We're conducting our annual physical inventory this week--we're quite literally going to count every single item in the store. It's usually an 8 to 10 hour job, wrapping up sometime after 2am. We usually bring in food, sort of a pot luck, and when Harri said she was bringing in a pot of chili, I had the perfect excuse to bake biscuits.
Biscuits are a member of the quick bread family, which also includes scones and muffins. Even if you don’t like to bake, or are scared
of baking, there’s almost nothing easier to make than a quick bread. Quick breads are baked goods which rely on chemical leaveners (baking powder and baking
soda) instead of yeast to give lift and rise. Yeast is a living organism, and doughs that rely on yeast can take hours
to rise. The yeast consumes small
amounts of the sugar and proteins in the dough and produce gas as a byproduct
which causes the dough to rise. Chemical
leaveners react almost instantaneously to a combination of liquid, acid, and
heat to create carbon dioxide bubbles which give rise to the dough. To see a quick example, put a pinch of baking
soda in a small dish of white vinegar. Just be ready with the paper towels to wipe up the vinegar foam!
Biscuits are also similar to pie crust in that, when made well, they have a tender, flaky texture. Unlike cookies or cakes when you want softened fat to cream into the dough, it is important to keep your fat cold so that it can be cut into the flour. It's the separation of the flour by the fat that results in the flaky layers we love. The choice of fat also affects the flavor and texture of the biscuit, and I use an even mix of butter and vegetable shortening. The butter gives the biscuits a great flavor and lovely golden brown color, and the vegetable shortening enhances the flakiness and tenderness.
The only other bit of advice I'll offer when making biscuits is to be respectful of the gluten. Gluten is the protein in flour that gives doughs their structure. If you've ever seen a concrete sidewalk being poured, think of the metal rebar that is laid down first as the gluten--it's a reinforcing inner framework. But, instead of stiff, straight rods, gluten looks more like tightly coiled and tangled springs. The very action of mixing or kneading a dough can cause those springs to tighten and tangle more, resulting in a tough, chewy dough. So, don't overwork the dough, mix it just enough to get it to come together. Another way to minimize gluten development is to add acid to the dough. This is why so many biscuit recipes rely on buttermilk, it not only makes for a tasty biscuit, it helps to keep them tender, too.
Over the years, I've tweaked my basic buttermilk biscuit recipe to the version I've included here. I've also come up with a few variations on the original, and I'm giving you two of them here, Parmesan Herb and Sweet Potato. The Parmesan Herb biscuits make great nibblies with a glass of wine...
Buttermilk
Biscuits
Makes 12, 2-inch biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tsp baking
powder
¼ tsp baking
soda
¾ tsp salt
4 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
4 Tbsp shortening
1 cup chilled
buttermilk
Preheat
the oven to 425°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large
bowl; whisk until well blended. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the
shortening and butter until the mixture looks like coarse sand and the largest
pieces of butter and shortening are smaller than peas. Stir in the buttermilk until well combined
(the dough may be wet). Gather the dough into a ball. Press out on a lightly
floured work surface (use more flour as necessary if dough is very sticky/wet)
to about 1 inch thick. Using the desired cutter, cut out the biscuits. Gather the
dough remnants together and flatten back into a 1 inch thick round, and cut
again. Repeat until all the dough is
used. Arrange the biscuits on baking
sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until the biscuits are puffed and light
golden and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 to 14
minutes. Transfer the biscuits to towel-lined basket and serve warm.
Parmesan
Herb Buttermilk Biscuits
Makes
about 12, 2-inch biscuits or 24, 1-inch biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ cup grated
Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tsp baking
powder
¼ tsp baking
soda
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground
black pepper
4 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
4 Tbsp shortening
¼ cup chopped
fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, chives, basil
1 cup chilled
buttermilk
Preheat
oven to 425°F. Combine the flour, ½ cup cheese, baking powder, baking soda,
salt, and pepper in large bowl; whisk until well blended. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the
shortening and butter until the mixture looks like coarse sand and the largest
pieces of butter and shortening are smaller than peas. Mix in the herbs. Stir in the buttermilk
until well combined (the dough may be wet). Gather the dough into a ball. Press
out on a lightly floured work surface (use more flour as necessary if dough is
very sticky/wet) to about 1 inch thick. Using the desired cutter, cut out the biscuits.
Gather the dough remnants together and flatten back into a 1 inch thick round,
and cut again. Repeat until all the dough
is used. Arrange the biscuits on a
baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup
cheese. Bake until the biscuits are
puffed and light golden and tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about
10 to 15 minutes (depending on size of biscuit). Transfer the biscuits to a towel-lined
basket and serve warm.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Makes
12, 2-inch biscuits
2 ½
cups all purpose flour, plus additional
for kneading
1 tsp salt
2 ½
tsp baking powder
¼
tsp baking soda
½
tsp dried thyme
½
tsp dried sage
3
Tbsp shortening
3
Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut
into ½ inch pieces
1
cup buttermilk
1
cup cooked and mashed sweet
potatoes
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt in a large bowl; whisk until well blended. Using a pastry
blender or a fork, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture looks
like coarse sand and the largest pieces of butter and shortening are smaller
than peas. Stir in the buttermilk and
sweet potato until well combined (the dough may
be wet). Gather the dough into a ball. Press out on a lightly floured work
surface (use more flour as necessary if dough is very sticky/wet) to about 1
inch thick. Using the desired cutter, cut out the biscuits. Gather the dough
remnants together and flatten back into a 1 inch thick round, and cut
again. Repeat until all the dough is
used. Arrange the biscuits on a baking
sheet lined with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured
surface. Knead in enough additional
flour so that the dough can be more easily handled. Press the dough out into a large flat round,
½ inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter
and place the biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until the biscuits are puffed and light
golden and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 to 14
minutes. Transfer the biscuits to towel-lined basket and serve warm.
First, let me thank you for your question, you've posted the very first comment on my blog!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, yes you can absolutely use lard instead of shortening. In fact, I'll bet there are some folks out there questioning my Southern credentials because I didn't use lard! Lard is rendered pork fat which is often hydrogenated to stabilize it---it can be a bit runny, and the process gives it a firmer, more shortening-like texture. Lard gives a very tender and flaky texture to the pastry, in fact it's often used in pie crust for that reason. However, I don't typically use lard because I like to keep my recipe more vegetarian friendly.
If you want to experiment with lard, it can be hard to find in the grocery store. It's sometimes found in the refrigerated dairy case with the butter, but I usually find it in the Latin foods aisle. It will likely be labeled "manteca". Goya brand manteca is sold in a tub similar to vegetable shortening.