The discussion about ice tea and sweet tea got me stirred up to mention home made scratch biscuits, evidently a lost art among a lot of gals today. So here's a recipe.
This was my grandmother's recipe, and her mother's recipe, and so on, way... back. My father taught my mother, me, and my sister. I can't tell you exact quantities, you'll have to experiment. This is a scratch recipe.
You could start with 2 cups of self-rising flour. (No need to use plain flour and baking soda, since most self-rising flour is good enough today). Do yourself a favor. Find out the freshest flour in your area, like with a local flour mill. You'll get 'cat-head' size biscuits.
We traditionally use Crisco shortening in a can. Sift the flour in a sifter into a mixing bowl. Cut in the sifted flour two heaping tablespoons of Crisco shortening. Once the Crisco is off the spoon I was taught to use my hands to feel the texture of the flour-shortening mix. Too much flour and the biscuits will be doughy. Too much shortening and they'll crumble apart. The feel of the mix should be grainy dry.
Then add either milk or buttermilk, slowly, a little at a time, using the spoon to mix it in. You're looking for a certain texture here too. It should be gooey, just barely on the wet side. I was taught to use my hands instead of a spoon to 'feel' this mixture too. The dough should be gooey enough to when you spread it out on a layer of flour it doesn't become too dry. It should stick to your hands. Sift out a thin layer flour on a piece of wax paper, aluminum foil, or whatever. Cover enough area to cover around a dozen biscuits.
Rake out the dough onto the layer of sifted flour. Clean any dough bits off your hands. Lightly coat your hands with the flour. Then work most of that layer of flour into the dough by kneading it into a ball with your hands. You're looking for a certain texture here too, close to how canned biscuit dough feels, but just a bit less dry. Flatten the dough out to no more than 3/4", then fold it over (use your hands, not a rolling pin). Flatten it out again with your hands and fold it over one more time. Don't pound it out to flatten it, gently press with your hands. Flatten it out to about 3/4" thick. (The folds act as seams to allow you to pull the biscuit apart after it's baked, not needing a knife.) I use a medium size drinking glass rolled in flour to cut out each biscuit, and place them touching each other on a well seasoned steel baking sheet lightly greased with shortening. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 until the tops are brown.
If they come out of the oven too crumbly, use less shortening next time. If they come out too doughy and smooth, use a little more shortening and less milk or buttermilk. If you had too, you could use water for the liquid, but they won't be as good.
I made biscuits once for some friends of mine, and one fellow who had never ate scratch biscuits. When he put butter and jam in a hot biscuit and bit into it, his eyes lit up. Canned biscuits, Kroger frozen dough, BiscQuick mix, just don't compare. My mother said I made better biscuits than her, but it was simply because of the local flour I was using. Most main namebrands of flour sit in the company warehouse long before getting sent to the stores.
If you go camping you can use this recipe for campfire biscuits, using a Dutch-oven. You set the iron Dutch-oven with lid directly into hot coals, not direct fire.
This was my grandmother's recipe, and her mother's recipe, and so on, way... back. My father taught my mother, me, and my sister. I can't tell you exact quantities, you'll have to experiment. This is a scratch recipe.
You could start with 2 cups of self-rising flour. (No need to use plain flour and baking soda, since most self-rising flour is good enough today). Do yourself a favor. Find out the freshest flour in your area, like with a local flour mill. You'll get 'cat-head' size biscuits.
We traditionally use Crisco shortening in a can. Sift the flour in a sifter into a mixing bowl. Cut in the sifted flour two heaping tablespoons of Crisco shortening. Once the Crisco is off the spoon I was taught to use my hands to feel the texture of the flour-shortening mix. Too much flour and the biscuits will be doughy. Too much shortening and they'll crumble apart. The feel of the mix should be grainy dry.
Then add either milk or buttermilk, slowly, a little at a time, using the spoon to mix it in. You're looking for a certain texture here too. It should be gooey, just barely on the wet side. I was taught to use my hands instead of a spoon to 'feel' this mixture too. The dough should be gooey enough to when you spread it out on a layer of flour it doesn't become too dry. It should stick to your hands. Sift out a thin layer flour on a piece of wax paper, aluminum foil, or whatever. Cover enough area to cover around a dozen biscuits.
Rake out the dough onto the layer of sifted flour. Clean any dough bits off your hands. Lightly coat your hands with the flour. Then work most of that layer of flour into the dough by kneading it into a ball with your hands. You're looking for a certain texture here too, close to how canned biscuit dough feels, but just a bit less dry. Flatten the dough out to no more than 3/4", then fold it over (use your hands, not a rolling pin). Flatten it out again with your hands and fold it over one more time. Don't pound it out to flatten it, gently press with your hands. Flatten it out to about 3/4" thick. (The folds act as seams to allow you to pull the biscuit apart after it's baked, not needing a knife.) I use a medium size drinking glass rolled in flour to cut out each biscuit, and place them touching each other on a well seasoned steel baking sheet lightly greased with shortening. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 until the tops are brown.
If they come out of the oven too crumbly, use less shortening next time. If they come out too doughy and smooth, use a little more shortening and less milk or buttermilk. If you had too, you could use water for the liquid, but they won't be as good.
I made biscuits once for some friends of mine, and one fellow who had never ate scratch biscuits. When he put butter and jam in a hot biscuit and bit into it, his eyes lit up. Canned biscuits, Kroger frozen dough, BiscQuick mix, just don't compare. My mother said I made better biscuits than her, but it was simply because of the local flour I was using. Most main namebrands of flour sit in the company warehouse long before getting sent to the stores.
If you go camping you can use this recipe for campfire biscuits, using a Dutch-oven. You set the iron Dutch-oven with lid directly into hot coals, not direct fire.
