butter if desired. Bake in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Monkey bread — usually made from a sweet yeast dough — can be made with commercially prepared biscuits. And your family will thank you.
CANNED BISCUIT MONKEY BREAD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a Bundt pan.
Open 1 can of biscuits and separate into individual pieces. Combine sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon in a bowl and stir until well-combined.
Cut each biscuit in half and toss in the cinnamon sugar, turning to coat all sides. Pile coated biscuit pieces in the Bundt pan. Pile the biscuits in an even layer, but don't worry about holes between the pieces. After the first can, sprinkle half the walnuts over the biscuit pieces and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar.
Continue with second can of biscuits, ending with walnuts and a little cinnamon sugar, then finish with the final can.
Place butter, brown sugar and remaining cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Pour hot syrup evenly around the biscuit pieces in the Bundt pan. Place in oven and bake 40 minutes.
Remove from pan and let stand 10 minutes. Run a knife around the outer edges and around the tube in center. Place a plate on top, then invert cake on plate and remove pan. Serve warm. (Can be wrapped in foil and reheated before serving.)
NOTE: If you use the 16-ounce cans of larger biscuits, such as Home-Style Grands, cut each biscuit into quarters instead of halves.
In the following recipe, a biscuit becomes a dumpling.
BISCUIT-TOPPED CHICKEN STEW
Melt butter in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cut chicken into bite-size cubes, adding to butter as you work. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning and ground pepper. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until chicken is no longer pink.
Add evaporated milk (including any that has settled to the bottom of the can) and soup to the chicken and stir well. Stir in the frozen vegetables. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Cook about 10 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Pour stew into a large casserole dish. Separate biscuits and place around the top of the casserole with spaces in between. Place in a 350-degree oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until biscuits are lightly brown on top and stew is bubbly.
