Verse of the week

"For whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."- 1 Corinthians 10:31

Monday, February 13, 2012

Illusion of Biscuit

Biscuit hmm....when i heard it first time,my picture of it couldn't have been more different.In India,what we call Biscuit is cookies kinda stuff,not soft and chewy like you think of it here but hard and crispy sweet thing,which you eat as  snack with tea or coffee or just by itself.
            For the record,concept of cookies in India is non-existent.Traditional Indian homes do not have baking oven.So the baked goods are out of question.Though,i never felt the lack of  baked goodies,first i didn't know any better and second,there are multiple variety of Indian desserts which are plenty to keep me satisfied.

            So when my husband said ,Biscuit and gravy that he loves.I was totally astounded to associate Biscuit with something like 'gravy' as in what kind of gravy.How can you eat biscuit with gravy?I googled and then came to understand what he actually meant.It is a staple in Southern cooking and popular breakfast item.So my quest for Biscuit began.I am still not where i want to be  as in i rate my biscuit at the best average i guess but my family nonetheless like my biscuits(or forced to like).I have tried different recipes and i do  not know where i found it on internet but this is what goes in there :

  • 2 cups All purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tbl Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 6 Tbl Butter chilled
  • 3/4 cup Buttermilk * 
Cut the cold butter in chunks,I used pastry cutter, mix with flour until it resembles coarse like pea size granules.Add rest of the ingredients.Add buttermilk slowly.Once dough is ready,put it on floured surface and roll is in 1/2" thickness.Cut it using biscuit cutter.Arrange then on cookie sheet and bake it until they are little brown on top.Brush with melted butter when they come out,i left that part and mine out of laziness and the fact they don't need any more butter,so they were dry on the top. I served them with some grape jelly,scrambled eggs and country hash browns.Lets say there was no leftovers !!!

These are the Biscuit wisdom i have heard and tried to incorporate some but i am no where near making perfect Biscuit.
  • Use shortening instead of butter,as it takes longer to melt and give rise to the fluffiness.I refuse  to use shortening,so that's the first strike against good Biscuit and the BIG one.
  • Do not over mix,it makes the biscuit tougher.I try not to,best of my knowledge.
  • I didn't had buttermilk,so i added some water to the yogurt and used that.Buttermilk sold here is completely different then what Indian think of buttermilk but i used it in Indian way for what i had.
  • Butter has to be COLD COLD so it melts when it goes in oven and not before.Again not overmixing helps,as heat of your hand melts the butter somewhat too or it breaks into very little pieces.
  • Arrange the biscuit touching each other as they help each other with rising.Camaraderie !!
  • 450F which recipe called originally was too hot for my oven so i lowered it down to 400F.
  • Layer the Biscuit like making 'Paratha',those layer separates as it bakes and creates fluffiness.

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