1/2 c shortening 1 tb sugar
2 1/4 c flour 1/2 ts salt
2 1/2 ts baking powder 1 1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 ts baking soda
Place shortening in small plastic food bag. Flatten shortening
between plastic sheets so it is thin and return to freezer. This
allows shortening to become hard enough to break, into tiny pieces
when added to dry ingredients.
Tear 2 pieces wax paper about 15 inches long and place on counter,
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt onto wax
paper. Place empty sifter on top of bare sheet of wax paper, lift
sheet of wax paper holding sifted dry ingredients by sides and pour
through sifter, sifting onto bare wax paper. Sift back and forth 3
times, then sift once more into large mixing bowl.
Remove shortening from freezer. Cut into small bits, about 1/4-inch
square. Drop shortening bits into bowl of dry ingredients and,
using fingertips, lightly rub shortening and flour together,
occasionally tossing flour mixture so you touch all particles of
shortening with flour. When mixture has bits of flour-covered
shortening throughout, begin adding buttermilk. Using fork, add
buttermilk, lightly stirring to mix with dry ingredients.
Cover board or surface with dusting of flour. Gather sticky mass of
dough and place on floured surface. Dust hands with flour and
gently knead dough, adding enough flour only to make dough
manageable. Pat dough with hands or roll with floured rolling pin
into round 1/2-inch thick. Using 2-inch cutter, cut out biscuits and
place touching each other in 3 rows, in center of greased baking
sheet. Place on middle rack of 425-degree oven and bake 12 minutes,
or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and serve hot or warm.
Makes 19 (2-inch round) biscuits.
***NOTE::By Marion Cunningham
Thanks to Eula Mae Dore, a great Southern cook from Avery
Plantation, La., I’ve learned to make the best Buttermilk Biscuits
I’ve ever had.
Eula Mae says a good biscuit is one of the best things to have on
hand for quick meals. She uses them in emergencies to make simple
sandwiches filled with scraps of ham or cheese and serves them with
pickles and a small salad. For dessert, she warms a biscuit or two
and makes a shortcake with fresh fruits or berries. She has convinced
me that you can’t have too many biscuits on hand.
Eula Mae learned to cook and bake from her grandmother, not from
cookbooks, and the artfulness of her preparation was a joy to watch.
Here are some of her biscuit-making tips:
+ First go out and replace your baking powder, unless you bought it
within the last four months. More baking flops occur from old,
tired baking powder than from any other cause. And don’t rely on
the old test of checking the freshness of baking powder by putting a
spoonful in a glass of water to see if it fizzes. Baking powder, like
a carbonated drink, can fizz a little and still be almost flat.
Buying new baking powder costs very little when you consider the cost
of baking failures.
+ Next, Eula Mae insists that sifting the dry ingredients four times
is the reason her biscuits are perfect. I tested the recipe sifting
and not sifting and, indeed, sifting does make a slightly higher,
more tender biscuit.
+ After you cut the biscuit dough, put the pieces on a baking sheet
upside down. This ensures a taller, lighter biscuit by making sure
any edges crimped by the pressure of the cutting don’t interfere
with the rise. (The French use the same trick when making puff
pastry.)
+ The tip that helped me the most was using less flour than usual.
Eula Mae’s dough was soft and sticky. She handled it gently, dusting
her hands and the dough with only enough flour to make the
dough manageable. The result was a lighter biscuit.
Yields
12 servings